Tomato Harvest 2010

Well all my watering and waiting has paid off and it is now time to harvest the tomatoes and evaluate the results. This has been a great season for growing tomatoes. I have had to deal with very little disease problems and no whitefly infestations. I grew all of my tomatoes in containers on my driveway. The fruit worms have claimed a few tomatoes and I lost about 12 in a windy storm when the containers fell over. But all that is water under the bridge now that it time to harvest. I will post my evaluations of each variety in future posts as more ripen.

The Pumpkin Transforms!

I have really learned a lot about nature, science, and spirituality through gardening. Now I can add cooking skills to the knowledge I have obtained through gardening. I have baked pumpkin dishes before with canned pumpkin from a store, but I certainly have never prepared a raw pumpkin before. I cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out all the seeds. Some of the seeds I saved to roast and some I saved to grow future pumpkins. The Galeux D'Eysines has a nice orange flesh but is a little thicker than a carving pumpkin.

 Thank goodness for the internet! I learned that I needed to bake the pumpkin for and hour or until it became tender. It was really neat because the actual skin I discovered was very thin and peeled right off. Nearly all of the pumpkin is edible.

I made the baked pumpkin flesh into a pumpkin bar. I got the recipe on the internet also. It tasted heavenly. Like a pumpkin pie without the useless pie crust. There is a oat crust underneath the pumpkin filling. I was pretty worried about this recipe because the filling was very runny like water, but it did eventually set and cooked perfectly. I didn't even use half of my pumpkin to make the bars. I froze the rest in the freezer for later uses. I also still have two more pumpkins in the garden so I don't have to worry about any national pumpkin shortages for a while.

Behold The Pumpkin!

I picked this Galeux d'Eysines pumpkin this morning. In my humble opinion it's the most beautiful pumpkin I have ever seen. It also has the honor of being the first pumpkin I have ever grown. Ah, so many potential uses for this baby. For now it is just decorating the house.  I pulled the vine after I cut it, but I still have two more baby pumpkins on another healthy vine.

Veggie Update

I went to the library today to pick up a book about squashes. The librarian saw the book and mentioned how much she missed the fall "up north" with all the pumpkins and apples and other Fall icons. I very proudly told her that I currently have my very own pumpkin growing in my yard. She looked shocked but interested. "Don't the bunnies eat it?" she asked. I informed her that thus far bunnies have not been a problem for me. Many people, especially northern transplants living in the suburbs like me, don't believe it is possible to grow edible crops in Florida. For sure it is harder to grow here than up north but it is very possible and our endless growing season makes up for the loss of fertility and yield. We sometimes forget that Florida has a thriving commercial agriculture industry. I don't use the heavy duty chemicals, science, and labor that the big guys do, but I make enough to make me happy. Here is what is growing in my yard right now:

Corn-Early and Often-Well, it made ears! I have my doubts about the pollination because I didn't plant a lot. It does give the yard a nice "Fall" look.

Pumpkin-Galeux d'eysines-A french heirloom and my first attempt at growing a pumpkin. So far I just have one pumpkin growing but it is beautiful and perfect.  Woe to whoever or whatever attempts to take this pumpkin!

Fairytale Eggplant

Moon and Stars watermelon- Still growing.

Tomatoes

Flower Buds!

My fall tomato planting is going surprisingly well. I have sprayed no insecticides or fungicides yet the young plants look great. I wonder how long that can last. I have killed two tiny worms using the mechanical squish method. Some of the older plants are just now starting to get flower buds.

Black Krim

The plants have really  been growing like weeds. This is a Mexican tomato called Tlacolula Pink.

Roughwood Golden Tiger is so adorable. It grows slower than the other tomatoes maybe because of the extra energy spent growing this fuzz.

Flowers

This post is dedicated to my flowers. My main focus is getting the edibles ready, so I haven't been fully appreciating all the beauty my flowers give to my garden. They really are pretty right now, so I thought I'd post some pictures. Who doesn't like looking at pictures of flowers? Enjoy

Cherry Parfait Rose

Zinnia







Sunflower

 

Late Summer Garden Update

Even though it is still very hot, I have noticed a change in the air that signals Fall is on its way. The air is dryer and the the leaves are falling from my backyard tree. My over-planted raised bed is doing well. Eight little gaucho melons have formed on long vines. The pumpkin vines are enormous! I have two pumpkins that have set fruit. One tiny watermelon has set fruit. My corn is starting to produce silks. Even my sunflower has survived and is about ready to bloom.

This is the larger of my two pumpkin fruit. Growing pumpkins for the first time has been a real learning experience. Unlike melons, cucumbers, and watermelons, the pumpkin vines put down roots wherever they go. Because I have a small yard, I must let the vines out onto the lawn. This makes maintaining the grass quite a chore. I have to use a pair of scissors to trim around it. It is worth it for the hope of a home grown pumpkin.

I have also started another wood raised bed nearby. The cedar raised bed kit was marked down at my local Lowes from $59 to $14.99. It was too hard to pass that deal up. In the new raised bed I have planted two types of cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, swiss chard (they aren't too happy in this heat), and thai basil.