Normal view of our counter
This summer there has always been random vegetables just sitting on the counter.
Okra
I am still amazed by the flowers. And they have been producing very steadily. Did you know theses plants grow 4 to 4 ft tall? I made gumbo..........mmmm.
Eggplants
We had quite a bit of difficulty with these. The started off very slow and were totally eaten up by these very small bugs that looked like fleas or something. We finally powdered them with a pesticide and they finally started to grow. The eggplant fruits looked beautiful, though small. That is what they looked like a week ago. After some heat they have started to wilt. They have lost their firmness and shine. We are trying to salvage them with heavy watering. Perhaps they will just end up as baba ghanoush.
Cayenne Peppers
These have been producing prolifically, but we have done NOTHING with them. Some are rotting on the plant and a few have rotted inside the kitchen. I used a few in a few dishes, but we have yet to really dry them. So I gave a bunch to my friend Fillan. He is better about things like this. He will dry them and crush them I am sure. We may actually give them ALL to him and let him process them and get some back from him. It will be nice to have dry flakes for all kinds of cooking.
Garlic
Okay, this is something I am truly proud of. Though they didn't get a full 220 growing season, I pulled the garlic up last week. The tops were turning brown and the necks had gone soft. They are small, but they are as done as they will get. Tried some the other day and it tasted just fine....in fact it smelled great! In searching online how to braid garlic, I discovered the BEST blog about gardening and cooking. Thy Hand Hath Provided is a blog written by a early 30's Mennonite (though modern) mom. They grow and preserve almost all their vegetables and cook so much amazing food. I am very very jealous. Strange for me to feeling such long distance, anonymous friendship with a conservative Mennonite family, but I devour her blog. Thanks for the lesson on braiding garlic, though mine did not turn out perfectly.
Okay, this is something I am truly proud of. Though they didn't get a full 220 growing season, I pulled the garlic up last week. The tops were turning brown and the necks had gone soft. They are small, but they are as done as they will get. Tried some the other day and it tasted just fine....in fact it smelled great! In searching online how to braid garlic, I discovered the BEST blog about gardening and cooking. Thy Hand Hath Provided is a blog written by a early 30's Mennonite (though modern) mom. They grow and preserve almost all their vegetables and cook so much amazing food. I am very very jealous. Strange for me to feeling such long distance, anonymous friendship with a conservative Mennonite family, but I devour her blog. Thanks for the lesson on braiding garlic, though mine did not turn out perfectly.
2 comments:
Ok 2 things. First, mmm baba ganoush. There's also Caponata, an Italian eggplant spread that I can eat with a spoon.
Second, what's up with the cayenne peppers rotting? That's weird to me. I dried what we bought in Kentucky last year just on the counter. Didn't even bother with a ristra. I spread them out in a drafty corner of the kitchen. LOL. Now, I didn't have a whole lot or I wouldn't have tried that. I understand if you have a whole slew of peppers it will fill your house with horrible fumes.
Anyway I'm so jealous you can grow things. Will def check out the blog you recommended!
Brilliant! I think we will try caponata instead. The peppers were not spread out properly, but a few rotted on the bush as well. I had a problem with bell peppers rotting on the bush as well. This heat and dryness are just ravishing the garden.
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