Today’s Harvest
Category: Fall
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.
Second Harvest
I went back to the garden in the afternoon to weed and to fix the garden hose. I pulled some onions and picked a pepper. One squash ripped off its vine so I bought it home. There is so much squash! …
… and the chard is so pretty in the afternoon light:
Today’s Harvest
The tomatoes will be used for sandwiches and in a succotash for dinner tonight. The Swiss chard will go into this orzo with caramelized fall vegetables tomorrow night. The peppers will be part of a chili planned for early next week.
Early September
The tomatoes are winding down, sadly. Still tons of chard, green beans, cauliflower, a couple of cucumbers, leeks, onions and a whole squash patch. And the fall greens are coming up. The carrots not so much.
Last Garden Tomatoes
Last night’s dinner was Moroccan meatballs with harrisa, cumin-roasted cauliflower with tahini, Greek salad and rice. The five tomatoes in the salad were the very last ones from my garden. They had been ripening on the kitchen window sill for the past five weeks. They were so very tasty.
From my garden in my pantry right now: garlic, hydroponic basil I grew from basil cuttings back in early October (although the basil now is slowly dying).
From my garden in my refrigerator right now: carrots, leeks, beets (I roasted them a couple of days ago and we will have them in a salad tonight).
Still growing in the garden: leeks, kale, Brussels sprouts.
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving at our friends’ house and I was on appetizer duty. My daughter and I made these butternut squash turnovers, which in addition to squash are filled with mushrooms, leeks, garlic, goat cheese and thyme. They are delicious, and it made me very happy to be able to incorporate homegrown vegetables – leeks and garlic – into the dish.
