Summer Gardens 2014, Part 3

In a pinch, if the freeze isn't sustained, you can throw an old sheet followed by a sheet of plastic over a hoop.

Latest harvests. Finally my melons are ripe and they are delish !
Tons of okra; I did pickled 8 jars today.
Long beans are getting ready, tons of flowers.
Eggplants are at a stop ... just a few flowers. Cucumbers are making tons of new green leaves. Zucchini producing only male flowers.

My pictures are on phone, not here on my pad, but I'm harvesting many pounds of zucchini, and 14 smallish tomatoes made it all the way indoors! That's because I ate a dozen while I was watering them, lol. Now frying up onion, garlic and tomato, with smoked salt, oregano and cumin, to toss zuke slices onto. I only cook the zuke for a minute.

So far nobody is tired of this meal. Protein? Eh, whatever's around, lol.

MLB is already counting down the number of games remaining in the season, and my summer eating has just arrived.

Hope everybody else is harvesting well!

13Turtles
I'd love to see your harvest pictures.
Here are my latest. First 4 cowpeas pods ready.
I just cannot grow watermelons ....

drthor - Your cantaloupe looks delicious - I can almost taste it.

Wow - I've been in the garden and I see my recently planted cucumber seed have sprouted and are up. I may have fall cuck's after all. Whopee! Just got back from a local eatery and the person in line in front of me ordered a sandwich with cucumber slices on it. I watched and the slices of cucumber placed on their sandwich had very mature seeds in the large slices. It was all I could do to contain myself from saying, "Don't get the cucumbers!"

My garden bounty for the day from my HOT summer garden. I, too had okra, but one of the neighbors came by and I handed them over. I'm sure there will be more okra tomorrow.

Turtles I wish my family was as happy eating fresh from the garden dinners. You're lucky!! I'm freezing a lot, but still need to learn to can.

Also I wanted to share.. I made a fertilizer brew my plants are really responding to. Per gallon of water, I added: 5 drops of Superthrive, 1 Tbsp. fish emulsion, and 1 Tbsp. bloom booster. Between the cooler temps we had last week, the major pruning I did, and this brew, the plants are loaded with blooms again.. and here I thought they were on a downward spiral! :)

Nice haul, drthor and Brenda!

New question, surprise surprise.

I figured Green Zebra tomatoes, which are new to me this year, would be ripe when they seemed to jump into my waiting hand as I touched them. I would not have called it ripe - hard as dooley and virtually no juice. Is that how they are supposed to be? If not, how DO I tell that they're ripe?

Also for lemon cucumbers, how do I tell when they are ripe? Mine so far are kind of elongated; do I wait til they puff up, into balls? At least I actually have some growing this year, so that I can have this question, lol.

Thanks y'all!

My strategy with lemon cucumbers is that they are ready to eat when you want them to be ready to eat, just like other cucumbers. When they get to the size of a half dollar or silver dollar, I think that is peak time.

Not sure about the zebra toms. I raise Aunt Ruby Green tomatoes and I had the same problem, as you indicated, with knowing when they were ripe the first year. Aunt Ruby turns a slight shade of yellow, so I know she is ripe.

Turtles, I found this page that shows a pic of both ripe and unripe green zebra tomatoes. The ripe ones look a little more yellow w/ green stripes rather than green w/ green stripes. And they should give a little when you squeeze them :)

http://cubitsorganics.com/2013/08/how-to-tell-when-your-green-tomatoes-are-ripe-and-ready-to-eat/

I've never grown the lemon cukes, but after hearing all of you talk about them, I'm sure they'll be in the plans next year.

the lemon cukes are definitely round, although some get a kind of flattened bottom from time to time, lol, but nothing wrong with them. I always pick mine when there is yellowing on the top, and as soon as i see even any slightest bit of yellow coloring on the blossom end.

Aha! Thank you all! And thanks for the link, Becky. I usually don't think to google for images because I automatically think of my DG pals first, lol.

My lemon cukes look rather like tubes.

Lemon cukes and a Spacemaster ( As per order for salads ) and ?

^_^

13Turtles
Green Zebra is one of my absolutely favorite tomatoes. This year I had tons of them.
It need to have little yellow stripes. The flesh inside is green and very sweet.

i find green zebra to be a challenge to grow around here--it always succumbs to SOMETHING, lol, im thinking next year i try cherokee green.

Well I finally went ahead and did it, rather be late than never! I sowed beans under all my tomato plants. Soybeans and golden wax around the outside perimeter of the tunnel and yardlong and scarlet runners along the inside (to climb). I really hope they don't affect the way my tomatoes have been growing.. I have some anxiety about that. Lol

Seriously though, the most frustrating thing for me has been trying to plan what goes where and when. Planning a succession planting calendar will be on my winter agenda and at the top of my priority list!!

Latest harvests.
The cowpeas are start to get ready to harvest, I am picking more everyday.
Okra plants are so tall and they are producing maybe 30+ pods a day. Soon I will need a ladder to harvest.
Eggplants are doing so poorly this year, I will wait for the fall harvest.
Tons of melons instead ... I don't know why, first year planting them ... I still have 6 to harvest.
Tons of long beans and so delish !
Still a few tomatoes, but they don't taste really good. I am keeping a few plants to catch tomato hornworms for my DH pets ... but not so lucky !
Spring tomatoes are so good and juicy. This ones are very bland .... but that is ok. I ate so many tomatoes this year ...

