More Vegetable Harvests Coming in the Near Future

 So far the main vegetables I have been harvesting over the past couple of weeks and months have been cucumbers and tomatoes.  Mostly cherry and beefsteak tomatoes have been harvested the most while my roma tomatoes are still green and will take some time to ripen.  With the amount of sunlight the garden has been receiving I thought that my romas would ripen about the same time as my others, but that is not the case.  I am sure within a couple of weeks or so they too will start ripening and I will then begin to harvest them along with all the others.

My spring crop plants are still up and producing a decent crop even though the weather is quite hot during this summer especially the last couple of weeks.  As long as the soil is kept cool and free of weeds they should thrive all the way through until the fall and possibly late in the year.  While they are producing I am continuing to pick leaves, broccoli, and soon brussel sprouts as long as they weather doesn't harm them.

Eggplants have also started to grow on a couple of plants in the garden.  Most of the plants look good, but only a couple that actually have some pollinated eggplants hanging from the plant.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were ripe enough next week or possibly earlier.  I don't think they will be ready this week, but I will probably start picking them sometime this month and hopefully by then all my other plants will begin producing large eggplants as well.

I am still picking cucumbers while my vines are still producing fruit.  They have been producing since mid June and I love picking and eating them.  Along with cucumbers cherry tomatoes have also been quite steady with the harvesting and they are perfect for salads.  unfortunately or fortunately my cherry tomatoes are quite large this season and have had to cut them in order to eat them.  They are just too large to eat whole, but there are a few that I find that I am able to eat whole.  I have also picked a couple of beefsteak tomatoes recently and can't wait to slice them up for delicious sandwiches.

 My zucchini seeds were planted quite late this year and I am finally beginning to see some production and fruit from some of the plants.  Most of the plants are still too small to begin flowering and I probably will not be able to get much from them.  There is one that is showing some hope and I hope that the vegetable flower has been pollinated so that I can have at least one zucchini for the season.  I would like to have a few, but with the late planting and lack of room I would be happy with at least one good sized zucchini.

Taking Onions out of the Totes and Eggplants of the Plants

 The month of August is never the time when onions are completely done and dry them in the sun and get them ready for consumption.  This was an unusual year for the garden due to rainy weather, but was definitely a good change compared to last season with very little rain throughout the summer months.  This might be why they were not ready for harvesting during July which is when I tend to pick them out of the ground.  Even with all this rain I still was able to pick them and have a decent size harvest.  I also got much larger red onions which I was happy with and hopefully these onions alone will last to the new year.

 Eggplants are also another vegetable I have been harvesting more recently and have already eaten the first of the season.  I have about five plants of eggplants and each of them has at least two or more vegetables growing on them.  Some are small, but most of them are about medium size and I can do plenty with these vegetables once I start picking them on a consistent basis.

 

My tomatoes are also coming in quite well and I have already made some salsa out of my beefsteak tomatoes because I had too many and I can only eat so many BLT's every day.  I still keep the best ones for my sandwiches and still there are many tomatoes that need picking, but just waiting them to turn color.  

 

Broccoli has also been prominent in the garden with many of their heads ready to be cut from the plant.  Although I would rather pick the heads in the spring or fall this particular type of broccoli is good in warm to hotter than normal weather.  Although they can still grow in cool weather I wanted them in order to pick broccoli throughout the year.  Although it didn't work out that way I still have plenty of time to possibly pick smaller broccoli from these plants

 

.Peppers and cucumbers are still being harvested, but I think my cucumbers are done for the season with only a couple of healthy vines left producing fruit.  Peppers on the other hand are still producing vegetables and I think a couple of hot pepper plants were able to survive this season.  I was certain that none of them sprouted, but I think I was wrong and it looks like one or two possible habaneras are alive and well in the garden.  I will have to wait and see if these are the hot peppers that I tried sprouting during the early springtime.

Changing of the Season Means New Harvests to Come

Now that most of my spring crops are done except for broccoli it is time to move onto the summer harvests that include pretty much everything in the garden right now.  Today I had a few harvests to do which include tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, beans, corn, and some broccoli.  Broccoli is the only spring crop that is left still producing vegetables that are good to pick.

When it is time to start picking tomatoes that is when you know you are at the peak of summer or getting close to the peak harvest season.  Right now I have plenty of cherry tomatoes, but they just have not turned red yet.  They are not quite ready to harvest, but a couple of plants do have some older fruit that have turned and enjoyed them in a salad a couple of days ago.  Those were the very first cherry tomatoes of the season so far.

A couple of days ago I also picked a couple of Roma and beefsteak tomatoes.  I like picking them just before they turn red because just before red they seem to last longer and are much more firm than if you were to pick them when they are bright red.  You could also pick them sooner and then place them on the window to continue ripening if you prefer.  Sometimes tomatoes that are not close to ripe drop on the ground and those I would place on the windowsill to hopefully ripen enough for consumption.

