It’s been a while…. August 15, 2009

I haven’t written any posts for months….summer is relaxin’ time for me! Also, the summer is so hot and humid, most of my plants didn’t make it through. However, the peppers and eggplant are doing great.

 

In Northern Florida, we are *supposed* to be able to grow another round of warm weather crops…so I thought I would try it out. I am not optimistic…there are lots of bugs out there! We will see what happens.

 

Yesterday I planted out seeds for cucumbers, various squashes, pumpkin, corn, watermelon and all kinds of beans. I add pics as they grow!

Rain, Rain Go Away… May 22, 2009

It has been raining here in Northern Florida for a week straight!  I am a little more than sick of it…

Parts of my yard are flooded.

Today was the first day I was able to go out and take some pics without getting completely soaked…so here are a few updates.

I harvested my garlic today…its bottom leaves were looking really brown and slimy.  The garlic on the right is elephant garlic and the ones of the left are regular garlic.  Each was grown from store bought garlic.  They are now drying in the spare bathroom.  It is still raining out, so I couldn’t let them dry outdoors.

Just a size comparison for ya!

Sweet potatoes are loving this rain.  They are about a foot tall right now.

I got curious…so I shucked one of the popcorn cobs…most of the kernels were pollinated!  I don’t think this was quite ready so I chucked it in the compost pile.

My first yellow squash in starting to grow, hopefully the squash bugs won’t get it.

Peppers galore…I need to find a recipe for stuffed peppers.  I think that’s what I will use some of the Gypsy peppers for.

Peanut plants have blooms on them!!!  I’m not sure how tall the plants are supposed to get…but these can’t be any taller than 5 or 6 inches.

I also harvest about 6 lbs of tomatoes today…some of them were cracking from all the rain.  The fungus is spreading and this nasty weather is not helping matters.  I could run out there and put neem oil on them, but it would be washed away in 20 minutes    I will see what I can do when this weather gets better.

First Tomato Harvest May 17, 2009

I went out today and picked the tomatoes that were either completely red or nearly red.  All the tomatoes together weighed about 6 lbs.  Most of them were paste tomatoes…so sometime this week I will try my first batch of tomato sauce.  I saw a recipe on the Food Network by Alton Brown that I plan to try out.  Basically he roasted the tomatoes with herbs, onion and garlic, then he used a food mill.  I will be using a food processor.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/tomato-sauce-recipe/index.html

I also harvested a few other things.  The corn wasn’t fully pollinated but hopefully it will taste good.  I also found aphids (and ants) where the cob sandwiches up with the stalk. 

The onions are bulbing, but I am not sure how big the bulbs will get.  I read that onions that were started from sets will not get as big as onions started from seed….so we’ll see. 

This is the first harvest of ‘Blue Lake’ beans. 

I need to figure out something to do with the Anaheim peppers…I might chop them up and freeze them for salsa later this summer???  Gypsy pepper will go in a chop salad (no lettuce).  Yesterday, I pulled out 2 more Anaheim peppers and one Gyspy pepper plants and replaced them with three yellow bell pepper plants.

Today is Blaine’s birthday, so I am off to the store to get him some chicken wings and ribs so he can cook them on the grill.  We will also be having the corn and  beans with dinner.

First Harvest (and dinner) of Beans May 9, 2009

I harvested my first batch of beans.  The ‘Tongue of Fire’ beans came in about 10 days earlier that the ‘Blue lake’ bean. 

My beans went from this to this:

I was a little disappointed that the red streaks disappeared when I blanched them…but they were tasty.  I blanched the beans for 3-4 minutes in salty water.  Rinsed them with cool water and let them drain.  In another pan…I melted butter and oil.  Next add my favorite ingredient….garlic (a whole clove) and onions.  I love the smell these two ingredients put in the house!  Then after the onions have softened I added the drained beans back into the pan for a minute or  two.  They were really good.

Holy Peppers! May 9, 2009

I have a ton of peppers growing….I can’t make myself pull out some of the pepper plants    Here are just a few pics that I took today.

Anaheim peppers…these are hot peppers.  I have no idea what I am going to do with all of these hot peppers.  These will probably be the first to be pulled.  I only really need one.  I also purchased a jalepeno pepper plant…but that one is in another bed. 

Bell peppers…don’t have much else to say about these.

Gypsy peppers…I picked one of these today to try them out.  Pretty good.  I will probably use these mostly in salads.  They will eventually turn red…actually all three of these peppers will eventually turn red.

Turn Red Already! May 3, 2009

I am WAITING for the tomatoes to turn red…seems like its been forever!  The tomatoes are big, but still waiting.

The two pictures below are Steak Sandwich tomatoes.  They are looking pretty impressive, but no tinge of red yet.  I do have some Roma tomatoes that look like they might be starting to turn red…but I’m not sure.

The tomato below is a Green Zebra…it will not turn red.  It is supposed to be a rather small tomato (not cherry or grape though) and remain green with stripes.  Well, I can already see the stripes…but I can’t tell if they are ready to be picked.  I will have to do a little research. 

My first marigold bloom.  This was planted from seed in ground (not a transplant).  It was supposed to be a variety that can reach 3 feet tall.  I don’t think it is three feet, but maybe 2.  Isn’t it pretty!

I believe some of my tomatoes have a fungus problem.  The lower leaves on a few of my plants are turning yellow with some brown spots.  From what I have read, it is a type of blight.  It is supposed to affect the leaves and stem, but not the fruit.  Apparently there is no need to remove the plant from the garden.  I have not applied anything to fight the fungus…I will wait and see what happens.  I am being careful when watering, to reduce the chances of spreading the fungus.

