How is your garden?

Winchester

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Over the weekend, we froze two quarts of green and wax beans.

Chopped and froze a good quart of banana peppers.

I made a pint of tomato sauce from the tomatoes that I roasted with some garlic and some herbs. Will use that later on for pizza sauce, but for now it's in the freezer. Love roasted tomatoes; they're very smoky and the sauce is thicker than you get with just simmering sauce.

And dehydrated four trays of thick slices of tomatoes....took a little longer because they were thicker slices, but they are really good; I sprinkled them with a bit of pepper and some basil and oregano. 

The beans are still flowering profusely, so we're going to get beans for a while yet. The broccoli is done....a lot of it bolted while we were in Wisconsin. (But over the course of the summer, I think we got about 8 quarts of broccoli, so that's not too bad.) The banana peppers are still flowering; I don't pick those peppers until they're fairly large, or as large as I think they're going to get. The younger they are, the hotter they are, so I let them go a bit. Then I wash them well, seed them, and then chop or slice them.

Tomatoes are coming on. As they start to get redder, we've been picking them and putting them on a card table in the basement to finish ripening. That's the only way we know of to stop them from cracking....pick them before they're fully ripe. We haven't had a cracked tomato yet this year and that was a big problem last year. The tomatoes are doing well.....they'd be doing better if the darn deer would leave them alone! 
 (One word, baby -- VENISON!  
 ) We've never had this much trouble with deer. Never. They are knocking the plants, cages and all, right over. Even though we've even netted the tomatoes. We've netted pretty much everything. And I mentioned that we already lost all the corn....never got even one ear. They've really done damage this year. They ate the tops right off the bean plants; but all that really did was make the plants really bushy. Really bushy plants mean a lot of beans!!!

The lima beans that we planted didn't really do well. I don't know that we'll try them again.

We have one zucchini plant left and it has flowers again, so the zucchini will be coming in soon. The cucumbers are doing well....I'm going to start a batch of pickles tomorrow night, just not sure what kind of pickles, probably lime pickles as I love them.

So far we've done two batches of cinnamon pickles, a batch of lime pickles, six pints of red onions with honey (and I still have enough red onions to get another six pints or so), and 18 half-pint jars of old farmhouse chutney. I did four quarts of freezer cabbage, too, but gave two quarts to my sister. I'm thinking about doing some peaches, too, as that would make a nice change from applesauce for Rick's lunches. He said if I wanted to do some peaches, he'd help me.

I think that next year, we're going to increase the garden size again. Rick says pretty soon we'll be talking truck patch!

And that's how our garden is doing. How are yours??
 
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libby74

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I don't grow anything but flowers and shrubs.  The weather here has been so dry that the ground is like a brick, even after watering.  Seems as if I just can't water enough to make much of a difference.  Things don't look too bad yet, but it's only a matter of time before the heat and the dry spell hits my garden hard.
 

natalie_ca

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I don't have a garden, but I've been reaping the benefits of other people's gardens this summer.

I've made chili from garden Roma tomatoes.  I've gotten cucumbers, fresh herbs and lots and lots of apples.

I've made applesauce and I'm going to make a pie and a crisp to freeze.
 
 

bbdoll22

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Green beans and tomatoes are doing great. I have a problem with my cukes, they don't get "cuke" shaped they only grow into little balls then turn yellow and rot
 

stephanietx

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My garden is fried.  Would you like some sun fried tomatoes?  That's what happens in Texas after strings of 100º+ days.  However, I am gearing up for fall.  I planted some watermelon seeds 2 weeks ago as well as 3 different varieties of cucumber seeds.  I'll soon be planting broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. 
 
 

MoochNNoodles

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I haven't even walked out there in weeks. DH has brought in a few cherry tomatoes but that's it.  From what I can see from the house; the new summer squash and zucchini are getting bigger.  The tomato plant that grew from reseeding from last years is bigger too.  I can't see the new cukes or beans from here.  I should probably get out there.  It's been a zoo here!!  Which is why it's almost 2 am and I'm getting my TCS fix...
 

AbbysMom

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I've been away for over a week and I am scared to walk out there. :lol3:
 
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Winchester

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Rick was up there yesterday afternoon and brought back a ton of tomatoes! I chunked them and roasted them for sauce. Man, they really cook down. I had a huge baking sheet full of tomatoes. After roasting for two hours, I put them through the food processor....and got 1-1/2 quarts of sauce for the freezer.

