Well. The tomatoes <i>were</i> quite lovely, right up until they aged out and I pulled them out. I didn't feel bad about it, I was over them and their shaggy, tangled messiness.
Then
Now
I feel so much better now. So much tidier, well, so many fewer tomato plants. A lot of the peppers went away too, if the plant wasn't producing it was <i>plucked</i>. I decided it was <i>September</i> after all and the toms from my experience will hang on making fruits for as long as you keep them in the ground <i>none of them</i> are going to ripen. The peppers that are still busy but living on borrowed time - I have been more than happy with them but even their time is growing short. I think I have four peppers out there that have a future and once they come ripe, well, its a garden, its not year round work.
The green beans however, <i>Wow!</i> Who knew? They just kind of plodded along all summer. I got a total of <i>two</i> meals out of them and I was beginning to wonder what the big deal was. And then I went on vacation. I came home to <i>all the beans</i>, and I picked them and like any good farmer, I "put them up". I thought the plants were kind of over, right up until I went for a casual pick on Sunday and came away with a boat load of beans. I decided that I should always wait awhile between harvests. Great I said, I'll pick again, say, Friday.
<i>Monday</i> I did a quick look see and came away with <i>another</i> load. I was very thorough. I wasn't going to poke around after work today, because well, <I>how many could there be? I picked a l l of them all ready</i>, well I found <i>more</i> and there are lots and lots of baby beans out there maturing by the hour.
That is a gallon storage bag and oh, in a couple of days when I have filled it, I will blanch and freeze more beans for the winter. Speaking of eating what comes from the garden. How do <i>you</i> feel about watermelon by say, <i>October</i>? Yeah, that's my problem. So. I went and looked for recipes that would utilize the melons that did not include the words <i>slushy,Margareta</i> or <i>salad</i> I wanted foods that I could store for the long haul. A challenge. I found recipes for sherbet, ice cream, <i>pie filling</i> and BBQ sauce. All of them look very doable and will let me celebrate my harvest all winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment