June 2015 Harvests

Looking back on my June veggie and fruit harvests, I can see it was a very productive month.  Of course, I don't need to look at the pictures to figure that out.  I can just open my fridge to see it overflowing with cucumber and tomatoes to see that I have more produce than my household can consume.

I was especially proud of my blackberry harvest.  I planted 6-7 blackberry plants about three years ago, and didn't get a single blackberry harvest until this year.  Unfortunately, only one of my plants survived the last few hot and dry summers, but I still got a decent harvest from the one plant.  I planted another three plants this year, which seem to really be taking off, so hopefully I'll get some good harvests in the coming years, maybe even enough to make some jam.

With our continued heavy rainfalls, I've only had to supplement watering about once or twice this season, which is drastically different from prior years, when my garden required daily watering.  I recently learned from a Central Texas Gardener episode that some stress on plants by not getting daily watering is actually good for them and makes them more productive, so I now only water the garden about once or twice a week, if there is no rainfall.  The garden seems to be doing well with that method.

I am constantly cooking old and new recipes with the produce.  I use as much as I can fresh, as well as dabbled in some of my first canning attempts.  And my family, friends, and co-workers are willing to let me unload any excess produce on them.

Here are some of the ways I've been using my produce:

Breakfast

• Tomatoes and peppers chopped and added to egg dishes
• Blackberries on top of cereal or with yogurt and granola for a parfait

Lunch

• Tomatoes and cucumbers added to every sandwich
• Cucumber soup
• Caprese salad, with fresh basil from the garden

Snack

• Sliced cucumbers dipped in hummus
• Blackberries with crackers, cheese, and charcuterie

Side Dish

• Tomato and cucumber salad with lemon juice, salt and pepper
• Fresh babaganoush with garden eggplant

Dinner

• Eggplant rollatini

Here are the June 2015 harvest tallies (37 lbs 7.8 oz total)!:

• 1 lb 13.5 oz blackberries
• 10 lb 10 oz pickling cucumbers (19)
• 7 lb 6.7 oz slicing cucumbers (14)
• 2 lb 10.3 oz Black Beauty eggplant (3)
• 1 lb 6.8 0z Ichiban eggplant (5)
• 4.5 oz Blue Lake green beans
• 0.8 oz Cayenne peppers
• 4.3 oz Gypsy peppers (3)
• 12.5 oz Beefmaster tomatoes (1)
• 7.5 oz Better Boy tomatoes (1)
• 6.2 oz Brandywine tomatoes (1)
• 3 lb 1.3 oz Celebrity tomatoes (8)
• 3.5 oz Cherry tomatoes
• 1 lb 13.5 oz Early Girl tomatoes (8)
• 1 lb 1.6 oz Grape tomatoes
• 1 lb 9.2 oz Juliet tomatoes
• 2 lb 7.8 oz Pear tomatoes
• 15.8 oz Roma tomatoes (7)

2015 total harvests to date (68 lbs 2.0 oz):

• 1 lb 13.5 oz blackberries
• 1 lb 1.2 oz broccoli
• 5 lb 13.9 oz Fordhook chard
• 5 lb 13.2 oz Ruby Red chard
• 7.1 oz cilantro
• 6 lb 10.3 oz Flash collards
• 10 lb 10 oz pickling cucumbers (19)
• 7 lb 6.7 oz slicing cucumbers (14)
• 3 lb 7.9 oz Black Beauty eggplant (3)
• 1 lb 6.8 0z Ichiban eggplant (5)
• 7 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula)
• 2 lb 0 oz Blue Lake green beans
• 3 lb 13.9 oz kale
• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer lemons (5)
• 6.5 oz parsley
• 0.8 oz Cayenne peppers
• 2.4 oz Flavorburst yellow pepper (1)
• 7.1 oz Gypsy peppers (5)
• 0.8 oz Mariachi pepper (1)
• 2.9 oz Pablano pepper (2)
• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 4.0 oz spinach
• 12.5 oz Beefmaster tomatoes (1)
• 7.5 oz Better Boy tomatoes (1)
• 6.2 oz Brandywine tomatoes (1)
• 3 lb 1.3 oz Celebrity tomatoes (8)
• 3.5 oz Cherry tomatoes
• 2 lb 15.2 oz Early Girl tomatoes (12)
• 1 lb 3.4 oz Grape tomatoes
• 1 lb 9.2 oz Juliet tomatoes
• 2 lb 12.0 oz Pear tomatoes
• 15.8 oz Roma tomatoes (7)

