What are You Eating from the Garden?

[digitS']

Continuing with the usual veggies within reach of the digitS'. Broccoli is playing a much more prominent role this year, which probably just has to do with good fortune. More amaranth with a more-conventional (non-ornamental) still coming on. I had some escarole .

Lettuce one might imagine the sparrows liking. Who would expect that they would destroy the escarole? Literally, one plant made a pretty good comeback 🙄.

Lunch veggies today were potatoes, broccoli and winter squash. Winter? Sure. The Buttercup are looking fully grown. (I won't say "mature" because that means to me that they could handle months of storage without decay. Don't know about that!) Mild and moist out of the microwave, it tasted like winter squash and just fine .

Steve
anticipating more winter squash, this summer

 

[digitS']

Cantaloupe!

There are 4 Gris de Rennes melons. One may be close to being ripe. This was a Goddess cantaloupe. There will be quite a few .

I just don't understand gardening. Last year, the Goddess vines died in our bouncy, spring temperatures. There were a few Passport galia melons. This year, the Goddess are doing much better than the galia 🙃.

I'll tell you what. It's a very good idea to NOT have your eggs all in one basket. Diversity. Maybe it's not as important if your garden is located in some ideal location for this or that crop but if you are on the border (or, beyond the pale) and think that you have found something surefire, I bet it's gonna fail you 10% percent of the time, or so ... The galia have never failed/failed (quite a few melon varieties have). I've grown either Passport or Diplomat for over 15 years but I'm looking at both the galia and Goddess suspiciously and should be back to researching new introductions and combing through others' experience to deepen the bench in the melon patch.

Here's a recent picture of the cherry tomato harvest. That basket was emptied and there is the same number in the basket 3 days later. There are just a few of the larger varieties. I've never had such an imbalance in the sauce making, small to large. Yes, it's sweeter. No, I wasn't planning on using up so many cherries by cooking them.



DW is preparing cabbage rolls today for lunch. Sauce is available for them in the fridge!

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

melon for brunch. @digitS' once they get fully yellow/orange they are really ripe - i haven't had one that ripe yet to try but there is one out in the garden now that i can try tomorrow (i'm topped up for melon today) or perhaps some friends will take it if they show up. i picked three others and ate half or more of one. that's plenty for me. there's six more at least that are close to being ready or are ready. plus i keep finding more hiding away in between or under rocks. you can sure smell 'em.

 

[digitS']

Oh, I like the idea.

Muskmelon. A cantaloupe is a muskmelon, we are told. There's others that we might call cantaloupe, that aren't. A charentaire is a muskmelon.

I still haven't negotiated my way through the definitions but understand that larger category is muskmelon. That musk mean that they have a fragrance.

I can and have grown Asian varieties. Quick but not good flavor - bland, at least, the couple that I have grown.

Steve

 

[baymule]

We had spaghetti. Sauce made from my tomatoes!

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Swiss chard for lunch. Green beans, tomatoes, lots of cherry tomatoes, and not one cucumber or squash yet.

 

[Marie2020]

As you will already know my garden still has work to be completed so can't grow right now but the raised bed position was cleared the other day now have to get stones somehow before adding veg my garden compost and shop bought.
I consider myself extremely lucky because I've found a wonderful farmer that delivers amazingly good veggies and local fruits.

After a long time writing an official letter yesterday I'd fed my animal's and at 8.30 pm found myself really hungry I'd not eaten anything but a slice of my homemade bread.
So a quick meal was in order which consisted of spicy lentils from a couple of days ago a very small sweetcorn and 2 courgettes followed with a locally grown apple. It was so satisfying and quick to prepare.

Tonight will be my girls eggs and lots of vegetables.

 

[flowerbug]

this morning more melon for breakfast. then got a large pan of tomatoes chunked up and ready to go for cooking.

after that went out and picked seven more melons and had Mom take them to people to see if they wanted them. one place the lady took two so five went to the other place but they said it was perfect as they were having family over for the weekend and they'd all get used. then had some other friends stop over and take four more. i think there are three more out there ready for me to use tomorrow.

right now resting up after getting the other tomatoes chunked up and ready to put in jars for canning. it won't take too much more to get them heated up and then in the jars and sealed up, but my back needs a break for a few minutes first. 30 quarts or so total for the day - glad i don't need to do any more until tomorrow or Sunday.

and people say gardening isn't exciting enough for them...

 

[flowerbug]

this morning harvested three more melons including the most orange one i was concerned that it would be too far gone. it was starting to be mined by black ants. i didn't know that until after i got it in the house and found a black ant crawling in the sink. after evicting those and cutting it open it was still in very good condition inside. so i just cut away what had been chewed on and used the rest. saved all the seeds.

the other two melons were not as fully orange but were starting to split, all good.

as of yet, none have been over ripe.

i have a fridge full of cut up melon.

this afternoon i'll feed some of the rinds to the worm farm which i've sorely neglected the past few weeks so many of the bucket residents will appreciate some fresh melon rinds and banana peels. i also have garlic harvest choppings (roots, stems, dirt, tunics, leaves, etc) for them to work on and buckets of bean pods which i won't be able to use all of them up any time soon. i should have actually taken at least one bucket of bean pods out to the gardens with all the other stuff i buried this morning.

recent rains at least made the ground much softer for getting things dug up and buried and i also was able to get an edge to a pathway partially restored that has been laying there for too long. plus we weeded one of the squash patches that had some morning glories blooming and a bunch of grasses going to seed so those did need to come out of there.

cooler weather is appreciated. more productive today outside than i've been in weeks.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

We are still eating onions and potatoes that we harvested weeks ago. And peppers, cucs, squash, herbs, okra, and lettuce.