We put a card table up in the basement. Because of the deer and raccoons, when we see tomatoes that are starting to turn, but aren't quite ready yet, we take them anyway. We put them on the card table to finish ripening. At least that way, we get them; the animals don't. We've never seen animals that want tomatoes as bad as these do! I don't know if it's because we haven't a decent amount of rain in so long or what's going on, but we've netted our tomato plants to try to keep the animals away from them.

It's been pretty much a constant struggle all summer against those critters.

We planted 5 mums yesterday. Lowes had them 5 for $5.00. They're smaller mums, but loaded with buds. Three dark red/purple and two yellow ones. We were digging in the front flower bed and it's dry, even way, way down in the ground. Bone dry. We get some rain, but it's just showers and quick t-storms that don't do much. We could use a good day or two or even three of a nice, soaking rain.
 

dejolane

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I don't have a garden but if I did tomatoes,green bell peppers and green beans would be flowing here for sure ! I have a small apartment and don't have the room for a garden..
 

margecat

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I'm still harvesting tomatoes! (And making stewed tomatoes to freeze.). I have some green beans, as well. My Celeste fig tree has baby figs; this is its first year.

Oh, and we have the first pumpkin on our porch on our street! We "harvested" the world-famous tree pumpkin Friday.
  Our pumpkin vines went crazy, and grew up into the trees, and the pumpkins started forming before I could train the vines, so I just let them rest on the braches for support. We had one that was perched on the edge of the rain barrel, so we left it there, and it fell off on Friday. DH put it on the porch. Last night, we noticed that we have pumpkins growing on the roof!   Talk about freaking the neighbors out...they think we're nuts anyway--so let's give' em something to talk about!
 

nurseangel

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I'm still harvesting tomatoes! (And making stewed tomatoes to freeze.). I have some green beans, as well. My Celeste fig tree has baby figs; this is its first year.

Oh, and we have the first pumpkin on our porch on our street! We "harvested" the world-famous tree pumpkin Friday.
  Our pumpkin vines went crazy, and grew up into the trees, and the pumpkins started forming before I could train the vines, so I just let them rest on the braches for support. We had one that was perched on the edge of the rain barrel, so we left it there, and it fell off on Friday. DH put it on the porch. Last night, we noticed that we have pumpkins growing on the roof!   Talk about freaking the neighbors out...they think we're nuts anyway--so let's give' em something to talk about!
Wow for the pumpkins!  
  We had the rainiest season ever I think in our part of NC (er, the Isle of Llamas) this year.  The plus was that we seldom had to water our tomatoes.  The downside was the plants died early and we had to take up our little garden.  The grapes are on the way; in fact, the vines are so heavy that one of the arbors broke.   Some people sell them at roadside stands here for about $20 a box...at my house they are free to anyone who wants them.  One day a couple years back, I looked out and was surprised to see a stranger in my backyard, picking grapes. It turned out to be the exterminator, off duty.  I didn't recognize him in his street clothes.  
  
 
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Winchester

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I'm still harvesting tomatoes! (And making stewed tomatoes to freeze.). I have some green beans, as well. My Celeste fig tree has baby figs; this is its first year.

Oh, and we have the first pumpkin on our porch on our street! We "harvested" the world-famous tree pumpkin Friday.
  Our pumpkin vines went crazy, and grew up into the trees, and the pumpkins started forming before I could train the vines, so I just let them rest on the braches for support. We had one that was perched on the edge of the rain barrel, so we left it there, and it fell off on Friday. DH put it on the porch. Last night, we noticed that we have pumpkins growing on the roof!   Talk about freaking the neighbors out...they think we're nuts anyway--so let's give' em something to talk about!
On your roof! 
 I would so love to be your neighbor....that's just hilarious! We tried growing pumpkins many years ago, but we didn't get our garden planted right away. Til the pumpkins actually started to form on the vines, we got a hard frost. I think it's neat that you have your pumpkins.

I was up in our garden yesterday and picked a ton of those banana peppers for the freezer. We have no idea how we ended up with banana peppers as we specifically only bought regular green bell peppers this past spring. Evidently, several plants were mis-labelled because we've been getting a bumper crop of banana peppers and hardly any green peppers. Which is OK as they're a mild banana, not overly hot and spicy. And I seed them prior to dicing. Til I was finished slicing and dicing, though, I had about a quart of peppers from that basket full. I also took a big basket of tomatoes from the vines; they were a nice blush color with no bruises or any marks what so ever...the tomatoes are just gorgeous this year. I picked the basket full and tucked them in the basement on the card table. I'm thinking that by Wednesday or Thursday, I'll be roasting tomatoes again.

