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Summer Vegetable Garden Surprises
Vegetable gardeners can plan and plant, but often their gardens produce an unexpected bounty.
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More Tomatoes!
The tomatoes are peaking here in my Maryland zone 7 garden. A bit of cooler temps slowed them down a bit... however we are picking and eating them everyday--and sharing them. I know there are infinite ways of eating tomatoes. Besides just sliced with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, here are a few ways that I am enjoying these mouthwatering fruits.
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Don’t Delay, Harvest Today
An important part of growing a vegetable garden is knowing when to harvest all those fresh eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, squashes and every other delicious edible. Here are some tips for knowing when to harvest for the freshest haul.
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Tomato Time!
1 commentWell it is that time of year again... the tomatoes have started coming in so that I feel abundantly blessed. By next week, I might feel tomato deluge. I love a dead-ripe, juicy homegrown tomato--there is nothing like it--here's a few ways that I am eating them without having to cook much.
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Summer Heights
Summer is near about peaking. Plants are reaching for the sun and growing fast in this heat, so there are many tall annuals and perennials in the garden. Pictured are a few that stand out.
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Garden Seeds, Fruits and Flowers to Watch for Now
Many garden plants are already setting seed, which come in infinite shapes, sizes and textures. Want to know when to harvest? What to leave and for how long? What to remove right away? Though there are many books written on the subject of seed saving, here are some seeds, as well as a few berries and flowers you might be seeing now in your garden that are ready to gather--or just admire.
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You Can Grow a Lot of Hot Weather Plants Down Here in the Ozarks
I'm still here in the Ozarks after teaching summer folk school classes last week. This gardening season, the gardeners planted lots of plants here with the upcoming Herb Harvest Fall Festival in mind. This year the featured countries are Central America, the Caribbean basin and Mexico, so plants from those regions are growing here. Those regions of the world are hot and tropical and those plants seem to be doing well here in the Ozarks where the hot temperatures have been extreme.
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Be a Blue Ribbon Vegetable Winner
It’s county fair time and your chance to get some recognition for a season of vegetable growing. Here's how you can win ribbons and prizes for your vegetable growing efforts.
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A Taste of Slow Food Nations
Slow Food Nations took over downtown Denver on a hot July weekend to entertain, educate and inspire about 20,000 visitors. Just like the dozens of booths lining the Taste Marketplace, here’s a festival nibble to whet your appetite.
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How to “Grow” Black Garlic
If you saw a head of black garlic would you think it was garlic gone bad or would you eat it up?
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Name that Plant Problem
Now’s the time when vegetable gardeners are seeing plant problems cropping up in their gardens. Here are three common issues to see if you can identify these plant problems.
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Botanical Waters (Aguas Frescas): Celebrate the Season with Flavorful Healthy Beverages
We are having hot weather, which means we should be hydrating a lot. I'm harvesting the mints and monardas and lemon balm and these herbs are wonderfully refreshing when infused in water. Add a little fresh seasonal fruit--and you have a fiesta in a glass--full of vitamins and minerals and delicious! I call these herb-and-fruit-infusions botanical waters or flavored waters.
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Fruiting Shrubs are Easy to Grow
Gardeners can’t live by vegetables alone; we need fruit, too. Shrubs that produce small fruits are easy to grow and provide many benefits. Here are two of my favorites.
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Summer Solstice in the Garden
Today is the longest day of the year--15 hours and 18 minutes to be exact. It is the official beginning of summer on the calendar, however, many of our gardens have already begun to produce summer bounty.
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Benefits of Going to Seed
1 commentHot weather is no match for cool-season vegetables. What should a gardener do when plants go to seed before their time?
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Visit Your Local Botanic Garden
Last weekend was the You Can Grow It! Festival at the U.S. Botanic Garden. There was a good turnout and visitors got to pot up an herb plant and a carnivorous plant, view a beehive and taste honey, observe insect activity in the Butterfly Garden, smell the roses in the Rose Garden, enjoy the native blooms in the Regional Garden and then cool of in the Conservatory while enjoying the many plant collections from tropicals and medicinals to rare & endangered. There is always something going on at your local Botanic Garden or Arboretum--and an everchanging seasonal landscape--so find one near you and go visit!
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Harvest Nettle Seeds to Make a Tasty Condiment: Gomasio with Nettle Seeds & Sea Vegetables
With the onset of warm weather, I allow the nettle patch to flower and make seed. Since the seeds are edible, I like to harvest and dry them, which is a bit labor intensive, however well worth the effort. The way that I like to use them best is to combine them with sesame seeds and sea salt and sometimes, seaweed, to make an incredibly tasty and nutritive version of gomasio.
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Stock Up on Garlic Scapes Now
While farmers markets will be filled with fresh produce through the gardening season, some items have a limited run. Look for garlic scapes at markets now and grab a bunch to enjoy this season and through the winter.
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Nettles: Last Harvest until Fall
Once nettles flower and set seed, most sources say they are too bitter to eat and that the leaves become stringy and gritty with calcium oxalate. Right now I am after the seeds so I can make gomasio and also I want to cut them back so that I will have a fall crop.
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How to Grow Chile Peppers
From subtle to spicy these top ten pepper varieties are a sure bet for the timid, the fearless, and all those in between.
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