Corn is also another summer crop that happens to be ready around the begging of August and sometimes the end of July.  A couple of weeks ago some of the corn was ready and I began picking some of them.  I grew two types of strands of corn and for now only one of the types is ready for picking while the other still has a little bit more time to develop until it is ready to pick.  I would say another week or so and that corn will be ready.

I also plan to pick my onions and potatoes hopefully this weekend.  They are pretty much done and they are no longer growing or staying green.  This is the perfect time to start digging them up from the ground and enjoy their great flavor.

Getting Ready for Placing Plants Outside

At the moment there are only a couple of plants that are able to withstand the cool temperatures that have arrived.  It is still a little bit early to put all my plants outside.  With these temperatures only my spinach and lettuce can bear it right now.  I also have broccoli which I started inside that loves cool weather and I will probably be putting them outside soon as well.  For now I will be keeping my lettuce and spinach outside.  I am hoping by the end of the month to be putting them in the ground as long as they can get some sunshine.

I have been planting more seeds inside this season and have recently planted some cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, and even carrots.  My melons and cucumbers are sitting underneath fluorescent lights to get them sprouting quickly. 

I have also used larger peat pots this season for these seeds.  Using larger peat pots will allow for more time for the plants to develop without having to put them in the ground too soon.  If they sit in the peat pots for too long the containers may begin to dissolve and I would have to put them in the garden soil right away when it may not be time to do so.  That is why I chose to use larger ones for my melons.

Carrots on the other hand are not normally put into peat pots and I usually just plant some seeds directly into the garden soil.  Unfortunately this is not very efficient to say the least and I needed to try a different approach to planting this vegetable. 

Using small peat pots for carrots seemed like the obvious and best solution to this problem.  Planting them in plastic containers is something that should not be done because of transplanting problems.  Many times when transplanting carrots from a plastic container into the garden may cause the roots to not grow straight and might crack easily.  This is why I avoided planting them in plastic containers and chose to use small peat pots.

 
I also have tomatoes and broccoli sprouting that have grown beyond the trays that I placed them in and had to move them into larger pots.  I moved all my tomatoes and broccoli and placed them into large cups that I had saved up and this should last them until it is time to transplant them into the garden in the next couple of months or so

A Good End to The Summer Garden Harvests

Eggplants this season was more prominent than any other summer or spring crop.  I had planted close to thirty eggplant plants and received at least one or more from each plant.  I picked some of the last eggplants a couple of weeks ago just before a frost ended the season for most of my plants.  Close to a dozen were picked in this last harvest
 

The frost ends the season for all my summer plants and starts the season for harvesting my fall crops that include broccoli and brussel sprouts.  Carrots will also be harvested during the fall season as well, but that will be a little bit later in the month. 

My last tomato plant that was still growing after most of them were done for the season has finally finished growing the most tomatoes that it could during the time that it had.  It grew some of the best beefsteak tomatoes this season and some of the best that I have ever grown.  This year I grew a different variety of tomatoes and still focused on beefsteak, but instead of a large type I decided to grow a basic type of tomato.

 

 Now on to my fall crop which I am very much looking forward to.  I have actually started harvesting both my broccoli and brussel sprouts.  I have only begun to harvest just the large heads of my broccoli plants, but soon I will be harvesting the side shoots that come after cutting off the head.  So far I have just cut a couple of large heads that were ready earlier than many of the others.  I would say that the next couple of weeks most of the heads will be removed from my broccoli plants.
 

I wasn’t sure if it was time to start picking my brussel sprouts, but the plant had stopped growing and most of the brussel sprouts looked like they were pretty much ready for consumption.  Instead of picking the whole plant I just started with about have of them and the rest I will get later in the fall season.

It is Almost the end of a Season for 2019 Until Fall Crops are Ready for Harvesting

At the moment fall crops are not quite ready for harvesting, but I would say in the next couple of weeks the first broccoli heads or the first kale leaves will be ready for consumption.  I also have a brussel sprout plant that is just about ready for harvesting which I may do either this weekend or sometime next week.

Now that my fall crops have been growing quite well I also am still harvesting various vegetables that I grew this summer.  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and some beans are what is left of the summer harvest right now.  

My beans are probably done for the year and they have not been producing any more flowers.  There might be some that are hidden within the leaves, but I think it is safe to say that they have given their all. 

My tomatoes are also going the way of my beans and are done with producing new flowers for new fruits that can be harvest.  Luckily there is one beefsteak tomato plant that doesn’t want to give up and is still growing tomatoes.  As for flowers I think it is done, but the plant still has fruit on it that I will be harvesting sometime this month and hopefully before a frost.

