Sweet Corn – The last planting of sweet corn was harvested today. We will harvest the remaining ears next week, and then this summer vegetable is over. The last planting was ripped out today.
After having a volunteer, spend a couple of hours pulling out an older planting, we debated the merits of growing corn when all the labor is done by hand.
It is an easy vegetable to grow, but the cost in space and the labor to tear out the plants that only yield one or two ears each is quite expensive. As a comparison, we planted about the same amount of corn and tomatoes by acre, but we can harvest about 20-30 pounds of tomatoes off one plant versus the two ears of corn from one stalk.
The worst part of this scenario is that in the market, most of you can buy two ears of corn for a dollar. It is so inexpensive to grow when a machine can prepare the planting beds and do the harvesting.
Cucumbers – On Monday, I pulled out the first of the cucumber plants that we planted this year. They were still producing, but this year we have had so many cucumbers that we wouldn’t miss a few plants. Also, we needed the space, so amendments were added to the soil (compost, fertilizer, and gypsum), then planted peas right away.
Tomatoes – This week the crew struggled to harvest very many tomatoes. This week we will remove any of the plants that have stopped producing. This year we planted mostly heirloom varieties. The heirlooms are beautiful but they are not as productive as hybrid varieties. I think we could use a combination of both, increasing the hybrids. We probably won’t harvest every week, but the plants will produce, slowly, for the next 5-6 weeks.
Summer Squash – This is the last week for our summer squash. As excited as I am to harvest the first, I am never sad to see them go.
Basil – This week we harvested lemon basil and Thai basil. They have a similar flavor and can be used interchangeably, but they have slightly different aromas and are fun to mix up.
Sweet and Hot Peppers – The spicy peppers are coming on. This late summer crop will take its time. I brought home three habaneros to play with while wearing gloves of course.
Eggplant – The eggplant continues on strong, so in the newsletter, Baked Eggplant Parmesan was the recipe of the week.
Green Beans – We picked another harvest of green beans this week. Fortunately, the bean plants like our weather in the fall and spring. Our very hot summers will keep the plants from pollinating. In our region, they are a better crop on the shoulders of our summer. Unfortunately, they are time-consuming to pick.
Cilantro – The cilantro was starting to bolt this week, so we picked a bunch for everyone. It is perfect in a Thai soup with the lemongrass and the basil.
Lemongrass – We grow lemongrass as a perineal. It actually makes a nice landscape plant and it also will propagate itself from one stalk. If you put the lemongrass in water, it will sprout roots and then you can plant it in the dirt and it will continue to grow.
Garlic – The third week in a row of sending garlic. I had a volunteer pull this out of storage, so next week I will inventory the remaining heads for planting.
This is the season for goat heads. This annual weed loves our hot dry weather. It seems to grow without water. The plant, also called bindii or puncture vine creates a seed with sharp spines that pop bicycle tires and gets stuck in the paws of your animal friends. It also just hurts to pull them up if you grab the wrong spot. Right now, the plants have small yellow flowers that make it easy to spot among the other vegetation, so we spent an hour or so trying to remove it before the seeds spread to grow another crop next year.
Braising Greens and Arugula were sprouting from last Thursday’s planting. It’s always rewarding to see the seeds germinate. This miracle of nature is impressive and the start of another generation of plants. Keeping up with planting is the key to having a successful garden.
My favorite quote to live by these days is by Robert Louis Stevenson, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”
In addition to the habaneros, I picked an acorn squash to come home with me. We have an assortment of winter squash in the ground, spaghetti, butternut, kabocha, and delicata in addition to the acorn. I want to cut it open and see how sweet it is. Depending on its ripeness and the weather we can leave these out in the field to sweeten up, even as the plants start to die back.
Our first official fall vegetable will be ready next week. Arugula.
Have a great week,
Julie