There was an article in our local newspaper about tomato powder....yes, powder. When you can whole tomatoes or make stewed tomatoes, you skin the tomatoes first. Well, save that skin (if you have a food dehydrator). You can dry those tomato skins until nice and brittle. Then simply plop them all into a blender or food processor and grind them into powder. That's it. Reconstituted powder can be used as sauce or even paste....perfect for those times when a recipe only calls for a tablespoon of tomato paste!

When we were in Chicago a few years ago, a GF took me to The Spice House....a really nice spice store in her area. I bought a jar of Tomato Powder from there and I was amazed at how often I actually used the stuff. That jar was gone in no time. Penzey does not carry tomato powder, so making my own powder is something I'm going to have to try. Probably some time this week yet. Stay tuned! 

Your fig tree....is it planted outdoor year-around or do you keep it as a small patio tree and put it back in the house for winter?
 
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starryeyedtiger

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I love this thread; all of these gardens sound amazing!! :clap:
For right now, I have a little conatiner garden I'm raising indoors (I actually bought a corner baker's rack for it a few weeks ago so I could have more space), but planning to tear up the yard this spring and plant a raised vegetable garden and a few flower beds! I love the idea of growing my own fresh foods (sans nasty pesticides and GMO's) and then being able to can things and have meals that are ready to eat and are healthy! :smile2:
 

MoochNNoodles

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I'm still harvesting tomatoes! (And making stewed tomatoes to freeze.). I have some green beans, as well. My Celeste fig tree has baby figs; this is its first year.

Oh, and we have the first pumpkin on our porch on our street! We "harvested" the world-famous tree pumpkin Friday.
  Our pumpkin vines went crazy, and grew up into the trees, and the pumpkins started forming before I could train the vines, so I just let them rest on the braches for support. We had one that was perched on the edge of the rain barrel, so we left it there, and it fell off on Friday. DH put it on the porch. Last night, we noticed that we have pumpkins growing on the roof!   Talk about freaking the neighbors out...they think we're nuts anyway--so let's give' em something to talk about!
Pumpkins on the roof! That is awesome!!  I'd love to see it! 


When I was in college my mother had put a small pumpkin down by her mailbox and well; it disintegrated before it fully got tossed...  The next year a pumpkin vine grew from within the iris plants!  It flowered; but then one of my friends ran the vine over with her super driving skills. 
  I've not had luck with my vining crops but I may try again next year.
Wow for the pumpkins!  
  We had the rainiest season ever I think in our part of NC (er, the Isle of Llamas) this year.  The plus was that we seldom had to water our tomatoes.  The downside was the plants died early and we had to take up our little garden.  The grapes are on the way; in fact, the vines are so heavy that one of the arbors broke.   Some people sell them at roadside stands here for about $20 a box...at my house they are free to anyone who wants them.  One day a couple years back, I looked out and was surprised to see a stranger in my backyard, picking grapes. It turned out to be the exterminator, off duty.  I didn't recognize him in his street clothes.  
  
Oh man I would LOVE to be your neighbor!!  I've always heard grapes weren't good for dogs; but my old co-worker's dog used to eat them off the neighbors vine that had grown over their fence.  Lucky dog!  My friend and I used to love playing under her Grandma's grape arbors when we were kids.  It was cooler and shady!  And then her mom made the best jam with them...  Maybe someday!
I love this thread; all of these gardens sound amazing!!

For right now, I have a little conatiner garden I'm raising indoors (I actually bought a corner baker's rack for it a few weeks ago so I could have more space), but planning to tear up the yard this spring and plant a raised vegetable garden and a few flower beds! I love the idea of growing my own fresh foods (sans nasty pesticides and GMO's) and then being able to can things and have meals that are ready to eat and are healthy!
Don't forget that you have to check the source of the seeds to be sure it's GMO free.  I'm thinking I may have to order seeds online next year to do that.  

I do love the raised beds; I've just had a frustrating time the last 2 years.  I'm going to have my soil tested soon.  I talked with one of the Master Gardeners at a local festival recently.  He was an old timer and his suggestion was to start with the soil and then go from there.  I'm also thinking I'll be pulling out a lot of the soil and adding new soil and compost I'll get from my Mother's friend who has horses and sheep and gardens organically.  They sell some produce too.  DH brought 2 big handfulls of cherry tomatoes in last night.  Some have over ripened with my neglect; but when I did walk out there I saw more blight on the tomato plant in the other garden section and some signs of problems on the summer squash and zucchini.  So I pretty much just walked back inside and pretended it's all rosy. 
 
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