 Peppers are another vegetable that I am still harvesting through the month of October.  These plants grew quite well this season and I have probably picked several dozen throughout the year using them for various things including a couple of batches of homemade tomato sauce.    There are still a few on these plants that I will be picking this week, but once I pick these last ones that will most likely be it for them.

 Last but not least are my eggplants that have grown the best out of most of my garden plants.  This could be due to the fact that I grew over 20 eggplants in the garden.  It was just a numbers game that I will have many eggplants to pick.  I have been picking them on a regular basis and I still have plenty out in the garden to harvest.  I would say that this is the largest harvest of eggplants I have ever received.

Getting the first Set of Red Onions Harvested this Past Week

At the moment my red onions were ready to be harvested, but my yellow onions are still not quite ready to be picked.  I always wait for the stems to fall over when harvesting onions and my red onions have fallen were ready to be picked from the soil.  I had planted two extra totes of red onions this season and it seems to have been a good decision.  Once they dry out on the table outside I will then bring them inside and feast on them throughout the year.
 

Although I have harvested red onions the rest of the garden is still growing and not quite ready for a good harvesting.  I would say within a week or so I should be start picking vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and possibly peppers.  Right now I have been slowly picking zucchini which has been growing quite well and ripening fast.
 

Many of my tomato plants are producing fruit and have not began to ripen just yet.  I am hoping that with all this hot sunny weather they should start turning red.  It will be interesting to see how many plants of cherry, Roma, and beefsteak I have.  I went through several plantings in the spring and kind of lost track of how much of each type I have.  At the moment I have at least two Romas, several beefsteak, and several cherry tomato plants.
 

I will also start digging up my potatoes that I planted in the springtime.  The plants are started to wither and die and this is when you know it is time to get them out of the ground.  I plan on digging them up sometime this week at the latest.  I could do it tomorrow morning before the afternoon rain comes.  I will have to see how the week goes before digging them up.  They will definitely be up by the end of the week.

What is Next Now That Lettuce and Spring Crops are Done?

Yup it is now time to switch to summer crop mode now that most of the spring crops are either going to seed or starting to turn brown which means no more production from them.  I still have to wait before digging up my potatoes which is one of the very last spring crops along with onions that have to be picked from the soil.

As for my onions they are still growing and getting bigger at the moment.  Some of them started to go to seed quite early so I had to make sure to remove the seed pod at the tip of them stem otherwise my onions would be very small when I pick them.  My yellow onions I will keep in the totes for now, but my red onions look like they are just about ready for harvesting.  At the moment most of the red onions have fallen which means they are done for the season.  Since my yellow onions have not fallen that means they are not quite ready for picking.  It won’t be long before they begin to fall.
 

Now that it is time for summer crops to produce it looks like my peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini are the first to be harvested during the month of July.  At the moment I have picked two zucchinis which have already been used to make some good meals and there are still more growing on the plants.
 

Pepper plants and tomato plants have flowers and some fruits.  Right now my peppers do not have fruits, but my tomato plants do.  I have at least a couple of plants that have flowers and fruits that will hopefully be ready by the month of July.  Usually it is usually a cherry tomato plant that is producing because they grow and ripen much quicker than beefsteak tomatoes.  Right now my beefsteak tomatoes are the ones that have tomatoes growing and plenty of flowers beginning to open.

 

I also have a couple of small cucumbers that are growing on a few vines that look like they have been pollinated.  One of them is getting bigger each day, but another one is too small to tell if it has been pollinated yet.  I am staying optimistic that they both have been pollinated and I should be getting the first cucumber of the season very soon

More Tomatoes are the Subject for Today

It seems that all I have been talking about is my tomatoes.  Fortunately I have been getting plenty of them this season especially when it comes to cherry tomatoes.  300 cherry tomatoes were picked last week while today I beat that by getting 490 ripe cherry tomatoes.  It looks like more salsa will have to be made with these types of tomatoes.

On the other hand I picked plenty of Roma and steakhouse tomatoes this past week as well.  I had over forty pounds of Roma tomatoes that needed to be used otherwise they would become rotten and not good for anything.  Luckily I made plenty of sauce with them and was able to fill up plenty of glass jars with this sauce.  I will be using most of it over the winter as well as the salsa from the cherry tomatoes.

I also had picked many steakhouse tomatoes which are basically good for sandwiches.  I love BLT and have been slicing large pieces of tomato for my lunch.  Having a large slice of fresh tomato on your sandwiches is one of the best things of the summertime.  It is one of the many things I look forward to each year.

Now that I have discussed my tomatoes it is time to talk about other vegetables in my garden.  First of all I picked some more pole beans today and will probably be freezing some of them for use in a couple of months.  I only picked a small batch, but there is still plenty of time with plenty of more beans to be picked real soon.

