Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[BetteDavisEyes]

^ Fruits and Vegetables forever postage stamps (.55) available at USPS.

 

[Quiet Time]

Oh boy, Love that! ^^^

 

[CeeCeeCat]

got our first bounty!
one huge zucchini and one regular size zucchini which are both bigger than my store-bought ones
now I gotta figure out how to use them lol

I thought of you this morning, LadyL - I made a veganised version (of course ) and they are currently waiting to go into the oven. Nom!

 

[PayrollNerd]

I thought of you this morning, LadyL - I made a veganised version (of course ) and they are currently waiting to go into the oven. Nom!
View attachment 256901

Oh that looks yummy. Maybe I can find some more GF pastry at Whole Foods.

 

[LadyL]

I thought of you this morning, LadyL - I made a veganised version (of course ) and they are currently waiting to go into the oven. Nom!
View attachment 256901

omg that made me hungry lol
I just put two loaves of zucchini bread in the oven
I'm going to take some to my Mom with extra zucchini if she wants it
and then I'm going to use the biggest zucchini for zucchini chips!
hopefully the bread and chips turn out ok

 

[mickey2942]

My herbs are doing very well, and the pepper plants have had quite a few little yellow peppers. The peppers taste very spicy hot raw, but cooked have a bit of heat, and actually taste sweet.

Next summer I think I will focus more on herbs.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

Good Morning all, I had to take an internet break, I but wanted to pop back in to this thread to say my garden is keeping my so busy these days and I'm loving it! I'm picking about 5 to 10 tomatoes and 5 or 6 pickling size cucumbers per day. And my tomatoes are just getting started producing-- there are at least 200 green tomatoes on the plants. We've made every combination of cucumber and tomato salad imaginable the last couple weeks. We are almost sick of it, but weather in the 90's keeps us thankful for an abundance of cool salads to eat. My favorite is to make a Greek-style salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, feta cheese, black olives and a marinade with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, a couple sprigs of chopped fresh oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. This marinated salad keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days (although it's best if consumed the first or 2nd day).

I made my first couple jars of fridge pickles last week and we are going to try them this weekend before I make more. Unfortunately the weather got too hot for my dill plants, so I had to use dried instead of fresh dill. I've got 20 cucumbers on my dining room table right now that will go into making a 2nd batch of pickles if these are good. I'm also attempted to sprout some more fresh dill inside under a grow light and hoping it grows before I need to make another batch of pickles. I refuse to go to the store for ingredients I can grow myself right now, lol.

I'm getting around 3 or 4 jalapenos per week off of only 2 jalapeno plants and the plants are loaded with tiny jalapenos that will be ready soon. Many tiny sweet peppers are growing too. I've made fresh salsa twice now and it's so amazing. The best method I have found is to quarter and roast the tomatoes, onions and peppers on a baking sheet in the oven so the skins slip right off. Then when the veggies cool I pulse them in my food processor with a little lemon or lime juice, fresh cilantro OR 1 teaspoon of cumin powder (depending on which I have), 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. We make our own corn chips from corn tortillas baked in the oven with a little oil brushed on them and sometimes that is all we have for dinner, homemade chips and fresh salsa from the garden. We also have been eating tacos on occasion but I'm not buying much meat these days so... We're eating more corn chips and salsa, bean burritos with salsa, eggs cooked in salsa, etc.

My onions only got as big as golf balls this year because I planted late and it got too hot too fast. I have been harvesting them as I need them and it's so nice to have fresh onions from the garden that I don't mind that they are small. Most are the size of shallots or pearl onions so I have been using them whole. I'm planning to start more onions for fall. Same for garlic- I planted it way too late (in the spring) but I will for sure be planting my garlic this November for a harvest next spring/summer.

My zucchini plants gave us about 5 or 6 large zucchinis and then died from vine borers. I pulled the dead plants out this week, put a dusting of diatomaceous earth on the soil to kill any remaining vine borer larvae and then I sowed a second wave of yellow summer squash in their place. I made a couple loaves of zucchini bread, some zucchini stir-fry and a zucchini quiche before the plants died so it wasn't a total loss. I was really looking forward to making some zucchini/squash relish and zucchini latkes though. We will try again and hope the pests don't get to the second round. My second round of cucumbers and a second round of tomato plants are all around a foot tall now and starting to put off flowers. I'm planning to do a lot of canning of sauce, salsa and pickles this year.

