Hot Hot Harvest!

Sorry for the lack of blog posting lately.  It's been HOT.  Too hot to do much up at the garden.  Too hot to walk around with a camera and tend my weedy, snake ridden plot (snake?  yes.  snake).  I've pretty much been up there a few times a week watering my fall brassica transplants (Kale, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts) and rushing to harvest before I melted.

I have a snake and a rat living in my plot.  And poison ivy.  But that won't stop me.  I will just have to stop gardening in flip flops and wear my boots, knee high socks, and gloves!  It would be easy to pretend that it wasn't there if Kelly didn't find a freshly shed snake skin in my carrot patch.  I will be thinking twice before sticking my hands in the lush vegetation from now on!  (I know, it's just a little garter snake, but...it's a SNAKE!)  If anyone would like to offer up a different plot for him to live in, please feel free to come find him and relocate.  Ha!

Here is what I found on my garden walk on Monday afternoon:

Oh boy.  A few generations of Squash bugs and their eggs and a Potato Beetle Larva. 

 (waves white flag)

Very large shiny green june or chomper beetles that were audibly munching Kelly's marigolds!  (aren't those supposed to be a deterrent?)

A heat-resistant variety of lettuce

Twining runner bean vines

A Mexican Bean Beetle and his damage.  These were so bad in my plot this year that I had to rip out my beans.  Hopefully I can get them under control on my Pole beans with some Neem Oil.

Pretty carrots

Acorn squash transplants

Tom's ripe tomatoes!

Gorgeous fiery red-orange Cosmos in Rich's plot

Teresa's prolific Tomatillo's!  You have to go check these out in her corner plot.  Four plants, and at least a hundred Tomatillos!  I am inspired to grow these next year.  Salsa verde!

Some of the most healthy Eggplant I saw, considering it's been a really tough year for flea beetles.

Hoping this isn't the beginning of SVB.  (squash vine borer)  

Dandelion greens!

My college professor in Horticulture at NVCC taught us that Dandelion came from the French word "Dent de Lion"  which means "tooth of a lion", demonstrated by the sharply toothed leaves.

Freshly mulched onions

Lettuce that has bolted and gone to seed.

One of the sunflowers that has been decimated by some beetle.  (possibly the Asian Brown Beetles?)

A large stand of Okra.  The flowers on these are beautiful.

Basil in hiding from the beetles

Poison Ivy next to Ann's plot.  There is some near my plot as well that I have been trying to kill for two seasons now.  

Butternut squash

Beautiful stand of flowering Dill

This has me jealous.  Larry has had success with Celery!  He hilled the soil up and tied it so it would blanch.  

Flowering carrots in Katelyn's plot.  Due to the crazy weather we had this spring (warm/cold/warm/cold), certain sensitive vegetables were seriously confused.  A lot of them thought they had been through two seasons already, and are starting to flower and set seed as if it is the second year.  (some vegetables are biennials)  The same thing happened to onions as well, especially ones that were planted from sets and not seed.

Randy's corn!

Send me some pictures of your harvests so far, and I will try to dedicate a post to our successes!

katelynkaz@gmail.com

Happy Harvesting!

What's growing? - June 26, 2013

Katelyn's potatoes

Tom's peppers

Gil's purple cabbage

Kelly's wall of shelling peas!

Randy's corn

Katelyn's purple bush beans

Fluorescent Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Katelyn's carrot thinnings

Katelyn's Artichoke experiment...success?

Tom and Lisa's Zucchini

Sal's yellow squash

Possibly the first tomato in Ann's plot (I think)

Strawberries running in Patty's plot

Theresa's radishes thriving in this heat!

Gorgeous head of lettuce that hasn't yet bolted in Suzanne's plot

Rain = Growth (the good and the bad)

I visited the garden yesterday afternoon to construct a pole bean tower (made of rebar this year).  ;)
Things finally look like they are starting to get established and are growing fast!  The peas are abundant, plants are getting tall and green, but within that green I spotted some yellow...and brown.

