Gardeners: how's it looking?

[poiuy]

Can you share / distribute to neighbors, friends, or others in your community?
If I were your IRL neighbour I would love to receive some.

[Thursday's_Child]

Slice okra very thinly & fry until crisp in a tiny amount of olive oil.  While still quite hot, salt lightly, add a scant spoonful of lemon juice, toss to coat, & eat.

It is also good pickled - use your favorite recipe(s).

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Dehydrate okra and use it in soups/stews. Some people I know have cooked okra in an air fryer and claimed that it tasted good.

[clean]

The tomato I ve been spoiling for a week or more has been picked.  However, not by me!  It seems that the birds thought that it was ready and IF I wasnt going to eat it THEY WOULD! 

I was so close to picking it yesterday, but i figured it needed just one more day!  IT seems I was right!  The birds agreed.  One more day was all it needed!!

[Harlow2]

The tomato I ve been spoiling for a week or more has been picked.  However, not by me!  It seems that the birds thought that it was ready and IF I wasnt going to eat it THEY WOULD! 

I was so close to picking it yesterday, but i figured it needed just one more day!  IT seems I was right!  The birds agreed.  One more day was all it needed!!

I've decided that some of them ripen really well on the counter out of reach of little beaks or teeth.

[AmLitHist]

After the atrocious heat and humidity, then last week's torrential rain, the garden is showing the strain:

--I pulled up the zucchini and squash last week (after harvesting and freezing enough for 14 batches of zucchini bread!). They were starting to show mildew, which let the beetles come in, but I got a good harvest.

--A couple of tomato plants will be next:  the vines are dying off, and there are only a couple of green ones left on each plant. The red tomato still looks pretty good and is still producing, and the yellow cherry tomato continues to produce like crazy. For all the crazy weather, the tomatoes have wonderful flavor this year.

--The orange bell pepper plant turned out to be a long, banana-shaped pepper; I harvested a couple yesterday and gave them to Kid #1 with the warning that I don't know if they're hot or sweet.  I also planted a red pepper that's shaped like a Scotch bonnet, but sweet instead of hot.  We'll see!  That one is just loaded with green peppers at the moment.

--The supposedly-bush cucumbers have spread into the neighboring bed.  Some of the leaves are yellowing and/or frying in the heat, but they continue to produce pretty well.

--The lone volunteer cantaloupe vine has gone completely bonkers and is trailing all over between its raised bed and into the flower bed next to it.  I picked four nice cantaloupes over the weekend, and a couple more will be ready this week.

All in all, for a very cool and wet spring that led to late planting, and then extreme heat for most of June and July--not to mention that I haven't been able to do much upkeep at all, post -op--things have done really well. I might try a couple of packs of late-season kale and lettuce, if I get the ambition.

OH--almost forgot:  the herb bed is producing a metric shit-ton of parsley, sage, catnip, chives, rosemary, and dill!  :-)  I need to get a cheap dehydrator to replace the old one I used to have.

[Harlow2]

Doing battle with spotted lantern flies. They have hit my very small grape vine. I killed one but there are many more. If I can get them to jump 3 times I can squish, but the grape vine is surrounded by grass, and its hard to squish on grass. I'm worried that if I get them off the vine they will move to the tomatoes.  For those in parts of the country not affected, these pernicious bugs can devastate crops and are impervious to any chemical treatment. Only squishing works.

[mamselle]

Nutcracker?

Garlic press?

Good luck...

M.

[clean]

Okra, Okra, Okra!!

I have to pick at least every 3rd day, but I try every other. I have been giving it away to some coworkers, and every now and then eating some myslef! My Bride is in BiG Cancer Hospital City helping her parents, so I get it all to myself, (which is more than I can eat) but coworkers have enjoyed the surplus.  One in particular had a crop failure, so his own output is zero! 

My eggplant are a mystery.  The one that flowers, is growing gangbusters, but the flowers never set!  No bees are visiting, but last week I made each flower that could reach another "kiss" hoping that rubbing the flowers together would do SOMETHING.  So far nothing!

The other eggplant (an Asian variety  I think) is coming along.T hose are longer and skinny.  I may pick one soon! 

