Mid-Summer Bounty

31 July, 2012 Reply
Harvest from my Garden on July 31st

After feeling very discouraged today’s harvest was way past amazing.

After last week’s disaster with my tomato plants, I was pretty discouraged with the harvest I was expecting from my garden, yet again. Seems since we’ve moved into this house I can’t do anything right to keep a garden going from spring to fall.

Today my garden decided to let me know it’s doing well and producing just fine. I walked out the door to find three melons had dropped from the vine overnight and not one critter had taken a bite out of them. I was shocked. I was going to do some work in another area, but realized I needed to harvest, yet again. There were several cucumbers, a few beans (they’ll get going again once it cools a little bit). Then I started working on the herbs. I have five kinds of basil in my garden; sweet, lemon, licorice, holy and an unknown variety; and I started harvesting each variety. The pile began to grow and grow as I went from one plant to the next. Then I realized that my sage was humongous! I harvested some of that. I cut back some of the old stems of the oregano I transplanted and there were a bunch of new shoots on the top, which I harvested. Then on to the sisho. I harvested just a few branches of that because I didn’t know if it would hold well in water. It’s doing fine.

Last, but not least I turned to my dismal looking tomato plants and found that they were so grateful to be unburied that, although they look terrible, they had plenty of goodies for me to pick.

Bounty everywhere. Here's a closer look.

Here’s a closer look at some of today’s harvest.

From feeling like I had nothing to harvest in my garden, to my kitchen overflowing with goodies. What a pick-me-up if I ever had one. For lunch today I fixed some of our tomatoes and a few of a particular kind of bean that I was doing a test on, plus some zuch (purchased), in a coconut milk/tahini sauce. As seasoning I put in some of every single herb I harvested today and it was fantastic. I topped it off with a handful of fresh yellow cherry tomatoes and it was a meal fit for a king!

From bummed to blissful in one morning’s work.

Have you ever had any surprises in your garden? Has a plant produced when you thought it wouldn’t or maybe you planted something for the first time and it was spectacular? Share your stories and your pics. I’d love to see them.

The Mad Frost Dance!

21 October, 2011 Reply

First killing frost is on its way.

Yesterday I had to do the mad frost dance. They were predicting that we might get our first frost and I hadn’t finished harvesting the basil. So, out I run, cut down the lemon basil, bring it in, pick the leaves and put them on the dehydrator sheet, and start them dehydrating. Mad dash number two is for licorice basil. Now the dehydrator is full.

Then I go out and cut down most of the sweet basil and bring it in to put in a bowl of water. Sweet basil will hold in water for several days without wilting, however lemon basil just droops as soon it’s cut.

Back outside. Executive decision time. I don’t know how well licorice basil will hold in the water. So, do I cut it and chance it wilting and being a total mess or, leave it outside and chance it being ruined by the frost. I opt for the first, as if it wilts it is still edible, just hard to harvest and put on the trays to complete the dehydration process. If it did frost it would be a black, slimy, inedible mess.

Now I have two huge bowls filled with sweet and licorice basil. I can breathe a sigh of relief. We’ll have enough basil to last us through another winter and spring, until I can start the cycle all over again.

This morning I stored the lemon basil. It was a good harvest this year. We won’t have to scrimp. I’ll be able to add lemon basil to all the sauces and dressing I want. It’s so satisfying. Having grown my own food and put a little of it away to remind me through the bleak, cold months, what next years garden is going to bring.

Oh, by the way. It didn’t frost, but it did get down to 36˙, so it’s only a matter of a few more days for us to see the first killing frost.

Focus Plant: Catnip

28 June, 2011 Reply

Honeybees on catnip

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is well known for its affects on cats. Anyone who’s ever seen a cat given a catnip toy knows that they lose all their reserve and act like they’re totally uninhibited, drunk possibly.

Catnip seems to have that same affect on all the pollinators. Right now my catnip is in full bloom and it is covered in every sort of flying nectar drinker I’ve ever seen. There are bees, green flies, butterflies, etc. They just don’t seem to be able to get enough of the nectar.

I originally planted catnip, because it was supposed to repel ants. Well that didn’t work at all. I was about to pull the plants up, as I didn’t really see any use for them since they failed to eradicate the massive ant population on our property.

For whatever reason I never got to it last fall and then didn’t have the heart to do it once it started growing this spring.  Now that I know that it draws pollinators I’m going to keep it in the landscape. The past couple of years I’ve had a hard time with pollination of my vegetable garden. Now things seem to be much better. I’ve got lots of baby vegetables coming on.

Now that it is going to be a part of my landscape I decided to see what other uses it has other than cheap entertainment for your cat, and you watching your cat.

There’s a long list of ailments catnip is supposed to help. The main being that it is a relaxant. It’ll help you get to sleep when you are restless. So, don’t drink it before driving as it causes drowsiness. It also helps with respiratory infections, fevers, cold or flu, colic, gas, headaches, indigestion, menstrual cramps, etc. As with any herb if you are pregnant consult with a knowledgeable herbalist before using.

Catnip growing specs: 3-5’ tall, Zone 3a to 9b, full sun/part shade, water regularly, don’t overwater. Will freely self sow in some conditions (like my garden) deadhead if you don’t want seedlings (I have lots).