Next to Last Harvest

Getting close to the end. Pumpkins, one more watermelon, and one more musk melon harvested today. We're expecting snow in a couple days so probably one more harvest of carrots and kale this year.

Autumn Delivery

Today we delivered a little under 35 pounds of produce to Mt. Calvary food shelf. Eggplant, peppers (poblano, jalapeno, those spicy red ones), cukes, okra, tomatoes, kale, thyme - and my mutant carrots.

I'm getting to like those short fat carrots, regardless of how the more practiced gardeners make fun of them (me). They have character! Next year I'll plant a special row of them on top of rocky soil just like this year. But we'll make sure there are a couple of rows with the soil loosened so we can have the more traditional tall skinny carrots.

And here's a recipe we found for the carrots, including those beautiful greens on top of them:

1 bunch of carrots, tops included
2 tblspns unsalted butter
3 tblspns white rice
2 large leeks, white part only
2 thyme or lemon thyme sprigs
2 tblspns chopped dill or parsley
6 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pull the carrots green off their stems. ( 2 to 3 cups, loosely packed).
Wash and chop greens and carrots finely.
Melt butter in a soup pot.
Add the carrot tops and the carrots, rice, leeks, thyme, and dill or parsley.
Cook for several minutes, turning everything a few times.
Add 1½ teaspoons salt.
Add the stock and bring to a boil.
Simmer until the rice is cooked, 16 to 18 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Liz's instructions for building a Tomato Trellis

From our Master Gardener Liz, who built the trellis in our garden, instructions for how to build one in yours:

I got the idea for the tomato trellis during a visit to Sabathini Urban Garden in Minneapolis.

I thought it was such a great idea I went straight to Home Depot to purchase the supplies, and next thing you know I’m building the trellis with a little help from my son.

Materials
4 – 2x2x8’s
2 – 1x2x8’s
2 – 5 inch bolts (to go through two 2x2’s), 4 washers to fit the bolts, and 2 wing nuts to fit the bolts
4 – 4 inch bolts (to go through one 2x2 and one 1x2), 8 washers to fit the bolts, and 4 wing nuts to fit the bolts
Roll of string

Equipment
Drill & drill bits
Saw
Scissors
Shovel

Building Instructions
1. Cut one of the 1x2x8’s in half to make two cross bars.
2. In each 2x2x8, drill a hole one foot from the top and another hole 4 feet from the top.
3. In each 1x2x4 (cross bar), drill a hole about 6 inches from each end.
4. Attach 2 of the 2x2x8’s at the top with the 5 inch bolts, washers, and wing nuts.
5. Repeat Step 4 for the remaining 2x2x8’s.
6. Spread one set of the 2x2x8’s apart. Match the lower holes on the 2x2x8’s with the holes a cross bar. Attach the cross bar to the 2x2x8’s with the 4 inch bolts, washers, and wing nuts.
7. Repeat Step 6 for the other set.
8. Bury the 2x2x8’s about 6-8" into the ground, about 7 feet apart.
8. Place the remaining 1x2x8 across each ‘V’.
Planting Instructions
1. Plant the tomato plants under the trellis
2. Cut several pieces of string that reach from the ground to the top support, plus an extra 2-3 feet.
3. Tie a piece of string gently around the base of the tomato plant, gently wrap it around a branch, and gently pull the string up to the top support. Wrap and tie the string in a slip knot around the top support.
4. Repeat step 3 for each branch of the tomato plant, and also as new branches appear.
5. As the branches grow, unwrap the string from the top support, wrap a little more string around the branch, and then re-wrap it around the top support.

Still Going Strong

Even after the cooler weather we had here recently in Minnesota, the garden is still doing well. Quite a long list of produce harvested today for delivery to Mt. Calvary food shelf tomorrow morning.

Green Beans
Okra
Hot Peppers
Carrots
Potatoes
Onion
Thyme
Basil
Dill
Chive
Oregano
Eggplant
Lettuce
Cucumber
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Tomatoes
Beets
Kale
Swiss Chard
Mustard Greens

Greens

All of a sudden the greens are going to town. Maybe the cooler weather? In addition to the chard and lettuce in the picture, we have mustard greens and kale like crazy. We found this recipe for greens - and liked it!

1 bunch greens (collard, mustard, swiss or rainbow chard - about 5 c chopped)
1 bunch kale (about 5 c chopped)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1.Wash and chop greens.
2. Add olive oil, garlic and greens to large pan.
3.Cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until greens are tender, tossing frequently.
4.Once the greens are softened and slightly browned, add the lemon juice and saute an additional 2 minutes.
5.Serve warm.

Visitors

We were glad to see these visitors (free pest control) but they were not as enchanted with us as you'd think. Lots of hissing and honking and rude looks. Couldn't understand what they said, but got the distinct impression it was less than complimentary.

Picnic Weather

Look at what we delivered to Lewis House and Mt. Calvary Food Shelf last week!


We're in picnic season now! Sweet corn, watermelon, summer squash and coleslaw (well cabbage and carrots) - and scrumptious salad greens. Not to mention potatoes for salad or baking. If only we could grow chocolate chip cookies . . .



Guess it's not a picnic without ants, though. When we were digging up the potatoes it was my job to grub through the dirt and make sure we didn't leave any behind (potatoes, not dirt). I turned up a boatload of little red ants.

I didn't get any good pictures of them because, frankly, they were creeping me out. But they weren't fire ants like we have down south. They were smaller than your usual black ants, but bigger than the little black sugar ants (frequent visitors in kitchens where I come from, and yes, I do so clean my kitchen).

So, does anyone know if they're good ants (Flora, Merryweather, Fauna) or bad ants (Maleficent)?