In an industrial accident... We had rain.  I have a wheel barrow that I have been too lazy to put back in the garage.  It was to the top full with rain water!  I dipped most of the water out and poured it on my plants.  When it was nearly empty I was backing it up to dump on anohter area, and I backed into (and fell on top of) the dolly (that I was also too lazy to put back in the garage!).
I have lots and lots of bruises.  The most painful is that I essentially fell over onto my back on top of this dolly and one wheel caught me in the kidney. 

If I had hit my head, I would have gone to the ER as I am on a blood thinner. 
I didnt hit my head.  I was however, out of breath, and came inside for my inhaler that I have nearly never used for a few puffs.  I checked my 02 and BP over the next hour and I didnt bleed out!  However when I tried to stand up, I was reminded that someone had beaten my back with a big pipe!

It has been a rough few days, made worse by grading and the start of Fall.  But I should be able to sleep tonight without narcotics. 

So the garden is looking fine.  It may yet be my 'final resting place'. 


But the Okra is like 8 feet tall!!  (at least one variety is!  I planted two kinds).

[Harlow2]

Okra, Okra, Okra!!

I have to pick at least every 3rd day, but I try every other. I have been giving it away to some coworkers, and every now and then eating some myslef! My Bride is in BiG Cancer Hospital City helping her parents, so I get it all to myself, (which is more than I can eat) but coworkers have enjoyed the surplus.  One in particular had a crop failure, so his own output is zero! 

My eggplant are a mystery.  The one that flowers, is growing gangbusters, but the flowers never set!  No bees are visiting, but last week I made each flower that could reach another "kiss" hoping that rubbing the flowers together would do SOMETHING.  So far nothing!

The other eggplant (an Asian variety  I think) is coming along.T hose are longer and skinny.  I may pick one soon! 

In an industrial accident... We had rain.  I have a wheel barrow that I have been too lazy to put back in the garage.  It was to the top full with rain water!  I dipped most of the water out and poured it on my plants.  When it was nearly empty I was backing it up to dump on anohter area, and I backed into (and fell on top of) the dolly (that I was also too lazy to put back in the garage!).
I have lots and lots of bruises.  The most painful is that I essentially fell over onto my back on top of this dolly and one wheel caught me in the kidney. 

If I had hit my head, I would have gone to the ER as I am on a blood thinner. 
I didnt hit my head.  I was however, out of breath, and came inside for my inhaler that I have nearly never used for a few puffs.  I checked my 02 and BP over the next hour and I didnt bleed out!  However when I tried to stand up, I was reminded that someone had beaten my back with a big pipe!

It has been a rough few days, made worse by grading and the start of Fall.  But I should be able to sleep tonight without narcotics. 

So the garden is looking fine.  It may yet be my 'final resting place'. 


But the Okra is like 8 feet tall!!  (at least one variety is!  I planted two kinds).

Oh, no! Clean, glad your head was safe and that the okra are prospering.

[mamselle]

Is okra good for head, and other, wounds?

Hope so....

No, seriously,  get well soon!

M.

[clean]

I can have a slimy quality, so I suppose that it could make a base for a salve.

Today I discovered that my Cantaloupe has been stolen!  By what I have no idea!  It was about soft ball size and in the sweetening stage, and now it is gone!  NO hide or rind can be found! 
I wonder if there are any African Swallows  in my area? ( Monte Python reference).

The game cameras are coming back out!  Something may be on the Dead Or Alive wanted poster pretty soon! 

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I can have a slimy quality, so I suppose that it could make a base for a salve.

Today I discovered that my Cantaloupe has been stolen! By what I have no idea!  It was about soft ball size and in the sweetening stage, and now it is gone!  NO hide or rind can be found! 
I wonder if there are any African Swallows  in my area? ( Monte Python reference).

The game cameras are coming back out!  Something may be on the Dead Or Alive wanted poster pretty soon!

Racoon?

[Puget]

Goodness Clean, you've had more than your fair share of bad luck this summer-- hope you heal up quickly.

Still harvesting lots of tomatoes and cucumbers. The cucumbers are sneaky- I thought I got them all, but spied two more big ones today. I've been sharing with both with neighbors and colleagues, as well as making pickles and dried tomatoes.

[Harlow2]

Made 4 jars of tomato soup.  Yum.