May 2015 Harvests

There was a bit of a lull in my veggie production during April as the fall/winter veggies wrapped up and I was waiting for the spring and summer veggies to mature.  Now that we are nearing the end of May, my warm season veggies have started to produce, despite the cooler than average temperatures.

I got some of my first peppers of the season:  gypsy, pablano and mariachi (pictured above), as well as a flavorburst yellow pepper.

This week, I saw my first eggplant, tomatoes, as well as green beans.  The beans are going strong, but the tomatoes are splitting a lot more this year than I remember last year.  Maybe it is from the excessive rains we've been having?  Since I planted many more tomato plants than usual this year, I'm hoping for a bumper crop.  We'll see if that happens.

Finally, there has been plenty of Swiss Chard this year, more than I and the hubby can eat, so I've given quite a bit away to neighbors and friends.  Swiss Chard is certainly a Texas Superstar veggie in my book, at least, based on my last two successful years with it.

My family was in town over Memorial Day weekend, so they were able to help me eat a bit of the abundant chard.  We had sauteed chard with garlic, lemon juice and red pepper flakes (recipe here).  My mom used the chard stalks for a cream of chard soup, which she combined with some garlic, onion, potatoes, chicken stock, black beans and left over jalapeno cheddar sausages.  It was delicious, but unfortunately I do not have the exact recipe to share, as it was really just a left-over concoction soup and I was not involved in the process (besides growing the chard).

Hopefully May is an indicator of the productive warm-weather season ahead.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish

• 3 lb 13.9 oz kale (several varieties)

• 6 lb 10.3  oz Flash collards

• 5 lb 13.2 oz Ruby Red chard

• 5 lb 13.9 oz Fordhook Giant chard

• 7 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 

• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)

• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)

• 7.1 oz cilantro

• 6.5 oz parsley

• 4.0 oz spinach
• 2.9 oz Pablano pepper (2)
• 2.8 oz Gypsy pepper (2)
• 0.8 oz Mariachi pepper (1)
• 2.4 oz Flavorburst yellow pepper (1)
• 13.6 oz Black Beauty eggplant (1)
• 1.8 oz Grape tomato
• 4.2 oz Pear tomato
• 1 lb 1.7 oz Early Girl tomato (4)
• 1 lb 11.5 oz Blue Lake green beans

Fall Veggie Transplants & Today's Harvest

Fall is here, and so is the beautiful Texas weather that I live for.  Every moment that I can spend outside in the garden, I do.  

A few days ago, I bought some fall veggie transplants and got them into the ground.  First, I had to clean up one of the beds for the veggies.  It wasn't too difficult, since before South Africa, I had turned the beds and tried to plant some seeds, which never really came up.  I also tore out all the dead marigolds.

Then, I planted the transplants, along with a few seeds.

From left to right I planted:

• 1 Toscano Kale (transplant)
• Dwarf Blue Curled Vates Kale (seeds)
• 2 Gypsy Broccoli (transplants)
• 2 Calabrese Broccoli (transplants)
• 1 Marathon Broccoli (transplant)
• 4 Brussel Sprout - unknown variety (transplants)
• 1 Long Island Brussel Sprout (transplant)
• 1 Nautical Brussel Sprout (transplant)
• Lacinato Kale (seeds)
• 3 Kale - unknown variety (transplants)
• and along the trellis - Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas (seeds)

While it may be fall, I still have a few summer veggie plants (peppers and eggplant) that are still producing, so they will stay in the beds until the are no longer fruitful.  Today I harvested the below.  I'm not quite sure why the eggplant turned yellow, but I assume it has something to do with staying on the plant for quite awhile, since this is my first harvest after being away from home for almost 3 weeks.

