Butternut Squash
Fall in the Garden
I went to the garden late this afternoon and harvested 10 oz. of green beans, 4 butternut squash (10 lb. 14 oz. total), a big handful of Swiss chard and the last dahlia. I only took the squash that had brown stems, the remaining 9 (!) still have green stems, so they might grow and ripen a bit more. I need to carefully watch the night temperatures though.
Shallots
Roasted Tomatoes
I still have a lot of tomatoes coming in from my community plot. For tonight’s dinner, I slow-roasted some with minced home-grown garlic and fresh thyme (90 minutes at 300F). I then chopped the tomatoes and added them to sauteed (home-grown) shallots and (store-bought) crimini mushrooms. I served everything over penne pasta, topped with grated cheese and fresh basil. No photo of the final dish – it was gone to quickly.
October
I went to Franklin Park this Tuesday afternoon to watch my son’s soccer game. Fall is here.
Today’s Harvest
End of September
I watered the garden this morning and harvested 2 pounds of green beans and a handful of tomatoes.
The plot is looking pretty good. The beans are still growing strong, I have twelve butternut squashes going, and a jungle of Swiss chard. Still some tomatoes. Sadly, only one dahlia came up, and the leeks are still small for the most part (too much shade from the chard). The fall greens are being eaten by flea beetles, they have tons of tiny holes in the leaves.
Back Porch in the Fall
Happy fall from my back porch.
Vandalism
Good news first: I harvested more green beans, which will be part of dinner tonight together with the ones I harvested a couple of days ago.
Bad news: our community garden was vandalized last night by a drunk/high person. I talked to neighbors from across the street who saw the man hurling the lids of our compost bins around, confronted him and called the police. The officers questioned him but let him go whereupon he continued to destroy our garden. Several plots were damaged, mostly by destroying trellises and tomato cages, tall plants were snapped, our (very heavy) table in the patio area was toppled as was the water barrel.
I filed a report with the police. They promised to send more patrols into the area over the next few days. I hope this was an isolated incident.
Beans
I harvested my first green beans today. I had sowed them very late this season but they came in great and with the warm weather forecast for the next week or so, I should have plenty to harvest.
I also made another veggie/herb/flower bouquet: dahlia, (bolted) purple lettuce, dill and lavender:
I love this type of dahlia. The colors are amazing. When the flower is still closed it is a beautiful shade of salmon pink. When it opens, the inside of the petals is almost neon yellow with a slight greenish tint. It then becomes lighter and turns into a cream color as the flower starts to fade. I wish I remembered the name.