Soon I will be planting my fall garden with carrots, radish, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, bok choy, leeks, multiple kinds of lettuce and arugula, and more beans and peas. I succession planted my beans every 2 weeks and my 1st round produced only a couple handfuls before they were done, leaving us really with only enough to snack on and not quite enough for a meal. The 2nd round and third rounds were producing at the same time and that gave me more to work with, which I liked better. So for fall I'm letting the succession planted plants grow out and then planting more peas and beans all at once for a bigger harvest. Beans and peas are so easy to freeze if I have too many. I was hoping to like the succession planting strategy of sowing every couple weeks but it didn't work for me. That's the great thing about gardening-- if you try something new and it doesn't work for you there is always next year/next season to do it differently.

Hope you all are finding as much solace in gardening this year as I am.

I screenshot your post, Gardener, for the yummy recipes. Thank you!
Thunderstorms and torrential rain here earlier - the garden really needed it. And now it smells wonderful out there, so fresh and clean.

 

[kalvis]

So for fall I'm letting the succession planted plants grow out and then planting more peas and beans all at once for a bigger harvest. Beans and peas are so easy to freeze

I never thought of freezing green beans. I read that they can be blanched and then froze or frozen after snipping the ends off and snapping to the desired size and freezing on a baking sheet in a single layer then put in a freezer bag.

Which method do you use or prefer?

Thank you in advance!

p.s. Glad your back I enjoy reading your post.

 

[Gardener1850]

I never thought of freezing green beans. I read that they can be blanched and then froze or frozen after snipping the ends off and snapping to the desired size and freezing on a baking sheet in a single layer then put in a freezer bag.

Which method do you use or prefer?

Thank you in advance!

p.s. Glad your back I enjoy reading your post.

I wash the green beans and leave them in a colander to dry for about 30 minutes or so (just until the big drops of water are gone mostly, you could also lay them out on a clean towel to dry them).
Then I snap the ends off, cut them to the size I want, and put them directly into quart-sized zip top freezer bags. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible before closing.
Then put them into the freezer laying flat on a shelf. And that's it.

All the online experts say you need to blanche them first to preserve the color but I decided to skip that step one year and it worked great for me. And it's so much easier. I've tried canning beans in the past too but we don't like the texture/taste of them canned. I've pickled them too (search for "Dilly Beans recipe") but I didn't love them that way. It's probably a matter of preference or depends on how you normally cook your green beans. I mostly use my frozen beans in soups, casseroles or stir-fry. If I'm making a green bean-only side dish (such as steaming them with olive oil and almond slivers) then I prefer to start with fresh beans for that type of thing. I don't like mushy beans.

I recommend trying it out with freezing just one bag, leave it in the freezer for a few days and then pull out and cook with them to see if you like it for however you normally prepare your green beans.

PS: I do the same thing with sweet peas- wash, shell them and put them right into bags and into the freezer. So easy!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

28 states issue warnings about mysterious seed packets from China

The Montana Department of Agriculture said the unidentified seeds may have the potential to introduce diseases to local plants or could be harmful to livestock.

Officials in at least 28 states are urging residents to report any unsolicited packages of seeds that appear to have been sent from China because they could be harmful.

The agricultural departments in those states released statements in recent days saying residents had reported receiving packages of seeds in the mail that they had not ordered.

"Based on information provided by constituents, the packages were sent by mail and may have Chinese writing on them," the Delaware Department of Agriculture said in a statement Monday. "All contained some sort of seed packet either alone, with jewelry, or another inexpensive item."...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan warns residents against planting unsolicited seeds mailed from China

Residents across the U.S. who have received unsolicited seed shipments from China should not plant them, the Michigan Department of Agricultural and Rural Development said.