My melons are doing well and I don’t know exactly when, but some of them are going to be harvested sometime this month hopefully.  My watermelon will most likely be the first since it was planted first and the first to generate a melon.  I have a couple of cantaloupes and a couple of honeydew melons that are still on the vine not ready for picking.

Two Eggplants Ready To be Made Into a Delicious Meal Right Now

I will keep this post short since not much has been going on except for harvesting plenty of tomatoes of all three types and some eggplants this week.  There are three eggplant plants in the garden at the moment and they all have a large eggplant on them that was perfect for picking this week.

Right now I have only picked two of them and left the third one out in the garden for the moment and will probably harvest that one real soon.  The other two were picked this past week and I will be using one of them today for eggplant Parmesan.  I will also be using homemade tomato sauce that I have stored over the past couple of years.  These were made with my Roma tomatoes.

Tomatoes of all types are continuing to grow on the plants and I am continuing to harvest all of them from week to week.  I don’t pick them every day and instead pick them only a couple of days per week to make certain that enough of them are ripe for harvesting. 

I am enjoying both my cherry tomatoes and steakhouse tomatoes.  I have been making slices out of my steakhouse tomatoes and placing them on my sandwiches or just eating as is.  I have been placing my cherry tomatoes in my salads and eating them hole a few times per week.

This past week I picked a large harvest of both steakhouse tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.  There were 260 cherry tomatoes that were picked yesterday along with a half a dozen of steakhouse tomatoes weighing over a pound each ripe for harvesting. 

This just means more slices of tomatoes will have to be eaten each day in order to go through these large sized tomatoes.  More salads will have to be eaten in order to go through all these cherry tomatoes that I keep picking each week.

Hundreds of Cherry Tomatoes are Just Waiting to be Harvested

Although there plenty of cherry tomatoes to be picked that doesn’t mean that there are no other types of tomatoes or vegetables ready for harvesting.  In fact I have been picking steakhouse tomatoes throughout the past week and have been enjoying them on a daily basis with my sandwiches.  Roma tomatoes are also just about ready to be turned into sauce once I pick just a few more in the next couple of days.

Eggplants are confirmed to finally be pollinated now that all three plants have at least one good size vegetable thriving.  I am going to wait as long as possible in order to get them to get them as large as possible before harvesting them.  Making eggplant Parmesan out of them is the best meal to make with this unique vegetable.

My sunflowers that I have planted through the season at different times are now producing their flower heads and should soon be opening.  The first ones I planted back in April or May are the first to start producing heads and will most likely be the first to open.  I would say that they will start opening very soon and maybe by the end of this week.

My melons are doing quite well and most of my vines have at least one melon growing on them.  I have a couple of crimson sweet watermelons that are growing the best out of all of them. 

My pumpkins have also started to ripen and one of the first ones is pretty much totally orange in color and probably ready to pick soon.  While the first one is done ripening I still have others that have just started producing pumpkins.  I hope that this new one will be able to get to a good size even though it is late producing a pumpkin.

My cucumber vines are on their way to producing plenty of vegetables.  Most of them have plenty of flowers which means I should have plenty of cucumbers in the near future from most of them.  I picked three of them today from three separate plants.  I can’t wait to many more of them.

Short Corn Season with Plenty of Ears Harvested

Although the season for corn was a little short I actually got quite a bit of ears from this variety of corn.  Most of the stalks had multiple ears for picking while previous types of corn that I have planted previously only had one and sometimes two.  Ambrosia is definitely one to grow if you are interested in picking more than just one ear per stalk.

Many of the corn that was picked was frozen so that I can have a little taste of summer during the cold winter season.  I still have others that have been cooked and need to be eaten right away.  As long as you keep corn in the fridge they should be fine for several weeks.   So far it has only been a week or two since I have cooked the first harvest of corn.

Although now that corn is done for 2018 I still have plenty of other vegetables that still need care for a few more months.  For instance my peppers have been growing since I planted them a while ago and it is just about time to pick some peppers off the plants.  One pepper was picked this week and with the amount of flowers on the plants I am sure to get many others this season.

Another harvest of cucumbers was completed this afternoon and they look quite well for consumption.  I wanted to make sure that they stopped growing on the vine before picking them.  I don’t like picking them when they are ripe, but instead wait until they stop growing to their full size.

Not only were cherry tomatoes picked, but on one of my tomato plants there was a steakhouse tomato that was surely ripe enough for picking.  I like to pick them just before they are ready to turn red.  This is the prime time to pick them and they will last a little bit longer than if I was to wait for it to turn a dark red color.  Picking these tomatoes will last longer and stay firm for a good duration