Harvest Totals (since April)

• 5 lbs Cherry Bell Radishes

• 3 lbs Giant Fordhook Swiss Chard

• 3 lb 5.5 oz Pic-N-Pic Summer Squash (5 squash)

• 5 lbs 6.3 oz Black Beauty Zucchini (3 squash)

• 13.7 oz Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas

• 11.6 oz Mucho Nacho Jumbo Jalapeno (13)
• 15.7 oz Jalapeno (9)

• 2 lb 2.4 oz Bush Blue Lake 274 Green Beans

• 1 lb 8.7 oz Gypsy Sweet Peppers (14)

• 1 lb 15.9 oz Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato

• 2 lb 7.5 oz Juliet Roma Grape Tomato

• 3 lb 12.0 oz Early Girl Tomato (12)
• 1 lb 10.4 oz Big Boy Tomato (3)
• 1 lb 7.3 oz oz Bradley Heirloom Tomato (4)
• 2 lb 2.3 oz Roma Tomato (22)
• 5 lb 4.0 oz Long Eggplant (21)
• 11 lb 0.1 oz Black Beauty Eggplant (12)
• 1 lb 10.2 oz Pablano Pepper (22)
• 1 lb 2.0 oz Acorn Squash (1)
• 1 lb 1.0 oz Butternut Squash (1)
• 1 lb 6.6 oz Spaghetti Squash (1)
• 1 lb 10.1 oz Green Bell Sweet Pepper (10)
• 2.1 oz Cayenne Pepper (9)
• 11 lb 11.1 oz Marketmore 76 Cucumbers (11)
• 3 lb 7.9 oz Okra (63)
• 3.8 oz Serrano Pepper (14)

Homemade Tomato Sauce and Eggplant Rollatini

I love having all the garden fresh vegetables in my kitchen to use in delicious homemade recipes.  The food always tastes so much better with organic, garden ripe vegetables.  I can actually FEEL the extra nutrients I'm consuming from my healthy garden produce.  The fun thing about growing my own veggies as well, is that I'm constantly trying out new recipes to use up all my fresh produce.

Most recently, I had an abundance of tomatoes and eggplant.  I had A LOT of tomatoes, so I decided to try my hand at making my very first batch of homemade tomato sauce.  With the eggplant, I made my favorite dish, eggplant rollatini - a dish I've made several times before, but always enjoy more with garden fresh eggplant.

EASY FRESH TOMATO BASIL SAUCE

I didn't have a lot of time available to go through the process of pealing the tomato skins off, so I opted for a simpler recipe that kept the tomato skins on.  I used the below recipe from here.  However, I ended up only using about 6 pounds of tomatoes.  I also added a few sprigs of oregano, from the garden.

Prep Time:  20 min
Cook Time:  2 hrs
Serves:  6

Ingredients
8 pounds tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 large onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

 Tomatoes - seeded and diced.  The juice and seeds was used in some veggie juices later on.

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, cook tomatoes and basil over medium-low heat until tomatoes are soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent.
3. Add onion mixture to tomato mixture and add salt and pepper.  Let simmer on low heat for 2 hours or until thick.

EGGPLANT ROLLATINI

This is my absolute favorite dish to eat.  It was made extra delicious by my garden fresh eggplant and homemade tomato sauce.  I got the recipe from here, and also posted below. I always make a double batch, so that I can eat it all throughout the week, and also have some to freeze for later, too.

Prep:  15 minutes
Cook:  30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup ricotta cheese

• 10 slices prosciutto
• 1 (14 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 pound angel hair pasta

Directions

1. Dip the eggplant slices in egg, then coat with bread crumbs. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplant on each side until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese onto each slice of eggplant. Place a slice of prosciutto onto each one. Roll up tightly, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over the rolls, and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.
5. While the eggplant rolls are baking, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the angel hair pasta, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Drain. Serve eggplant rolls and sauce over pasta.

