My husband Dave and I escaped to the Emigrant Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada for a 5-day backpacking trip last week so I didn't post a harvest report last Monday. The trip was amazing. We had perfect weather and other than the first day we saw hardly a soul.
Before we left I harvested a beautiful bunch of squash blossoms which I used in a Scarpaccia. Most of the blossoms came from the Tatume squash vines. Scarpaccia is great road trip food, delicious at room temperature and easy to eat out of hand. We munched it for lunch on the drive to the trailhead and then had what was left as an appetizer before dinner in camp the first night.
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Scarpaccia
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There were a few more squash and zucchini harvests before and after the trip, not all of which were photographed. Thankfully my neighbor accepted a bagful before we departed.
There weren't many overgrown squash when we returned since I picked the vines pretty clean before we left. One Tromba d'Albenga got to be big and it seems that one Tatume hid from me. The rest of the squash weren't blooming when I went through the vines before we left.
I'm still getting an assortment of beans but the purple and yellow beans are nearly done. I gave all of these to my neighbor also.
There's been a tiny trickle of cherry tomatoes and the Marzano Fire paste tomatoes are starting to ripen. The spiky little green things are a cucumber relative called a
burr gherkin. This one was a freebie from the Seed Savers Exchange when I renewed my membership and it is simply named Jamaican. I've been eating them raw in salads but they are also supposed to be good for pickling and cooking. Most of the beans that I'm harvesting now are Brinker Carriers, another selection from the Seed Savers Exchange.
Here's a new addition to the tomato lineup - Brad's Atomic Grape. It's a super flavorful tomato but unfortunately the plants aren't very vigorous.
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Brad's Atomic Grape
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The onions are now fully cured and trimmed.
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Cabernet and Sierra Blanca
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I have been putting a large container of water outside my garden because it seems that local wildlife have been enjoying it. My curiosity got piqued about just what it is that's been slurping it up. So I installed a critter camera aimed at the bucket (a large tub trug). The first couple of nights I wasn't surprised to see a couple of bucks but then the other morning I got quite a surprise to see this guy/gal below...
The images are a bit blurry but there's no doubt that that is a mountain lion. I know they have been in the neighborhood, both of my neighbors have seen them, but I've never seen one myself. So I finally have my own proof that they are truly here.
Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.
Wow, a mountain lion in your yard! Seeing one in the wild is one of my bucket list items. Here we get excited if we see a fox or coyote. I bet he will help with your rodent problems! The scarpaccia looks and sounds great. We are trying to figure out how to make it dairy-free (for her) and gluten-free (for me). I've seen the Atomic Grapes in catalogs and they look too good to be true. Nice to know they taste good, but not nice that they aren't vigorous.
ReplyDeleteOh me - mountain lions! Will they help with the rodent problem? I laughed when you said a Tatume eluded you. The green squash always do that to me. I had one of the Korean avocado squashes get almost melon sized on me, and it wound up on the compost pile. It's looks like you are getting plenty of the Tatume too.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are lovely Michelle. The biggest thing we've caught on our critter cam is a rat! How exciting to see the mountain lion. We've considered camping in the Eastern Sierras this year as is our usual but hear campgrounds are quite busy we may wait until after Labor Day.
ReplyDeleteWHOA. A mountain lion! That's amazing. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see you got a crop of onions that you're happy with this year. I know they've frustrated you in the past. They're really pretty onions, too!
I wanted to mention that I am collected plenty of Ruby buckwheat seed if you'd like some. I will have more than enough to share with people.
I'm glad the hiking trip was such a success.
Some seeds would be wonderful. I was just looking at a spot in the garden where I had prepared the soil but don't have anything in mind to grow there just now so I thought I should sow a buckwheat cover crop.
DeleteI’ve never eaten squash flowers. Can you describe the taste? Do you just cook male flowers so the females produce fruit. A mountain lion in your garden - are they dangerous?
ReplyDeleteThe squash blossoms have a very mild squash flavor, although I have found some varieties to be bitter. I usually just harvest the male blossoms but I will also use the female blossoms if there's a glut of squash. The blossoms don't have to be cooked, they make a beautiful addition to salads.
DeleteMountain lions are dangerous and they are capable of killing humans but fortunately rarely do so. They are nocturnal but most active at dusk and dawn so that's when we need to be most careful. They are shy and secretive so sightings here are pretty rare. I've never seen one in person.