"Lettuce" Make You Smile!

This morning I did what I did not want to do. I picked all the last minute little green tomatoes and cleaned out the tomato bed. Fried green tomatoes must have been invented this time of year.



THEN ... I filled that bed back up with the makings of our future salads!

• Arugula, aka Rocket
• Green Romaine lettuce, Winter Density
• Green Bibb lettuce, Buttercrunch
• Mesclin Mix lettuce

The cherry tomatoes were the next to go. I hate to see it happen! But in their place I planted salad turnips. It's a bit late, but there should be just enough time to get a batch in before frost. The roots are a bit like radishes … less spicy and more turnip-y, of course. Plus, the greens are delicious and nutritious!

These Apples are Delicious!

and RED!

The Red Delicious apple tree has provided quite a crop this year. The fruit is still coming in, providing plenty of crunchy sweet munching for the humans, as well as the deer.

Red delicious apples have traditionally been grown for eating fresh, out of hand. They are not prized as cooking apples. Despite that, I made a pretty darn good apple crisp with them last week!

Rouse the Spouse has enjoyed his new apple picking toy, I mean tool! It really does do the trick, reaching high up into the tree to gently grab and catch that perfectly ripe apple with no damage to the tree and no bruised fruit crashing to the ground.

He has been creating some fine cheese and fruit plates. We recently enjoyed an aged gouda and a creamy Amish blue with red delicious slices.

A Little Help in the Garden

My grandnephew, Fenix, has been visiting. Yesterday morning he was up, dressed, and ready for backyard farm duty! He wanted to go with bare feet, but I don't allow that in the chicken coop. There's nothing quite as yucky as stepping into a fresh blop of chicken poo!

Funny five-year-old feet ended up wearing MY pink and green flowery rubber boots!

We picked okra, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and sweet snackin' peppers. After the garden chores, he enjoyed a breakfast of his favorite ... boiled eggs. Later in the day, he collected four eggs for future breakfasts!

I love this photo taken by his mama, Maggie. Before jumping into the car for the long road trip back home, Fenix picked a bouquet of zinnias especially for her.

I look forward to more bonding over veggies with this enthusiastic young gardener!

Another Pepper Day

These have been blanched in preparation for stuffing

Okra

Here's some interesting trivia about okra in India.
From StarChefs :

"Okra is also called Lady Finger in India and other countries. Okra is considered best when it is the size of the ring finger of a lady with small hands. At that size Okra is not too fibrous, tough or hairy. It is also easier to stem and slice."

Dead Chicken

Rouse the Spouse found one of the Dominick hens dead in the chicken coop this afternoon. He reported, "No apparent foul play." Very punny. I know she was alive last night when I closed up the chickens. There was no autopsy. Assumed cause of death: Old Age

Notice the abundance of feathers throughout the hen house. They are not hers. Several of the birds are molting right now, dropping feathers everywhere. It's a normal process. Each year, chickens molt, roosters as well as hens, shedding their old feathers and growing new ones. Most hens stop producing eggs until the molt is complete. This can take months to accomplish.

Here's more information about the molting of chickens: http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html

Praying in the Garden

Praying Mantis on Asian Long Bean leaves

Lotus Seed Pods

I waded into the pond to collect the dried lotus seed pods. Alas, only three were within reach. There were others, but they were located over deeper water. I really didn't want to venture further than my nearly knee high boots would take me.

We use the dried pods for fall/winter decor. The loose seeds often fall out of the seed heads. Have you ever eaten a lotus seed? I haven't, but according to wikipedia raw lotus seeds are "low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and are a good source of protein, thiamin, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese." Not being our tradition, I wouldn't know how to go about eating one!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_seed

Added a Bed of Mustard

Two varieties:

Suehlihung No. 2

• Suehlihung No. 2 from Johnny's Select Seeds: " Medium-green plants are well-branched and slow bolting. Harvest from micro to baby leaf to full-size bunched mustard greens." Sow early spring to late summer ...

• Komatsuma (Mustard-Spinach) -  from the seed packet: "A mild flavored variety that is fast growing and highly nutritious. Thrives in cool weather, but unlike most mustard varieties, has good heat resistance. Usually cooked as greens or used in salads in the same manner as spinach." It should be called "spinach mustard" because it IS a type of mustard, not a type of spinach!

Collards Planted

Collards

I bought three different kinds of collards from the Southern States seed and feed store in P'boro. The plants were not in the "best" shape, making me suspect that I am late - once again - getting fall crops into the ground. But, no! NCSU says to transplant between September 1 - 15. I'm good!

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-8012.html

The Beginning of the Fall Garden

Yesterday I removed the spent Jade bush beans. I hate to see them go! I prepared that bed, as well as the bed long ago vacated by the edamame, in order to plant some fall greens, just in time to take advantage of 1-1/2" rain.

one bed of kale
Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch
Red Russian
Spring (Smooth)

one bed of spinach
Red Cardinal SmoothLeaf
Tyee Savoyed

The End is Near

The garden does not lie!

Tomato plants are withering. A few fruits hang on and I want to believe that they will ripen in place! But I realize that if left on the vine these promising green orbs will likely succumb to worms or rot or both. So I pick them at the first sign of color and let them ripen on the kitchen counter. The cherry tomatoes have slowed down, but still produce more than we can eat fresh. One of these days, soon and very soon, I'll declare it over. I'll pick all the tomatoes in sight, cook down the red ones for juice and feast on the green ones … fried to a tangy perfection.

The peppers are still producing, but even they are showing signs of the end. Not many blossoms portending bonus fruit. I'm mainly waiting for that perfect red ripeness or last minute growth spurt before I harvest them all.

I'm picking the last of the Jade bush beans. Many of the plants have totally dried up in the recent drought. They have been a mainstay on the menu this summer. I will miss them.

The Garden of Eden Italian flat beans and the Rattlesnake pole beans are still hanging in there, although I have to admit their days are numbered. I still get enough for a couple good batches per week, with a few extra to share.

The pink-eyed purple hulled southern peas are just about to finish up their second harvest. I have a bag full in the 'fridge right now that needs shelling. Now that's a job! But so worth it. Fresh southern peas are a treat.

The Asian Long beans are producing and blooming well. Not our favorite green bean, they do prove useful when I need to stretch a skillet of sautéed okra or want a few green beans in the soup pot. When the other green beans are gone we might value these more.

The okra continues to be a reliable staple. We have plenty to eat all ways … steamed, sautéed, fried, cooked with southern peas, added to gumbo, served with spicy sausage … I don't tend to like it stewed in its own slime.

The stevia has been successfully extracted. The basil is tucked away in the form of frozen pesto blobs. I continue to harvest parsley, adding it to the stash in the freezer compartment. The dill heads will need attention.

All in all, we're still eating well from the garden, but you can tell … the times they are a'changin'!

THIS is why I grow tomatoes!

The German Johnson is not the prettiest tomato around. It's an heirloom variety that produces a huge, pink-red, beefsteak fruit that tastes like a REAL tomato.

I exclaimed out loud when I took a bite of this sandwich!

Filling up the Pantry

A few jars at a time ...

Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Okra Pickles, Jalapeño Jam