Today's Harvest: First Eggplant

Today was an abundant harvest from the garden.  It included more tomatoes and peppers, including the first pablanos of the season.  Other firsts include both Long and Black Beauty eggplant, an acorn squash, and a butternut squash.  Unfortunately, these are the only acorn and butternut squash I'll be getting for awhile, since almost all my squash plants succumbed to the squash vine borer infestation.  I'll be planting another crop soon and hope to get a decent harvest before the season is over.

Harvest Totals (since April)

• 5 lbs Cherry Bell Radishes

• 3 lbs Giant Fordhook Swiss Chard

• 3 lb 5.5 oz Pic-N-Pic Summer Squash (5 squash)

• 5 lbs 6.3 oz Black Beauty Zucchini (3 squash)

• 13.7 oz Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas

• 8.2 oz Mucho Nacho Jumbo Jalapeno (10)

• 1 lb 0.2 oz Bush Blue Lake 274 Green Beans

• 8.1 oz Gypsy Sweet Peppers (3)

• 4.8 oz Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato

• 10.2 oz Juliet Roma Grape Tomato

• 11.3 oz Early Girl Tomato (3)
• 14.7 oz Long Eggplant (3)
• 1 lb 3.8 oz Black Beauty Eggplant (1)
• 4.6 oz Pablano Pepper (2)
• 1 lb 2.0 oz Acorn Squash (1)
• 1 lb 1.0 oz Butternut Squash (1)

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants - Round Two

I planted a bed of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants at the beginning of the month, but with all the late freezes we got in Central Texas this year, everything died.  We should be in the clear now, and with a weekend of beautiful weather, I was able to replant my tomato/pepper/eggplant bed.

This time around, I planted the following:

Eggplant

• 2 Black Beauties
• 1 Long Purple

Peppers

• 1 Green Bell
• 1 Yellow Bell
• 1 Gypsy Sweet
• 1 California Wonder Select Sweet
• 1 Serrano
• 1 Pablano
• 1 Hot Cayenne
• 1 Jalapeno
• 1 Mucho Nacho - Jumbo Jalapeno

Tomatoes

• 1 Big Boy Hybrid
• 1 Roma
• 1 Early Girl
• 1 Bradley Heirloom
• 1 Juliet - Roma Grape Hybrid
• 1 Super Sweet 100 Cherry

I can't wait to see how all these varieties do this summer!

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, OH MY!

Last weekend was perfect weather - 82 degrees and sunny.  It was great gardening weather and inspired me to make a trip to the Natural Gardener and Home Depot to get a kick start on my veggie beds.  Tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants were out at the stores, so I couldn't resist grabbing a variety to plant in one of my 10x4 foot vegetable beds.  I picked up and planted the following:

Tomatoes

• 1 Better Boy
• 1 Celebrity
• 1 Tycoon
• 1 Valley Girl
• 1 Cherry Super Sweet 100
• 1 Red Cherry

Peppers

• 4 Hot Cayenne
• 1 Pablano
• 1 Mammoth Jalapeno
• 1 Yummy Snacking Petite Bell 
• 1 Serrano
• 2 Red Bells
• 1 Giant Marconi Sweet Bell
• 1 Carmen Sweet

Eggplants

• 2 Black Beauties

Unfortunately, I was probably a bit too impatient.  I really should have waited a few more weeks to plant these summer plants.  We had a couple nights that dipped into the 30s last week and it is suppose to freeze again tonight, which does not bode well for these heat-loving plants.  I covered them with some freeze cloths last week and they seemed alright, so hopefully they will get through tonight's freeze alright.  Even if they survive the freeze, the cold weather will probably end up stunting their growth, since they prefer to not get below 50.  I may have to do some replanting later this spring.