"The seeds are usually sent in white packages displaying Chinese lettering and the words 'China post.'" the department said in a press release. "Most recipients say they did not order anything, and that the packaging was labeled as jewelry." MDARD advises all Michigan residents to avoid opening or planting any seeds they receive.

Robin Rosenbaum, Michigan's state plant regulatory official, said the state doesn't have an official count of how many have reported receiving the seeds. Since Friday, she has received 21 calls herself, but many more have called her colleagues in the department or the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

 

[mickey2942]

Three ripe cherry tomatoes so far. A few banana peppers.

 

[lonetraveler]

Haven't been on this site in a while. I've been busy, planting tomatoes, pepper plants, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, rose bushes. I've got way more tomatoes than I can eat.
I also dug and put in two small fish ponds with connecting waterfall and stream.....with fish. Yep. I'm going totally stir crazy being at home so much......... .

 

[Quiet Time]

Did you put in the ponds yourself?
Impressive.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

Today’s unexpected harvest - a courgette that seems to have sprung up overnight and two cucumbers.

 

[Eleven_11]

My first cucumber! Going to get what I need to make pickles today.

 

[mickey2942]

My first cucumber! Going to get what I need to make pickles today.

Target seems to have good prices on canning products. I have been looking around.

 

[lonetraveler]

Did you put in the ponds yourself?
Impressive.

Yes, I dug them, put in the liners. Clay soil is like digging through concrete by the way. Love watching my fish and the sound of flowing water is very soothing.

The ponds are about 150 gallons each with a three foot tiered stream from one pond to the other. At one end there is a 80 gal pond with waterfall end going into one of the ponds. At my other house I hand dug with a shovel a four foot deep, three foot and one foot tiered 12 x 16 foot koi pond. I left that to my daughter who moved into my home after I moved into another home that I had been renting out. I love outdoor things.

 

[Gardener1850]

We had our first BLT sandwiches from the garden tomatoes today. I sliced a beautiful, perfectly ripe, Brandywine Pink tomato and sprinkled it with kosher salt, toasted some GF whole grain bread, then put a thin layer of Duke's mayo on each piece of toast, stacked a big tomato slice, a slice of white cheddar, 2 pieces of crispy bacon, then some arugula and baby swiss chard from the garden (my other lettuces bolted in the heat). Oh. My. Goodness. was it amazing!

I'm up to 3 gallons of tomatoes in my freezer and they just keep coming faster than we can eat them all. I'm freezing the ones we can't eat until I have enough to can a big batch of sauce all at once. To freeze tomatoes I simply wash them, make an x on the bottom with a paring knife and then core out the top and put in a gallon freezer bag. When I'm ready to cook with them I pull them out and let them thaw in the fridge overnight.

I'm overwhelmed with cucumbers right now and getting ready to can a big batch of pickles and relish in the next few days. I think everyone I know will be getting pickles and tomato sauce from me for Christmas this year, LOL. At least they are the right colors for the season (red and green).

 

[kalvis]

We had our first BLT sandwiches from the garden tomatoes today. I sliced a beautiful, perfectly ripe, Brandywine Pink tomato and sprinkled it with kosher salt, toasted some GF whole grain bread, then put a thin layer of Duke's mayo on each piece of toast, stacked a big tomato slice, a slice of white cheddar, 2 pieces of crispy bacon, then some arugula and baby swiss chard from the garden (my other lettuces bolted in the heat). Oh. My. Goodness. was it amazing!

I'm up to 3 gallons of tomatoes in my freezer and they just keep coming faster than we can eat them all. I'm freezing the ones we can't eat until I have enough to can a big batch of sauce all at once. To freeze tomatoes I simply wash them, make an x on the bottom with a paring knife and then core out the top and put in a gallon freezer bag. When I'm ready to cook with them I pull them out and let them thaw in the fridge overnight.

I'm overwhelmed with cucumbers right now and getting ready to can a big batch of pickles and relish in the next few days. I think everyone I know will be getting pickles and tomato sauce from me for Christmas this year, LOL. At least they are the right colors for the season (red and green).

Congratulations! Your home grown tomatoes look delicious!

The pickle relish and tomato sauce will make a nice Christmas gift!

Now I am craving a BLT.