September 3, 2012

Dozens of pumpkins, small and large, are now on display in our front yard.

August 31st's Blue Moon.

Harvest home.  The first of September (the start of meteorological autumn) dawned clear and golden after the previous night's Blue Moon.  Despite the subtle change of season, afternoon temperatures have crept back up to the low 90's F, while mornings are cool and dewy.  If the coming winter brings as many snows as we had fogs in August, we might see 5 winter weather advisories (this little bit of folklore will be interesting to test this year, knowing the Farmer's Almanac forecast for a colder and wetter than normal winter).

Warm, sunny days are great for our favorite harvest of the year: pumpkins!  We filled the wheelbarrow several times making trips from the pumpkin patch to our front yard where dozens of the orange fruits sit on display until we are ready to use them in culinary treats.  According to research on the topic, pumpkin seeds are more nutritious than the fruit's meaty orange flesh, but because of its low-calorie value and high concentration of vitamins like beta-carotene, this flavorful food is an all-around winner.  Our largest pumpkin (a 'Prizewinner' variety) is still ripening on the vine and will be moved up in a few weeks.

This funny-looking gourd (center) is actually
a winter squash of the 'Cucurbita moschata' family.

Our local apple harvest has finished; our fourth-year trees are still juveniles with many hopeful years of bigger and more abundant harvests.  'Heritage' red raspberries are producing heavily.  Tomato vines and pepper plants are still setting fruit, and we are pulling more carrots to supplement meals as just about everything else has finished.  Green beans on the bush now are being saved for seed.

Happy Labor Day y'all!

Fouth-year apple tree well branched and finished with harvest,
catches some morning rays in front of the pumpkin patch.

August 27, 2012

A Prizewinner pumpkin grows large and orange-red as summer comes to an end.

It's time to get rid of the old to make room for the new.  Two hundred eighty-eight corn stalks were macheted at ground level, clearing a 20 ft. x 25 ft. space that will be our fall and winter vegetable garden.  The tiller evened things out, and any weeds quickly wilted in these sunny and dry days of late August.

Corn stalks dry after being cut.

The 2013 Farmer's Almanac calls for a colder than normal winter with above average precipitation for the eastern two-thirds of the nation.  Unseasonably chilly temperatures will reach as far south as the Gulf Coast.  Last winter was so warm because of a most unusual combination of a North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillation that pulled warm air up from the Southwest, and a La Nina that kept the jet stream far north.  Last winter was ideal for gardening year-round, but this winter looks to be different. So we are taking advantage of the remarkably cool August to get our fall garden in early.  Nine brussels sprouts transplants were moved to the garden under milk jug covers - not to keep the frost out, but to shield from hot sun and hungry insects.  Cabbage, broccoli, root crops and greens will soon follow.  Since grass mow is so thick, it will make an ideal mulch to keep weeds down around our new plants.

A bucket of compost went into
each planting hole

Superfreak pumpkins have an interesting appearance.

We have counted at least 50 pumpkins ripening in our patch, and more are setting daily.  We are almost ready to go through and cut everything orange from the vine.  A prizewinner giant is almost red; it really stands out among the smaller varieties.  These will soon be moved with hay bales under our front yard maple tree.

Brussels sprouts transplants underneath protective milk jug covers.

August 20, 2012

'New England Pie' pumpkins curing in the barn.

Grass mow is thick, mornings are dawning cooler, and evidence of the changing season is seen in fruits of harvest.  Look closely, and there is even some early leaf color in the dogwoods.  Our apple trees have let us know that their fruit is ripe and ready to be tasted.  One of those late-evening walks out to the back of our property, so busy with dragonflies and jumping locust, came to a stop when we noticed several red apples had fallen to the ground.  Their fragrance was spicy-sweet, and a bite confirmed the fruit was dead-ripe.  We sprayed these trees until the end of June with a home orchard insecticide/fungicide and then left them alone to get washed in July rain.  Insects have not bothered them in the last half of the season.

A perfect 'Winesap' apple paired with ripe figs all from our orchard.

We are seeing more fruits than vegetables as summer winds down slowly but inevitably to the autumn, our favorite season of year.  We did harvest a bushel basket of tomatoes, imperfect, but tasty enough paired with peppers and onions for salsa.  A fall crop of red raspberries is producing heavily, reminding us of a seemingly long-gone June berry season.  We picked the last of our melons and mowed the patch to the ground.

