late august garden update

so summer is falling down and its been raining for 4 days. i can't believe its almost over. this transition, summer into autumn, is my least favorite time of year. it makes my heart sink. all i can think about is making some big change in my life to keep me occupied enough not to fall prey to the sadness. the dreary-time-of-year deep blues. i better stock up on vitamin D supplements while i have an income. i'm already thinking of jumping off the deep end and moving to an unfamiliar place...

anyway. the garden is just becoming abundant. here and there i had little harvests, but now there are real meals going on. and soon it will be even more plentiful! there are so many big green tomatoes about to turn, and about a dozen cucumbers almost done plumping. the corn, oh, the corn! its not ready yet, but its got ears! and hair! like a real baby! i love my corn babies. i can't wait to partake in their delicious! here are some pictures:


the whole darn thing


nature's candy, sugar cherry tomatoes, everyones' favorite snack.


flamingo peppers... i'm not sure if they're done maturing so i let them get a little older for now...




the flowering bloody butcher corn, so pretty!



ground cherries. of the cossack pineapple variety. these things are so amazing. nutty and sweet and tangy and buttery almost... they're so odd and delicious!!! yum. and prolific plants, man.


sugar snap peas and muskmelon leaves... i can't wait for the melons!!!

there a lots more garden pics on flickr- cayenne pepper, 5-color peppers, more corn pics, broccoli, and such if it fancies you to look at growing things.







love

summer salad

i do not like lettuce. only butter/boston/bibb lettuce that is green and watery and not bitter at all. i do NOT like bitter lettuce. keep your endives and frisee, you gourmand. give me the sweet stuff.

i like to use herbs as my salad greens, and pea shoots are another fave. anyway. here's an easy, delicious salad to make when peaches are ripe and beautiful heirloom tomatoes are juicy.



cilantro, tomato, avocado, peach, and squeezes of lime+orange juices. that's it.
so good.

i made a small, personal portion and put it in a tortilla wrap, to go.

garden update,early july

so, its easy to see that i planted late as my luscious little growing things are dwarfed by other local gardens. its ok, though, they're growing as well as they can.



cherry tomatoes have green future fruits, a couple of other tomatoes have flowers, as well as the zucchini, cucumbers, and musk melon.





also, my ground cherries have little husk pod things, like tomatillos do. last year, i had to give away my plants when i moved out of my apartment in august, and i gave away my ground cherries, which were assumed to be tomatillos and were consumed as such. so, i'm not sure what to expect from them. they're called pineapple ground cherries, so i assumed they would resemble one of those fruits in taste....

my brassicas were all chewed up. i pulled two caterpillars (cabbage worm) off two broccoli plants, and four more off the brussels sprouts. i am not sure if they are going to do well, they were pretty eaten up, plus they haven't grown much since i put them in the ground over a month ago... i hope they do. also, caterpillar poop is kind of cool looking, little green balls...



also, every eggplant plant i planted (plant a plant, plantyplants) has major bug bites. the leaves look like lace. i wonder why! i planted all the nightshades together, with aromatic herbs all about, and marigolds as well, with some carrots in between. i read that this was a way to repel the bad bugs. apparently, the eggplants are too delicious for the insects to resist... there is minimal damage to a few tomato leaves, and surprisingly to some basil, too, which i thought was unnatractive to leaf-eaters... apparently not. i hope some eggplants come up anyway, as i planted a variety of colors and shapes, and i just love eating things that look pretty and different. imagine the pretty kebabs! i rubbed all the leaves, hoping to kill any bugs i can't see. fingers crossed it works.



tomorrow, i'll sprinkle them with cayenne and hope that helps, too. i know its good for keeping animals away, not sure about insects... vinegar? does that work? soap? i've heard these things help... anyone? experience?

check out the little baby cornfield bed! there are like a hundred plants in here. 2 types, blue iriquois sweet corn and bloody butcher. i couldnt resist. i hope there will be speckly purple corn in the middle.



love <3

things i've been up to

sunny side, originally uploaded by jacquelinedandelion.

a card i made for the lovely caitie koch before she away'ed to panama. (more cards)


wild mint for smoking, drying on the bureau


all dry


right before i smush my toes in the mucky part. mmmmm.



growing babies! mostly tomatoes. the garden peach variety is doing well! some holy basil, 5 other types of tomatoes, 3 varieties of eggplant (i'm excited for the turkish orange variety)... genovese and lettuce leaf basils, marigolds, white cucumbers, hmmm.... and i guess we'll see what else comes up... its hard in the house, there's no good place for them to get a lot of light. this house has porches on the east and west sides which block sun from the windows, and only tiny windows to the south. also, i am gone 3 or more days a week, so its hard to make sure they're doing well. i give them lots of love while i'm here though. and i send them good vibes from far away. (if you haven't, you must read the secret life of plants)

bigger babies from the first round of planting. tomatoes looking good. summer squash, some flowers (hollyhock and foxglove) and peppers. yeah. they need more sun.



my dad and i have been digging and building, and soon they'll be at home in the ground. fence in progress.



meanwhile i have to move them around the house to catch the light.

i've got designs on this nettle. its surrounded by some kind of mint that looks like chocolate mint but tastes like peppermint. shrug. its delicious.