Last Week On The Homestead: All Things Garden

 

July 25-31, 2022

Potatoes!  Cucumbers!  Tomatoes!  And the summer bounty begins.  We are so incredibly grateful for it!  I've been harvesting greens, herbs, green beans, sugar snap peas (they are still coming, albeit slowly), beets, broccoli, jalapenos, asparagus (still getting 6-8 spears/week), zucchini & yellow summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes.

It was HOT last weekend and almost all of the lettuce has now bolted.  The new plantings are still small, so I haven't been able to harvest from those as of yet.  We've been blessed with a few tomatoes however, some wild little critters (likely chipmunks and/or squirrels) are getting to them before we are.  I've had to start picking them when they just start to change color and let them ripen in the house.  It's a bummer that we can't enjoy vine-ripened ones, but at least we get to eat them this way.  Once they are ripening more plentifully, as in enough for all of us, I'll see if I can leave them on the vine.

Our potatoes are on the smaller side this year.  I'm planning to move this crop to the front yard next year where it will receive more hours of sun.  Hoping this makes a difference.  Interestingly though, the potatoes that I planted in a bucket are still growing.  They are positioned right next to the potato hill.  I'm hoping they are bigger and if so, I may plant more in buckets next year.  All of the plants looked really healthy this year.

Sweet corn season has officially begun in our area however, our small corn patch is not ready.  We've been purchasing ears from a local farm and it's delicious!

We usually pick blueberries at a u-pick not too far from our home.  I picked 15 pounds last week and we'll both be picking this week.  Hoping for 20-30 pounds more.  It still won't provide all we need for a year, but it will give us a good amount toward that.  I've already made freezer blueberry scones, and mini freezer peach & blueberry galettes for use throughout the next couple of months.  Additionally, we've had plenty for daily fresh eating and 10 quart-size bags for the freezer.  This week's harvest will be used for Honey Blueberry Jam, Maple Blueberry Jam (both Pomona's pectin recipes on their website), fresh eating, and frozen for later use.  

We have winter squash!  I wasn't going to plant any until I've started using the front yard for gardening but decided, at the last minute, to plant pie pumpkin, honeynut, and delicata seeds.  Have you ever tried honeynut?  They are delicious!  I'm assuming they are in the same family as the butternut because they look very similar, just smaller and a bit darker, but we've found that they have a very consistent smooth texture and great squash flavor.  We are picky about our winter squash and have worked to find those that meet our needs.  Smooth texture and a pleasant squash-y flavor are most important to us.  We love pie pumpkins, blue hubbard, and occasionally butternut and delicata.  I say occasionally because we've found the texture is not consistent with those two.  

We haven't preserved much food as of yet.  We've either eaten fresh or shared with others, much of what we've harvested.  Everything is ramping up though so that should all change this week.  As a side note, I've made Zucchini Biscuits twice in the past couple of weeks and they are soooo yummy!  I'll share the recipe this week.  

When I made them the for the first time, my husband came in, looked at the biscuits with green specks and said, "what's THAT?", pointing and looking disgusted.  He's not real adventurous in the food department, but he has gotten a lot better than when we were first married.  (By the way, that's 25 years ago....how can that be???)

I told him what they were, and he immediately said, "I don't want any" and off he walked.  I thought, it's a biscuit, how bad could it be?  I broke one open and tried it and said "wow, they are really delicious!"  "Really?" he asked.  Then he watched my facial expression which apparently convinced him I was telling the truth, so he agreed to try a piece of mine.  He immediately said, with a mouth full of biscuit, "I'll take one".  

He ate 3 that evening.

With the zucchini, in addition to the biscuits, I've made Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bread twice, The BEST Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Zucchini Fritters, and many servings of grilled Zucchini Slices which is probably one of the easiest and most delicious ways to enjoy it (my husband adds a bit of butter and parmesan to his).

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead and hoping your garden is overflowing with abundance.