My garden is just now starting to produce good with the exception of broccoli which I've had for 2 or 3 weeks. Here's a picture of what I picked today, top to bottom:
Early Dividend broccoli side shoots
Black Beauty zucchini
National Pickling cucumbers
Red
Hi Big_Red! See your keeping busy! Tell me? What is the difference between a fresh pickle and a cucumber? I've never grown the pickle variety...???
Hey, T!
The pickling variety is a smaller cuke, usually 4 or 5 inches long. These are used for pickles because they stay much firmer and crunchier than the regular cukes when pickled. Also they are usually much more productive on smaller vines.
Regular cukes usually grow 8 or 9 inches long, some even longer. Although I've never had a problem using these for pickling, most are used for fresh eating, slicing, salads, etc.
Hope this helps.
Red
Hi all: Today I picked
3 patty pan squashes about 5" in diameter (there are some smaller ones coming too!!)
1 Eight Ball zucchini hybrid about 3" in diameter
4 green peppers
There are very, very few green beans, but still too small, maybe middle of the week.
I also "harvested" (I should have had a power shovel) a giant thing that maybe is a daikon, I will post a picture as soon as DH sends it to me.
C.
Good looking harvest, Big Red.
Do you like the Black Beauty zucchini? Looks great in the photo.
Clementine -
Sounds like your garden is doing great, a little ahead of mine. My pole beans are just blossoming with loads of tiny beans so far, my sweet bell peppers are only about the size of golf balls. But, you should see the size of my Blue Hubbard squash plant! It's taking over my garden! I left six feet on both sides of the plants and it's growing out into my peppers on one side and some tomatoes on the other, and it's about 20 feet long in the other direction (where I tried to train it to grow). I'll try and get a new picture of it tomorrow. ☻
BDale60 -
Thanks. Yes, Black Beauty is the best in my book, I grow it about every year. Good taste and very prolific if you keep it picked. I've got about 5 more to pick tomorrow. It's time to start my zucchini relish!
Red
Everything looks wonderful Red! I have those Black Beauties planted, too, but we're way behind you. I love the National Pickler, but chose other varieties to try this year (kicks herself in the fanny!).
Finally have blossoms on my Costata Romanesco and Ronde de Nice Squash (though still quite small) and I noted blossoms forming on one of the Spacemaster cukes. And oh, the tomatoes~ They are coming fast and furious, with babies and flowers everywhere. Now we play the waiting game - which will be the first to ripen? Which will be the largest? The sweetest? The juiciest? Yowska...let the games begin!
Red,
Your broccoli is BEAUTIFUL!
I've never seen broccoli with such deep green/blue color.
tmm
Hi tmm,
Thanks! And it's just as good as it looks! I never could grow broccoli in NH like it grows down here, just better soil conditions I guess. My fall crop usually gets heads up to 10" across.
Picked these yesterday.....
Red
.....here they are turned into zucchini relish. My wife and I both love this, it's great on hot dogs and hamburgers, much better than anything you can buy. I got the recipe out of the Ball Blue Book canning and freezing book.
Very satisfying, to go from seed to plant to harvest to canning/freezing. You've got the entire cycle completed. Impressive!!
Don't all those jars of home canned goodies look wonderful? So much prettier than the cans from the grocery store. And with the price of fresh produce being so high this year, don't you feel just a little smug each time you bring in all that super fresh stuff from your garden? I'm knee deep in putting up tomatoes and green beans right now. Thank goodness, I have all the pickles I need for this year and my blackberries are just about played out.
Today I got three patty pan squashes, one was maybe seven inches across, don't know how I could have missed it, and then I also got two Eight Ball zucchini (after I got three yesterday).
I read in "Mother Earth News" that one can grill these squashes, which cooks off a lot of the water, and then freeze them. Does anyone have experience with freezing? I froze a couple of slices last night and will take them out tomorrow and check them out. That would be a great way of keeping them for later, don't you think?
Big_red, everything's looking great! We're learning to can this year and I'm beginning to appreciate more and more the people that can do it well. Not quite as simple as I thought it was when I watched my grandma do it. We've been making a lot of jams and pickles but your relish looks really good so we may have to try that.
Jeff
Clem - was the 7" patty pan woody? Funny when we pass one over like that, thinking we've gotten them all. The voila! There a biggie in hiding!
I love the 8-ball zukes. Kicking myself for not growing them this year, but I only have so much room. Every year it's a tug-of-war between trying everything on the market or growing out favourites.
Looking forward to your report on freeezing them. That would certainly be a help during peak production, but my friends and neighbors will be most unhappy!
Jeff - You got the ball Blue Book? If not I'll copy and post the recipe. You'll love it, as I said, it's our favorite. ☺
Red
Picked these today, isn't this a beautiful sight?
Bonnie's Best cabbage
Black Beauty zucchini
Early Dividend broccoli side shoots
Yellow Crookneck summer squash
National Pickling cucumber
Park's Whopper Cr Improved tomatoes
Time to make more zucchini relish! ☺
Red -- You are an inspiration! Ever try watermelon?
T,
I've got Sugar Baby growing, so far they're about 4 inches across. Next year I plan to try some larger ones, not sure which yet, but I've got the rest of the summer, all fall and next winter left to decide. Any suggestions?
Red
Not really! Farmerdill can suggest some goodies for your zone. The one variety of watermelon that was fantastic was mislabeled by the packer so I don't know the variety. It was to be Crimson Sweet but Farmer showed pictures of a Crimson that has stripes and mine were just a pale green with bright red and sweet tasting insides. OUI!! Wish I knew and where I can get some more seed? Ya know I never thought to ask Farmer where to obtain seed?
Red,
Just BEAUTIFUL! It looks like the photo spread you see in healthy cook books.
tmm
