Late Summer Garden Harvest

This garden year hasn't been as fruitful. I was able to harvest some greens early summer, but late summer garden has only provided a couple batches of beans and cucumbers. 

I will say, though, the canned beans and pickled cucumbers will last me until next garden year.

Here are a couple pictures over last month's garden harvests.

August 15, 2023 

Wednesday, September 6th 2023

Signs of Spring Part I: canning, houseplants, Seed starting, & walking in the woods

 I have started seeds indoors. The broccoli I sowed is at least 4 days old seedlings. I have them growing in a micro greenhouse using plastic salad recycled containers. 

In addition to broccoli, I am germinating basil, parsley, and cilantro. 

If you gave the space and you live in Zone 6 to 7, you can beginning starting cabbage, cauliflower collards, and other brassicas indoors. 

There won't be a last Frost advisory until late May, but I tend to start my seeds indoors in Late February.

It was a nice, warm Sunday, so I brought my houseplants otside to get some Sun and fresh air.

I was hauling compost to my gardens today, and noticed these signs of Spring...the Crocus. Such a cold hardy and dainty little flower...

Yesterday was my birthday, so I indulged in some restaurant veggie sushi...

I turned 32 years old...

As Spring presents itself, it's crucial for me to spend lots of time outdoors. It's my version of therapy. So after work  this past Wednesday-- when it was another warm afternoon-- Ashley and I went to our local park and had a little fire. We roasted some veggie dogs and peppers.

Last Friday-- the afternoon was warm, so I took the houseplants outside to fertilize them.

Although it's not my normal canning season, I was gifted 10 pounds of tomatoes or more. I decided to can tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. For the spaghetti sauce, my recipe was 9 tomatoes, blanched and skinned, then simmered for 1 hour with peppers, onion, carrots, herbs, salt. I sterilized jars, lids, rings, and equipment. And was able to can 3 pint jars of sauce.

For the cold pack tomatoes: I sterilized the jars, boiled tomatoes to remove skins, packed the tomatoes in the jars with lemon juice and water bath canned for 50 minutes.

I'm excited for what Spring will bring.  I hope for more peaceful weather, warm days and nights, colorful flora and fauna. 

I also hope to get some veggies in the ground this upcoming early Spring for things like Swiss chard, collards, kale, spinach, radish, cilantro and lettuce.

Pickling & Prepping Fall Garden

On Monday, I drove out to one of the gardens, and cleaned up the rows of potatoes. 

I was able harvest some more I dug up; and then I tilled this patch. 

I blocked this patch off with fencing to keep the vining cucumber and squash plants away so I could plant a small fall garden.  

I managed to weed, till, fence off, AND sow seeds actually! I sowed Romaine and butter crunch lettuce, Collards, Spinach, and Arugula seed. 

While cleaning up the cucumber and squash patch, I harvested some cucumbers and pickled these 3 small jars with some apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh dill from my apartment garden, and salt, black pepper, and mustard seed.

Bean picking, tater digging & shroom foraging

 Today, I dug up some potatoes and picked beans and cucumbers. 

I separated the smaller potatoes to be canned with the beans. 

Here, my grandmother pressure canned the beans that I picked...

A couple of days ago, I picked these cucumbers. Sometimes they hide on me and when I don't find them for a couple of days, they are later found large and in charge.

Over the last couple of days, Ashley and I have been taking nature walks. We have come across a variety of mushrooms as the weather has been the perfect formula for mushrooms growing. It has been hot and intermittently wet. 

I picked some red chanterelles today and I'm going to fry these little morsels for a snack tonight.

Pickling, canning, & starting fall garden

There is better news to report this week. I harvested tomatoes from the garden and have already used all of them in dinners. 

My grandparents gave me cucumbers that they were donated, and because there were so many, I picked them with fresh dill from my apartment garden. For seasoning, I added mustard seed, dill seed and black pepper, and the brine was made with half white vinegar, half water and salt. I used my instant pot on the steam setting for 1 minute to water bath can the pickles. To be honest, that was my first time water bath canning with the instant pot and I am still skeptical if I processed the pickles safely. I have always just used a large pot with a lid to water bath can pickles for 10 minutes, and that has always been successful. 

And, I have attempted the fall garden for the third time this past month. I hope this time it is successful, as I purchased 40 dollars worth of broccoli, cauliflower and kale plants.

As you can see below, the gardens are at different stages of growing. With the plants I purchased, I put up a fence around the patch to make sure to deter animals. I have put salt around the plants to deter bugs...we shall see I'd that helps...

Corn growing to the sky. 

I had to fix the tomato plants on their posts. I retied them, made sure every limb was on the post, and added any extra posts to secure the planta, as needed. 

In these garden beds, theres radishes up growing. Some carrot seed germinated and I hope they do fantastic amongst these Coxcomb plants.

Some if the remaining broccoli and kale i had went into these garden beds. I use netting to keep my cats out and course salt to keep bugs off. 

My grandmother's Coxcomb plants look even more extraordinary by the day.