Mid-August
Category: Vegetables
Sowing for Fall Harvest
Today, I harvested a ton of tomatoes. Sadly, many of them had split because of the recent heavy rains. I also started my fall sowing: one row of Golden beets, one row of Chioggia beets and one row of Scarlet Nantes carrots. Towards the end of the month, I will start fall greens.
First Green Zebra Tomatoes!
Zucchini
I turned three zucchini I had recently harvested into a very tasty side dish. I first drew out some water (because one of the zucchini was pretty big) by sprinkling the finger-thick slices with salt and letting them sit for 15 minutes. After blotting them dry, I sauteed them and finished them of in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes. I then added chopped pistachios and chopped fresh parsley and basil from my back porch. Super delicious with fresh baguette.
Today’s Harvest
Nice big harvest today. I keep forgetting to take pictures. I harvested a ton of Italian basil and made basil pesto (really just basil, olive oil and salt; no garlic, cheese or nuts), which I froze in ice cube trays. I like to leave out the garlic, cheese and the nuts to keep it more versatile, as I also use it on fish or roasted vegetables, where I might not always want cheese.
Thai Basil Pesto
Last night, I harvested a bunch of Thai basil from my plot and made this delicious Thai basil pesto. It uses toasted sesame oil and peanuts, and gets a little kick from red pepper flakes. The kids and I had one of our favorite meals last night – crispy pork bowls topped with Thai pesto. I used this recipe for the pork. So good! I made a second batch of Thai pesto but left out the vinegar and lime juice, and froze it for future use.
First Tomatoes
I harvested my first tomatoes! Stupice, a small-fruited tasty early Czech variety. As in previous years, I staggered my tomatoes and planted early, mid-season and late tomatoes, hoping to ensure a steady tomato harvest from July through November. This year, I planted 8 varieties (11 plants total). Early varieties: Stupice, Ailsa Craig (2 plants) ; Mid-season varieties: Brimmer, Striped German (2), Black Prince; Late varieties: Green Zebra, De Wiese Streaked (a shipping mistake, I had ordered Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, one of my favorite tomatoes), Ananas Noire (2). The tomato seeds were from Sand Hill Preservation Center (Stupice, Ailsa Craig, Brimmer, Black Prince, De Wiese Streaked), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (Green Zebra, Ananas Noire) and Johnnys (Striped German).
July Update
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been harvesting a lot of zucchini, kale, herbs and flowers. I even donated two zucchini to our new donation basket, which we attached outside the garden gate. Today, I harvested the first two cucumbers, which I intend to pickle. My tomatoes are all still green, and sadly, the bunnies keep eating the baby winter squash :(. The basil is thriving, I might make the first batches of pesto very soon. Everything is doing well, we have had a long heat wave and a few crazy thunderstorms, so the gardens are lush.
First Zucchini
I harvested my first zucchini (zucchino?) yesterday and turned it into a roasted vegetable goat cheese pizza. I roasted broccolini, red bell pepper, red onion, Brussels sprouts and zucchini, and spread those on a garlic bechamel. Topped it all with goat cheese and fresh mozzarella. (Recipe from the cookbook Eat Delicious). The pictures do not do it justice. It was delicious!
Garden Plot Clean-Up
This morning, I spent a couple of hours weeding my plot and spreading salt marsh hay that I had left over from weeding the outside garden bed and fertilizing and mulching it earlier this morning. The outside bed is now pretty much all set until the fall, when I am hoping to get spring bulbs in the ground. I mulched that bed heavily, hoping to suppress the weeds. Fingers crossed.
My plot is now ready for summer. The zucchini are coming in, the first tomatoes are showing up on the vine, the leeks have recovered, the winter squash is spreading, and the garlic is almost ready for harvest.