Thursday morning dawned at 58 degrees F at our elevation.  Refreshing!  Sunflowers and pumpkins are a cheery pair as we begin to think about the impending garden clean-up.  If you did not have enough milk jug covers last spring, start saving them now to cover tender transplants that will be set in the garden in early September.  We need to begin thinking of cutting down our yellowing corn patch to make room for the fall and winter garden.

A cheery sunflower bows out as summer 2012 comes to a close.

August 6, 2012

Our first ripe fig.

The hazy August time of summer settles in for the year.  Days of warm, dry idleness seem relaxing, compared to the busy pace of July.  But this time of year just drags.  Wafts of breeze, that we barely feel, skirt thin clouds through the span of sky at a turtle's pace; the air is torrid and wilting.  The sun swelters on until even nature's greenery, finished with its lush July growth, hangs spun out of energy, dull and plastic.  Some Augusts we don't garden at all.  Weeds and grasses have crept in; plants - many which we started from seed nearly half a year ago - are showing signs of advanced age.  Even the emerald green foliage of our fruit trees seems listless.  This is last chance to take a vacation before school days set in.

Fig, cut open to reveal its sweet center.

We picked 150 ears of sweet corn - these we blanched and froze whole - and left a few on the stalks to keep maturing.  The other steady producers continue to be tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, melons, and carrots.  Cucumbers may yet surprise us with something, but broccoli plants are ready to be pulled.  As soon as our melons ripen, we plan to pull up our soaker hoses and mow the entire patch to the ground.

A rewarding surprise this week was our first fig.  It was very sweet, soft, and fruity-flavored.  We've never had anything like it before and hope it continues to surprise us at a time of year when we are looking to enjoy something exotic.

New England Pie pumpkin curing.

We received 4.5 inches of rain last week; pumpkins continue to swell, though many New England Pie variety are already orange.  Hot weather turns pumpkins orange before they are truly ripe sometimes, and we solve this by covering the large ones with old rags and t-shirts to keep them shaded.  If we leave them on the vine too long bugs tend to bore in, but if we cut them too early they don't cure well.  Deciding that just-right time to cut can be tricky.  Generally, if a thumbnail can't pierce a pumpkin's skin by the stem, it's ready to cut.

The garden in August.

Our pumpkin patch is showing signs of crisping leaves; corn in the background.

July 23, 2012

7-pound cantaloupes/muskmelons are coming 5 per day. 

It's not hard to tell what the kids have been into when their hands are sticky and they come with sweet juice dribbling down their chins.  This week we harvested 8 of the first melons coming this season.  With all the rain we have received (not complaining), we were afraid they might be bland and watery; the smaller melons aren't quite as sweet as the thick big ones, but they all win taste tests compared to supermarket produce!

Jars of tomato halves canned for spaghetti and goulash.

We've wiped our hands of corn for a while, though what we have stocked in the fridge should hold out until our second crop ripens by August 4.  We've done more tomato canning, halves and juice.  Onions are curing well in the barn, and green beans have revived after their mid-summer slump and are producing enough to keep a daily helping on our dinner plates.  We're picking fresh carrots and cucumbers as needed to go with  tomato slices.

On our "to-do" list this weekend was, gather brown and air dried dill seed and save it in an envelope to plant next year.

Onions curing in an airy dry shelf in the barn.

We're having more fun hand-pollinating and watching pumpkins of all sorts, shapes, and sizes grow daily; some of the 'New England Pie' variety are even starting to turn orange; we've picked a few 'Jack-Be-Little'.  Our hopes are high that a 'Prizewinner' which set last week and that grew the size of a melon in just 7 days will end up being a show-stopper to display in the front yard this autumn.  "If you grow pumpkins, you will be happy when you pick them.  Savor what you feel, in addition to what you taste.  Enjoy the blossoms - if pumpkins were rare, gardeners would pamper them in greenhouses just for their extraordinary flowers."  --J. L. Hudson as quoted in The Perfect Pumpkin, by Gail Damerow

This 'Prizewinner' pumpkin grew to the size of a melon in just 7 days.

July 16, 2012

Pumpkin, gourd, and squash fruits are setting.

Can you guess this vegetable?

Part of our corn harvest.

Brussels sprouts seed planted a week ago are unfurling two green cotyledons (the first embryonic leaves) on a window ledge in our barn, where they are protected from voracious green worms, but receive plenty of sunshine for stocky growth.

All heirloom paste tomatoes.