Side Notes:

I think these little buggers are squash bugs.  These two are on my pumpkin plant.  They are hanging out next to a spent male bloom. Saw one on my corn today too.  This makes me think they are not squash bugs….more research.  I, of course, drowned the three I found today in a water/dishsoap mixture. 

The ”Tongue of Fire” bush beans are looking good.  The beans are getting pretty big and starting to get that characteristic red streaks.  Eventually the pod will be ivory colored with red streaks.  This should make it rather simple to pick them…won’t have to look to hard for them.   

Today’s Bountiful Harvest May 2, 2009

We are grilling the zucchini and baby onions right now and the salads are already made.  I also went back out and picked some lettuce of BF salad.  He’s not a fan of tomatoes, carrots or radishes….so he got lettuce, onion and cucumber.

I accidently let the zucchini go too long…it is a little too big, but it’s really okay with me.  I’m not a seed hater!  I saved part of it for fried zucchini tomorrow.   

Updates:

1. Popcorn is now starting to tassel.

2. Corn is silking.

3. Pepper plants have lots of little peppers on them.

4.  I planted some peanuts last weekend…transplants from the farmer’s market.

5. Picked first zucchini.

6. Planted sweet potatoes.  Looking good so far.

7. Regular garlic is forming cloves!  I pulled one up yesterday and dismantled it to find cloves beginning to form.  Very excited about this.  I prefer the more pungent taste of regular garlic as compared to elephant garlic.

8. Eggplant aren’t doing a whole lot???  They are still alive.

9. Going to let some radishes go to seed…so I can keep seeds for next planting.

10. All of my bush beans are doing great.

Okay, I think that’s it.

Fine! I’ll Do It Myself!!! April 21, 2009

Just the other day I noticed that one of my pumpkin plants had some female and male flowers on it.  The one female flower had a little pumpkin on it about the size of a small marble.  A few days later I noticed that the little pumpkin was starting to turn yellow and it was not getting any larger.  Apparently it was not fertilized by the male flower.  

So, now I am going to take matters into my own hands.  I will pollinate the female flower myself!   Summer squash plants, including zucchini, pumpkin and crook neck, are dioecious, which means that the plant produces both male and female flowers. In order for the fruit to develop, the female flowers need to be pollinated with pollen from a male flower. Bumblebees, honeybees and other insect pollinators (in my case…ants) usually do the job of moving pollen from the male flower to female flowers—but if your plants aren’t producing much fruit or dropping them—you can hand-pollinate.

 Below is a picture of the male flower with the petals pulled off.  The yellow thingy is called the stamen and the pollen is all over it (yellow stuff).

In the following picture I’m carefully rubbing the female flower (with the petals removed for better access) with the male flower.  If you are trying to avoid cross pollination with other members of the squash family, leave the petals on the female flower.  You can tape it shut if you want. 

Below is the pumpkin that I just pollinated…hopefully this will grow into a nice little pumpkin just right for a pumpkin pie! 

 

Other Updates:

-My satelite internet connection is super slow right now…we exceeded out download/upload limit!  Well I shouldn’t say we….more like he!  I will upload pics when it doesn’t take 10 minutes to put up one picture.  Hopefully it will be soon.

-The sweet corn is tasseling…but the popcorn is not. 

-Beans are flowering or getting ready to

-Almost all of my lettuce has bolted due to the warmer weather…I am attempting to save some seeds from the ones I like.

-Cucumbers are growing nicely….should have a few in a week or so.

-Strawberry plants are already sending out runners!

-Pepper plants have buds and some flowers on them.

-Tomatoes are doing great…getting pretty big.

-Something ate the ONLY orange that was growing!!! 

-Peas are winding down.

-Carrots are STILL growing.

-Harvested all of my potatoes…Yummy!

-Zucchini plant has about 4 or 5 zuchinni growing on it!  Can’t wait.

Vacation Pictures…Roses! April 18, 2009

I had Sping Break this week and I decided to go on a mini vacation with a friend to Sarasota, Florida.  We visisted the Ringling mansion, Siesta Beach, Tarpon Springs, and a Yankees game . 

At the Ringling mansion there was a rose garden that was designed by Mable Ringling.   She was the wife of John Ringling, who was one of the brothers that made millions off of the circus.  They built a mansion in Sarasota…Ca d’Zan (which means “House of John”).  It was beautiful!  There were also two exhibits about the circus (a miniature circus display and the history of the circus) and an art museum.  Mr. Ringling was an avid art collector and had a large collection.  We did not have time to go to the art museum, so we will be making another trip down just for that! 

I would highly suggest a trip to the Ringling Museum…and if you are a teacher you can go for free,(usually cost $20) but be sure to print out the coupon from their site, we didn’t know about this until we got there.  We were scolded by the cashier for not printing them out!  I took over 300 pictures while I was on vacation…so here a just a few of the rose garden.

Ringling Museum

The main entrance into the rose garden

 

 

Yeeeaaaahhhh Potatoes! April 6, 2009

Alright, I got really curious….so…..I pulled up one Yukon Gold potato plant.  Then…I was happy with what I saw, so I pulled up one Red Pontiac plant.  Again, I was pleased with what I found.

At first I was digging about 6 inches out from the stem of the plant.  I wasn’t finding anything…and I got a little discouraged.  Then I started digging around the stem and there they were! 

I know they are small, but these two plants hadn’t even bloomed yet!  Note to self: Plant WAY MORE potatoes next year! 

I showed them to my boyfriend…he wasn’t nearly as excited as I was…but he did say….”Is that all we have???”.   I reassured him we had 5 more of each type of plant still growing outside. 

I am making potato salad right now!