Happy gardening

Wow you are still working those plants drthor! Too bad you don't live in Fort Worth, I'd send the hornworms in with hub whose office is there. Although the girls in the front office might be a little weirded out about dealing worms on the side! LOL

Thanks ... but I don't seem to attract Hornworms here. I think the birds eating the sunflowers by the veggie garden are getting the worms too. I will cut the tomato plants down soon. Those tomatoes are a 10% taste compared to the spring juicy ones.

Hey most people would consider the no hornworm thing a godsend! Aw bummer about the plants.. does the taste improve when the temps go down to a tolerable level?

My summer garden is just about over. The only things left growing are the field peas & some hot peppers and the peppers are starting to suffer from the heat. Most beds are just covered with leaves in preparation for the fall garden!
Jo-Ann

I'm just starting to harvest eggplant, 'though I don't really know what I'm doing. Haven't cooked them yet. And still getting zucchini at a usable rate.

This year I also managed to harvest lemon cukes, but can't say I'm impressed yet. No Spacemaster cukes yet, at least no pollinated ones. :~) But the plant is still growing, as is the cantaloupe.

Nice, turtles!

Latest harvest.
Okra and long beans are such a rewarding crops for the summer.

Soon more melons. These are from a free package of seeds from Baker Creek.

looks like you are being over run with okra over there :)

okra and long beans ... okra and long beans ... every day ...
Look at the okra pod in the middle! I just didn't see it before it was 10" long !

Woo-hoo - I think that okra might be tooo mature. Have you tried the climbing okra?

No, and you?

Yes - if we are still talking about climbing okra. When I mentioned I thought the okra was a little mature, I meant for eating and I meant the one really long green pod. The rest looks delicious. I have not grown the red okra before. Probably easier to see when harvesting.

Look hard and you can see mature climbing okra in this pix. It is called climbing okra and edible gourd.

drthor - How many ways to fix okra? I have both the okra plant and the climbing okra. My okra fixins are: Adding the whole standard okra pods to a pot of green beans, batter dipped and fried. Sometimes I beat the pod with the meat cleaver to to seperate it, then I batter and fry the whole thing. Sometimes I make little okra fritters. Sometimes I slice small rounds and dip in cornmeal and spices and fry crisp. Kind of like tiny chips. Lot of frying there. Sometimes (when I have fresh dill), I make okra pickles. How about you? Any more good hints on using okra. Oh - in the fall I leave some to go to seed and it is quite the novelty to someone that has no clue what it is. Come spring the whole large dry pods that I saved late fall are good for shelling and planting. Wonder how many years I can save their seed?

brendak654
I think somebody did talk about the climbing okra on DG a while ago.
Yes the long pod might be used as a weapon ! Actually I did sliced last night and it was still tender. The variety is Louisiana 16" Long Pods.
I like to slice the okra in 1/2" pieces. Let them stand in the fridge for 30 minutes, then when they are all wet by their moisture I roll them in corn or potato starch (which I buy from the Italian store, so it is not GMO corn), salt and pepper and pan fry them. In this was they red okra will stay red.
Or I bake the okra or I make gumbo or etoufee. So far I have pickled 25 jars of okra ... still more to come.
I also sliced and freeze them.
It is a very rewarding crop, especially during the crazy heat of the summer.

Thanks drthor for the feedback on okra, and you surprised me with your Louisana Long Pods. No waste there! Corn or potato starch-hum (I'm not familiar - will keep my open for that and maybe give it a try). I freeze some, too. I usually freeze mine whole, then cut it frozen, as I need it. I've never tried to bake it...

Yes - it is a rewarding crop. It sure grows like it needs a lot of attention. HA! Mine should be picked again tomorrow.

There are several varieties of okra whose pods are larger than the "normal" kind of okra. I've grown Hill Country Red and the pods get about the diameter of a quarter or less when ripe. They are very tasty, too. Not tough like regular okra if you let it get that large.

Interesting~

Burgundy okra is the same way. They start out about an inch in diameter and are never little like the stereotypical ones.

I THINK I can get in another crop of purple hull peas before it gets too cold. Pulled all the old peas yesterday & will plant today. I'd like to increase my supply of canned peas.
Jo-Ann

This message was edited Aug 25, 2014 8:02 AM

jomoncon - We used to can crowder peas - would that be like the purple hull peas? Also - do you use the pressure cooker when you can them? Just curious.

Thanks

Yes, Jo-Ann I imagine that would be the same. Thanks for the info. While I have your interest - tell me how you season your purple hull peas when you get ready to put them on the table? It has been a tomato juice canning morning for me. I had a few that I needed to do something with and so they went into juice. Yesterday I made elderberry jelly - which my husband dearly loves. At lease we will have something good to eat (from the garden), come winter.

Brenda, Today I'm kind of experimenting with my field peas. I'm going to cook up some diced sausage & some diced smoked pork from the freezer. Cook some rice. Mix all of that together with enough field peas until it looks right. Probably add some sauteed onions & garlic. Maybe a bay leaf. And certainly some pepper, probably cayenne. This is sort of an experiment for me. Since we love all the ingredients, it'll probably be delicious!

I usually just heat up the peas, with some added onions, garlic & pepper, and serve over rice as a side dish. if I have the time, and the ingredients in the freezer, I'll add some diced sausage.

Jo-Ann

Jo-Ann - All sounds yummy. I can smell your field pea experiment from here.

How about fresh sliced tomatoes topped with a little cottage cheese to go along with?