This week meant corn and tomatoes in a BIG way.  The first half of our corn patch (20 ft. x 12 ft) came ripe; we went through and picked well above 200 ears.  The number 200 is our standard, benchmark, goal for corn production; it means we had a really good year.  Cut off the cob, we froze 24 quarts.  Earlier last month, the SC State Climatology Office reported that corn across the state was growing so well it looked "fake" (see note 1 below).  We could certainly say the same is true here, especially after our week of generous rains.  Corn crop two is topping out taller than crop one, and is now in silk; it will be ready to harvest by August 4.


The garden looks like a jungle after last week.  We will be canning tomatoes on a weekly basis through July, and when we get tired of canning them whole, we will put them through our strainer/sauce maker for thick, rich sauce.


Melons are still swelling, but they aren't hinting of turning ripe.  Pumpkins are setting every day, and one of our Prizewinner giants has set fruit; we will allow it to set up to three fruits before determining the best one to leave on the vine to mature into a hopeful 100-pound pumpkin.  


As part of routine maintenance this weekend, we summer pruned all our peach and apple trees to remove water sprouts and crossing branches.  And if that wasn't enough to do, we pulled and cleaned our onion crop, which is now curing on a shelf in the barn.

"The walkway."  Pumpkin vines have claimed our pea fence to the left
and make the walk to our orchard kind of cozy.

Experienced gardeners may guess:  it's a bloated, ripe cucumber!  Eastern European homesteaders
settling the plains would slice a yellow cucumber in a pail of fresh milk for a cooling
and nutritious summer meal.

Note 1 - http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ClimateData/weekly/wk061712.php

Recipe: Luxuriant Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

In honor of the first day of Autumn tomorrow, here's one of our favorite ways to use pumpkin.  Real pumpkin needs to be pureed and cooked down to remove excess water until it is slightly browned and very thick.  Real or canned pumpkin may be used in this recipe.  Many pumpkin breads end up slightly dry, but this recipe results in that rich, moist, decadent bread you've been looking for.  And since it makes three loaves, there's enough to share.

Recipe:  Luxuriant Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 and 1/2  cups all-
         purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup semi-sweet
         chocolate chips (may substitute chopped nuts of choice for a heartier
         bread)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour three 7-inch by 3-inch loaf pans.  In a large bowl mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, and sugar until well blended.  In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  Stir the dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture just until blended.  Add chocolate chips.  Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in preheated oven.  Loaves are done when toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Serves 12 - 15.

April 25, 2011

What a long way we've come since February!  In two months' time, we've fleshed out the bare bones of the vegetable garden.  Green onions are now ready for harvest (the rest will be left to fatten into bulbs); spinach and lettuce are producing well, and these herbs are ready to toss into our culinary makings:  rosemary, chives, sage, Greek oregano, tarragon, thyme, mint.  Garlic scapes, the rage of high-end gourmets, are here; if you don't know what all the fuss is about, try an internet search for details and recipes.  We love adding them to eggs, sautés, and garnishes because of their fresh, light garlic flavor, unlike anything we've tried from a grocery store.

Transplanting is almost finished; Bryan moved all varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and herbs dill and basil into their permanent growing locations in the garden.  We quickly ran out of milk jug covers for all these plants, but the broccoli have adjusted and are growing so well they were ready to relinquish theirs to be reused on others.  That master garden plan drawn up and dreamed over in January is finally coming to life.  This Saturday, Bryan made a trip to Whispering Pines Stables in an experiment to see just how smelly he can make our SUV!  Not really, but he did find plenty of fully composted and garden-ready horse manure which he brought back in buckets.

High temperature more consistently in the 80's F is warming the soil so that cucumbers, cantaloupe and honeydew melons, zucchini, squash, green beans, and corn will now readily sprout.  We plant way too much of this stuff to finish in one weekend, so sections of the garden are divvied up and each planted on a schedule.  Coming up this week are the vine crops, cucumbers, and melons.  We leave our cardboard and leaf mulch in place to discourage weeds and to keep developing fruit off the soil.  This way we do not have to till and disrupt soil structure underneath (keeping those earth worms happy!)  We simply pull a circle of leaves away from the planting mound, dig in lots of composted manure, and plant our seeds on top.

 Don't miss it!  Coming next month:  our attempt at growing the Great Pumpkin.  In summer 2009 Bryan grew this 83-pound Bix Max, and that was only the start of the fun.  This year we have Prizewinner seeds, and it will take all the right conditions - water, nutrients, and weather, to make a heavyweight that beats our previous record!