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Today was a balmy 13C and I took my first cuttings of my winter greens. I never eat my salad greens until I’ve washed, spun, and crisped them up in the fridge, so unfortunately, I won’t be tasting them until lunchtime tomorrow. For supper, I made vegetarian Boston Baked Beans. I won’t be tasting …
With all of the tomatoes ripening on the counter, it was no surprise to find a few fruit flies flitting around. I detest them. So, in a mild panic, I decided to get every scrap of food off the counter and into the fridge, and I put the kitchen compost outside on the …
I harvested potatoes and onions today. The onions are perfect, round and uniform – I’m quite pleased. The only bummer is that I didn’t plant enough of them. The potatoes are from my second planting, which I did in the experimental stacked bins. Russet Burbanks in all three. RBs are …
Something’s feasting on my winter spinach. I can recognize rabbit damage when I see it, so I’ve started a nightly cayenne ritual. I grew the pretty pepper plants two years ago to defend my garden against small critters. They were gorgeous plants, very bushy, just dripping with bright red finger-sized peppers. I …
Another frost warning tonight. This time, with help from family, the plants were covered while it was still daylight. It may be the first of October, so frost protection is a little silly, but my peppers need more time and I intend to give it to them. I planted them when they were little …
It was a strange day of intermittent sunshowers. Capricious weather. Mercurial. Jeckyll-and-Hyde. The clouds would part, the sun would burst through, then the rain would come. It’s a lovely time to be outside, actually. The sunlight flashes off the dripping plants and leaves you too dazzled to do any …
I have one. Back in the spring, I started half a dozen each of red cabbage, green cabbage and brussels sprouts. The latter grew well in the cell packs, but never actually made it into the garden (I ran out of space). Of the others, the red were annihilated by cabbage worms, …
The dehydrator was going all day today. More zucchini and tomatoes. I also decided to try beets this time. They didn’t really sweeten up the same way other fruits and veggies do when the moisture content is reduced. I had simply sliced them and spread them out on the dehydrator trays. …
I canned five pints of salsa today. The tomatoes were a mix of Amish Paste, Roma and Hungarian Heart. With night temps back up into the “teens” all this week, the rest of the fruit will have a reasonable chance to mature. I may be in full canning production by Saturday.
It’s the same story every year: I’m happily going about my daily harvest – bringing in the beets, the potatoes, the tomatoes, the peppers – and enjoying the warm days and cool nights that September brings, when suddenly Environment Canada issues a Frost Warning. I’m usually wrapping up my evening with a soothing cup of [...]
I think if we can learn to LIVE Green, EAT Green and GROW Green, then ultimately we will SAVE Green, which is good for our pocketbooks, and good for the planet.
I don’t think I’ve ever watered tomatoes, or any part of my garden, in the month of September. At least, not until this year. I would normally be putting away the hoses and fittings at this time of year, but we haven’t had rain in weeks. I watered about ten days ago, …
I also have a love/hate relationship with recipes that promise to “put a dent in that zucchini harvest”.
The first decent harvest of Stupice tomatoes are in the dehydrator. When they’ve shrunk about 50% I’ll freeze them for use in soups, stews and sauces. Must remember: If I’m not sure if my zucchini is ready, then it’s definitely ready. I always leave it an extra day and then I end up …
The tomatoes received the last pruning of the season this morning. I finally snipped off all the tops, removing any blossoms that won’t have time to set fruit before the cold weather hits. I picked one or two Hungarian Hearts, several (my favourite) Black Krims, and many Stupice and Sweeties. Still no …
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