2017 garden

About half the windowsill orchard has died off but the rest are doing well. Harvesting my first zucchini of the season today...about 8" long and fat. Should be good. Several tiny red, yellow, and green peppers growing. Now have 4 tiny heads of regular broccoli growing. Italian broccoli: nothing but greenery so far. Same with Brussels sprouts. Lettuce is tiny but growing, spinach seeds didn't sprout this time at all.
Ate two 5" carrots fresh out of the garden before I even got back inside the building, (hosed off well) tops and all!

The spinach and lettuce probably think it's too hot. They and the broccoli and sprouts are cool weather veg, so keep an eye out for bolting. You can probably get some fall spinach if you put more seeds in at the end of August.

I spent the morning weeding and pruning. The tomato plants have some kind of fungus that is yellowing some leaves. They keep growing new ones, so I just pull off the sad looking ones. I pushed the mower around the edges, and weed whacked the taller grass that was creeping close to the plants. The tomatoes are full sized, but not ripe yet and the Italian frying peppers are the same. I am SO ready for a BLT.

Come on down. I've got a boatload of bacon leftover from brunch.

My broccoli is still growing but the heads aren't forming right. Looks more like a tree branching out with a tiny floret at the end of the branch. Is that bolting?

Fiffur's zucchini that might make an appearance in the next Cubs game.

No joke!! Damn that thing, is well i don't what it is. I've never seen one that huge.

We've had a lot of rain lately....you can practically hear and see them growing.
Personally, I have seen bigger ones donated to the local pantry. If I'd left it alone another week it would've been nearly twice that size. As is, not many seeds in the center. Didn't even use half of it starting at the stem end to make an entire batch of pizza in a bowl. And it came off the bush zucchini plant that was created specially for small gardens!
My carrots are either 4-5" and skinny or only about 2" and built like most of us in my building: short and chubby.

I read that you can freeze zucchini and summer squash really easily. Just cook them a SHORT time in boiling water. About a minute or 2. Dry them on paper towels, and then put on cookie sheets in the freezer. Shovel them into freezer bags, and they'll last all winter. I'm not sure cooking them is necessary. I don't know why they wouldn't freeze just fine being sliced and frozen flat. You'd just have to cook longer when they come out of the freezer.

It's called blanching and I'm not sure either.

Neither am I, but when you freeze it all the water comes out of it so when you thaw it looks like a bag of water.

Garden got watered again my mom nature.....zucchini and broccoli leaves are starting to turn yellow from too much water. I have 5 more zucchini that will be ready to harvest all within the same week. At the rate they're growing I'm looking at zucchini coming out my ears in about 2 weeks. Here comes zucchini pudding!

I'm starting to get some teeny tiny sprouts on my Brussels sprouts plants! The broccoli is okay but not forming heads, instead it's growing 'leggy'. No Italian broccoli sprouts at all. Carrots still small. Zucchini is starting to take off....I'll be up to my ears in it in about 3 weeks so nearly time to start making zucchini pudding again.

Freeze some of these zukes for winter. They freeze just fine. And start some broccoli sprouts too. They like fall weather.

My summer garden is about done. I have 3 tomato plants still going strong, but everyone else is done. The pepper plants are setting another round of frying peppers. The figs are ripening slowly. I am wondering if I'll get any beans. The dry, hot weather got to the plants. Now, it's cool and we've had some rain. I see flowers. Maybe I'll get some beans.

Broccoli is still growing spindly tall but found out it is inedible. Leaves are okay though, taste a bit like cabbage so not a total loss. Teeny tiny brussles sprouts starting to grow on the stalks. Multiple zucchini in various stages and sizes. Looks like they might space themselves out a bit so not so much coming out of my ears all at once. Peppers in various sizes too, one red pepper should be ready in a week, a yellow pepper sooner than that.

Yum! My figs are starting to ripen. This is the first year I've had a good harvest from one tree. The other tree looks like it will recover and maybe give me a fig or two next year. They are so sweet and good. I could eat 10 or so at a sitting.

Now I'm hopping mad.....at a squirrel. I found my next-to-pick zucchini with a dozen tooth furrows in it where that dratted squirrel tasted it and decided he didn't like it. Now I had to pick it early, cut off the eaten part, cook the rest, and make pudding from it.

HOW do I keep that damned squirrel out of my garden?

I don't know.

Need to get the last of the Italian peppers off the plants. It's getting too cool out for them. Tomatoes are done. I have the fall garden sprouting now. Lettuce, chard, arugula, radishes, beats, and snow peas. Tomorrow, the cauliflower plants come, and I'll put in some asparagus that will come up next year and be ready in a couple more years. It's an investment.

A tasty one for sure.

No Italian broccoli, still a glimmer of hope for the regualar variety, getting some nice red and yellow sweet peppers right now, and the carrots are finally getting a bit bigger. Half the zucchini plants died out so not as much as I got last year.
Catnip is blooming like crazy! Other flowers looking really good right now too, finally. Figures, it's so cold at night I'm lucky they haven't gotten frostbite yet.

The kale, chard, and cauliflower are coming along well. I've harvested some tasty, spicy radishes. Snow peas are going gangbusters, and beets might actually make it. Fingers crossed for a successful cold season garden!

Everything but the kale and chard sound good.

Those are really the only 2 greens I like besides spinach. For some reason, that hasn't been doing well for a while. I just avoided it this year. I REFUSE to plant collards or Brussels sprouts. i could live 100 lifetimes without seeing those on my plate.

Had spinach tonight with some type of squash. It looked like a weird pumpkin. I baked it then hollowed it out added some butter and nutmeg. Very good. Brussels sprouts are okay if you roast them with garlic and ginger.

Nope... There's no way to make those things acceptable to me.

I love all kinds of winter squash. I have 2 different kinds of spaghetti squash on the counter. I think I'll make them on different days to see if the difference is just skin deep.

I'm with you on the fall and winter squash. Some much more flavorable. Let me know on the spehgetti squash.