I took yesterday off to complete a home garden project with my husband. I have been working towards landscaping the front yard side-portion of our corner subdivision lot. Removing the grass and taking advantage of the sun on the south side of the house. So with out day off we moved a ton of bricks and 2 cubic yards of soil (a truckload).
The small corner, I completed last year has strawberries. The trees, from left to right, were already in the ground, an apricot, pomegranate and the now dead avocado. The avocado was wishful thinking from the beginning, starting the seed in the kitchen 5 years ago. Hopefully, one day I can figure out why it was so unhappy. For now our plan is to replace it in the winter with a nectarine. Then, I will fill in the spaces with some perennial herbs.
I did go to the garden on Monday to check out what was happening and get the team set up for a harvest without me.
We spent some time weeding our fall seedlings. Removing the weeds allows the vegetable that we want to grow get the water and nutrients that it would otherwise have to share with the weed.
In an organic garden, the only way to remove the weeds is to pull them manually, either by hand or with a hoe. Most commercial growers use a pre-emergent chemical. It kills the weed seeds in the ground before they plant their vegetables. Even though the chemical is not sprayed on the plant, it’s in the soil and the soil becomes the plant by absorbing the water in the soil that it needs to grow.
Here is our harvest list.
Bok Choy - This week we picked Qing Mai. It’s a baby bok choy variety that is now not so baby. It grew so fast, it is now the size of a regular head of bok choy. It looks beautiful, without insect or pest damage. Baby bok choy is more tender than the larger version, you can eat it raw, with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, ginger, salt and pepper.
Arugula - The arugula that we cut last week was ready to cut again. This will grow quickly until the daylight hours and cold weather slow it down. Of course, if the hot weather continues, it will send out it flowers to make seeds and we won’t be able to pick more. The flower shoots are tough and woody. I guess you could eat them if you were really hungry.
Acorn or Spaghetti Squash - This week we picked as many more acorn squash that we could find and then moved onto spaghetti squash. These varieties don’t need to be cured and are better within a week or two of harvesting. They will store, and last year, we had a huge crop, sending spaghetti squash through December. But their optimum eating period is right after picking.
Corn - This week we picked all of the remaining ears of the corn. I gave the direction to inspect them for kernels and decide if they were worth sending out. The pollination on the ears that grow late, has been spotty at best. There is nothing wrong with eating ears with just a few kernels, but we don’t want to send out ears with such a small quantity, there would be just a few bites.
Basil - The basil will end soon, but as long as it’s here we harvest. If you want to save it, the two ways that work best are making pesto and then freezing it, and drying. I know that most chefs don’t bother with dried basil, but I have found that when I dry basil myself, it is much more fragrant than what you buy in the store. It’s great for soups and stews. Still add it near the end of cooking, and crush the dried leaves when you use them. And don’t bother storing the dried leaves longer than one year. Make another batch next fall.
Green Beans - We are nearing the end of the production for this planting. One more to go, before the frost. Hopefully we will have green beans for Thanksgiving and I can share my alternative Green Bean “Casserole” recipe. I use the quotes for casserole, because there is no need to overcook green beans.
Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Peppers, and Eggplant -
All of these plants will stay in the ground until our first frost. This could be as late as Thanksgiving. We will continue to harvest and the plants will continue to slow down through the fall.
This is the time to preserve any vegetables for the winter. I like to roast and freeze eggplant, make pickles with the cucumbers and summer squash. And for my peppers, there is hot sauce. Each fall, I make several bottles of hot sauce to get me through the year.
Have a great week,
Julie Moreno