The problem with excess rain (like 10" excess) cold soil, and windy conditions (especially on top of Long Hill) is another kind of growth.  Fungus.  Specifically, early blight and septoria leaf spot on the Solanaceae family: tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes and peppers.  Once the plant is infected, it cannot be cured, but it can be controlled.  

http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/416/Pest%20Message%206-14-13.pdf

(excerpt from the UConn IPM weekly newsletter)

 Tomato diseases 

I found early blight on only one farm this week and ironically that was in a high tunnel. Remember that this disease infects leaves based on how long the leaves are wet and they have been wet in the field more or less continually for a couple of weeks. Scout your tomato and potato plantings weekly and start fungicide applications as soon as you find the first early blight lesion on the lowest leaves on the plant. The lesions are .-3/4 inch in diameter, and have concentric rings like a target. Conventional growers can use protectant fungicides to start the season such as a mancozeb type product like manzate, dithane or penncozeb, or can use a chlorothanolnil product such as Bravo. Organic growers can use OMRI-approved copper products or try a new competitive fungi product by Certis called DoubleNickle. 
The good news is that late blight has not been found anywhere in the Northeast, so despite all the rain and cool weather, we are not recommending preventative sprays for late blight at this time. Of course, if you find early blight in your planting and need to start your protectant program, the products mentioned above for early blight will provide protection from low levels of late blight spores as well. We recommend that you save your more potent and expensive late blight fungicides for later in the season in case the disease shows up or to use on downy mildew in cucurbit crops when it show up. 

............................................................................................................



Here is what you can do:

Check your plants at the garden, and especially if you see evidence of this, take a few minutes to do a few things: 

1.  Trim the plants up from the bottom to remove infested foliage and increase distance of the plant from the soil.  (this should be done as the healthy plant grows as well to protect against soil-borne diseases)

*remember that you and your tools can spread the spores around, so try to touch the plants as little as possible and put the clippings in a plastic bag.  You should also sanitize your tools in a 10% bleach solution, preferably as you go along to kill the spores.  I know this is hard to do as it takes preparation, but I just have to suggest it!

2.  Don't compost the infected leaf material.  Bring it home with you and throw it in the garbage.  The spores can survive in the soil over winter, and cause disease the next year.

3.  Put a layer of mulch, hay, or landscape fabric/black plastic under the plants to discourage soil splashing during heavy rains and watering.

4.  Keep scouting your plants for new infected leaves, and keep on top of it.  You can purchase organic copper fungicide spray to inhibit new infection on clean leaves.  The problem is, you are not curing it, but controlling it.  This means it has to be reapplied every week or so throughout the season, especially after it rains.  

Here is one kind of spray that I will be purchasing:  

http://www.amazon.com/Bonide-811-Copper-4E-Fungicide/dp/B000LNXY22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371754058&sr=8-1&keywords=copper+fungicide

http://www.planetnatural.com/product/liquid-copper-fungicide/

Good luck!  I'm dreaming of tomatoes, and am willing to fight my battles with mother nature to get them!

Garlic Scape, Cilantro, Kale and Spring Pea recipes

Hello!

Here are a few recipes I hand picked off of Pinterest that seem delicious, and are a great use of the vegetables and herbs in your garden right now!  After this rain, we all should have more peas than we know what to do with, so look through these recipes and try something different for dinner one night.  The great thing about vegetable gardening is that you automatically acquire another hobby:  Cooking!

Kale, Garlic Scape, and Pistachio Pesto 

from: http://www.wildgreensandsardines.com/2013/05/kale-garlic-scape-and-pistachio-pesto.html

1/2 cup shelled pistachios 

4-5 large kale leaves, stem removed, roughly chopped

5-6 garlic scapes, roughly chopped

1 small bunch basil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 to 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (depending on desired consistency)

Add the pistachios, kale, garlic scapes, basil, salt and pepper, and pulse until broken down and well combined, but still a bit chunky.  Slowly add the olive oil and pulse a few more times until well combined.   

Buttery Peas with Garlic Scapes
from: http://nicolefranzen.blogspot.com/2012/06/buttery-peas-with-garlic-scapes.html
Ingredients

3 cups of fresh peas
2 shallots
2 garlic scapes (regular garlic would be fine)
handful of pea shoots
dollop of non salted butter
sea salt & cracked pepper
lemon juice (optional)
fresh herbs (would be a nice addition) Method
Remove peas from pods and place into a bowl. In a deep saucepan bring water to a simmer, add a pinch of salt. Once at a simmer blanch peas for one minute. Remove and shock in an ice water bath. Do the same with the whole garlic scapes (blanching them takes away that super strong "hot" offensive garlicky flavor). Finely mince two shallots, and the blanched garlic scapes. 

