The harvests are getting less varied as the season lurches from spring into full on summer. I managed to harvest some beans from my Musica and French Gold plants before I ripped them out. And the St. George runner beans have been producing a few beans here and there.
There is, however, no lack of zucchini. Cucumbers seem to come in waves. The Tortarello Abruzzese plant seems to set a few at a time and then takes a rest. The other cucumber plants are only producing an occasional fruit. All the cucumber plants except the Toratarello are being viciously attacked by spider mites. The hot dry weather and the dusty conditions in my garden have helped the spider mite populations to explode and I've been wary of spraying the plants because most of the treatments can burn the plants when applied when temperatures are 90ºF (32ºC) or higher and we've had a couple of days with heat like that.. We got a break from the heat yesterday but today is supposed to be over 90 again. Bleah. But in the meantime the spidermites are sucking away at not only the cucumbers, but the beans and eggplants are being attacked as well.
Sorry Daphne but the heat has not been conducive to further zucchini chip experiments. But the Zucchini Gazpacho recipe has been refined. I made it lighter and more refreshing and so far my husband has given his seal of approval to Version #2. My last photo of the gazpacho didn't do the vibrant green any justice so here's a somewhat better shot of the color.
All the cucumbers have inspired experiments with easy cool cucumber salads as well, here's a photo of one version.
The last of the fennel had to be harvested because it was starting to bolt. It's been trimmed and is sitting in the refrigerator awaiting some inspiration on my part.
Yesterday I got out to the garden in the relatively cooler weather and planted out replacement cucumber plants, some melons (this could be the year!), and some winter squash. I also found some nice broccoli shoots that had seemingly appeared overnight. I haven't tasted them yet and I'm hoping that the heat hasn't made them nasty.
Other than that I've been weighing my garlic as I use it. I bundled up my Red Janice garlic and keep it in the kitchen. It gets weighed as I cut heads from the bundle. The Lorz Italian garlic is still curing.
The weather has been unpleasantly hot. We're better off than much of the southwestern part of the nation because we are so close to the coast. The cool marine layer keeps the beach truly pleasant, but it's amazing how just going a few miles from the water's edge can make a huge difference. My husband and I hiked at Andrew Molera state park on Saturday where the temperature was 84 in the parking lot within sight of the ocean, as we hiked the bluffs above the beaches we were cooled by breezes coming off the water, it was probably in the mid 60's in spots, but as we climbed up to the top of the ridge we could feel the temperature steadily rise until it was uncomfortably hot, back into the high 80's. We drove into the "town" of Big Sur and watched the temperature gauge in the car climb past 100. On the drive back up Highway 1 along the coast we watched the temperature gauge dive back down to 65 and settle at about 70 for most of the drive. Then watched the temperature climb 20 degrees again as we did the 10 miles into the valley and home. What a wild temperature ride!
Here's the harvests for the past week:
French Gold filet beans - 1.3 oz.
St. George runner beans - 2.6 oz.
Spanish Musica beans - 7.4 oz.
Di Ciccio broccoli - 15.4 oz.
Purple Peacock broccoli - 5 oz.
Garden Oasis cucumber - 4.6 oz.
Tasty Green Japanese cucumber - 7.4 oz.
Tortarello Abruzzese cucumbers - 1 lb., 6.8 oz.
Fennel (untrimmed) - 2 lb., 10.9 oz.
Red Janice garlic - 2.2 oz.
Ortolano di Faenza zucchini - 11.4 oz.
Romanesco zucchini - 2 lb., 8.2 oz.
The total harvests for the past week came to - 10 lb., 3.2 oz.
Which brings the harvests for the year up to- 183 lb., 13.8 oz.
Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne on her blog Daphne's Dandelions, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers from around the world have been harvesting lately.
Beautiful harvests. And I guess that is the problem with zucchini chips. When the garden gives you zucchini it can be very hot out.
ReplyDeleteYour harvest looks wonderful and that cucumber salad looks very beautiful. So does the gazpacho. I'd love to try something like that!
ReplyDeleteWe are growing St George runner beans but at the moment they are only about 1' high
ReplyDeleteThat cucumber salad looks absolutely delicious! We enjoy the cooling affects of the nearby sea but we are so close to it that my garden never really benefits from much heat during the summer as a result. (I can smell the salt air from my back deck and hear the fog horns on the nearby Hood Canal bridge - which let's you know how close we are to the maritime breeze).
ReplyDeleteStay cool and thank you for the recipe for the zucchini Gazpacho and the update on it.
The salad is beautiful! I know what you mean about the abundance of zucchini and cucumbers! I have been trying to find new things to do with them too, since my family seems to be tiring of them already!
ReplyDeleteThat salad IS beautiful! I imagine it has some kind of an Asian salad dressing? That would be just delicious! It's dangerous looking at your food, Michelle, you're always making me hungry!
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, I used seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, rice bean oil, and fish sauce. I usually add some chives also but forgot, sometimes I add mint and or basil too. That's my basic Asian inspired dressing.
DeleteThat should be rice bran oil.
DeleteThe spider mite infestation sounds terrible. It's too bad you had to pull up some of your bean plants. But your cucumbers and zucchini look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHope you were able to take care of the spider mites. Beautiful fennel and your salad is very inviting.
ReplyDeleteYour cool summer meals look so amazing! I know we'll be over run with it soon, but right now I am jealous of all your gorgeous zucchini! We always want what we don't have, right?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest and yummy salad, I grow runner beans for hummingbirds, but have not eaten them before, I'll have to try it someday.
ReplyDelete