In a saute pan on medium heat add a generous dollop of butter, (around two tablespoons). Cook shallots till translucent and add the peas and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add a handful of pea shoots and allow to wilt. Finish with the juice of half a lemon and some fresh chopped herbs.

Pasta with garlic scape pesto and fresh peas

from: http://www.scalingbackblog.com/savory-bites/26911493544/

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely chopped garlic scapes (or 2/3 cup finely chopped chives, plus 2 to 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ½ pound snap peas
• 1 cup peas
• 4 tablespoons finely grated parmesan
• ¼ cup mint leaves
• 1 pound spaghetti

Method:

Make the pesto: puree the garlic scapes, hazelnuts, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a food processor until finely chopped.   With the motor running, slowly add the oil.  Season the pesto with additional salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti until al dente adding the snap peas and peas during the last minute of cooking.  Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.  Whisk together 2/3 cup of the pesto and the reserved pasta water and toss with the pasta.  To serve sprinkle with the parmesan and mint leaves.

Or, one of the easiest ways is to just cut into 3" pieces, and sautee in garlic, olive oil or butter, salt & pepper.  Mix with green beans or any other seasonal veggie for a delicious weeknight side dish.  

Cilantro Pesto

from: http://maritasays.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/hhdd-24-hey-pesto/

 To make cilantro pesto gather:

1 cup and then some chopped cilantro leaves and stems

2 tablespoons toasted and chopped sunflower seeds (pine nuts or cashews also work)

1 clove crushed garlic

3/4 cup olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Making it:

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process lightly. Adjust the salt and pepper to your liking and serve. Easy-easy!

Use over tacos,  as a grilled shrimp marinade, on salmon, in pasta, spread in quesadillas, in potato salad, on chicken with lime.  

The best part about pesto is you can freeze in ice cube trays and put in a baggie in the freezer for use all year long.

Grilled Halibut and Fresh Mango Salsa with Cilantro

from: http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-summer-recipes-00400000046696/page17.html

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (I skip the tomatoes and use red pepper instead)
• 1 1/2 cups diced peeled ripe mango 
• 1/2 cup diced onion 
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar 
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

1. Prepare grill.
2. Combine first 7 ingredients. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and garlic.
3. Rub halibut with oil; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place fish on grill rack; grill 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with mango salsa

Sesame Snow Peas

from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sesame-snow-peas-197971/

Ingredients

• 
  
  Cut snow peas on diagonal into long thin slices. Set up a large bowl of ice and cold water.1/2 pound(s) snow peas, trimmed and strings discarded
• 1 teaspoon(s) sesame oil
• 1 green onion, sliced thinly on the diagonal 
• 2 teaspoon(s) sesame seeds, toasted lightly
• salt and pepper
• Preparation
• Blanch snow peas 30 seconds in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water. Drain in a colander. Immediately transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain well.
• In a bowl toss snow peas with oil, green onion and sesame seeds. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

garlic pea shoots

from: http://fancyfoodfancy.wordpress.com/tag/sauteed-pea-shoots-recipe/

serves 2-4

1 pound pea shoots, washed

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (any mild flavor oil is fine)

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed then chopped

1/2-inch nub of ginger, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

ground white pepper

In a large saute pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot and shiny looking, add the garlic and shake the pan constantly to cook until softened and barely golden.

Add the ginger and cook for another minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the pea shoots to the pan and toss in the oil and garlic to coat thoroughly. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently so that the greens wilt evenly. Add soy sauce and white pepper to taste and serve immediately.

PHOTO: JOHNNY MILLER

Kale Dip with Snap Peas

from: http://www.ziplist.com/souschefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wholeliving.com%2F172891%2Fkale-dip-snap-peas

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

3 cups thinly sliced kale leaves

Coarse salt

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Pinch red-pepper flakes

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed

Directions

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and kale and season with salt. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Let cool.

Transfer to a food processor. Add cottage cheese and puree until smooth. Season with pepper flakes and lemon juice.

Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook peas until bright green and tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to an ice-water bath; drain. Serve with dip.

Cook's Note

Dip can be refrigerated for up to 3 days