Haha. “Run of the mill” 
What seeds do you use? Generic / store?
I shop at Baker Creek (has some obscure-ish stuff) and Fedco (a cooperative). I also look at Hudson Valley to find out what grows well in my areas, and then I buy from someone else, 'cause Hudson is too expensive.
1 Like
7 Likes
I’m really glad I haven’t had to deal with that. Only small cabbage worms.
But it’s a good thing! I left the parsley to flower to see if I could attract some. I’m hoping she will become a beautiful swallowtail.
I’ve seen seen a few around already.
ETA it is a tomato plant, but I planted it in the container after the parsley started to go to seed.
1 Like
Ah, I mistook it for a tomato hornworm due to the size and thought that was a tomato plant. xD
I DO get hornworms, and dispatch them with extreme prejudice.
BTW, the birds got many of my nectarines while I was away, but I got some too. The pluots are next, then the figs.
En garde!
I put in extra parsley plants this year hoping to attract the caterpillars. Had quite a few of them last year (decimated a large parsley plant in just a couple of days) but didn’t notice any of the butterflies in our yard tho:(
Hoping for more this year.
1 Like
As much I like butterflies, chonker caterpillars give me the willies. I would never garden again if I came upon that.
2 Likes
my son is the one who is doing the vegetable garden. I only check once a day when he is away to be sure the watering device is working. There must be around 100 plants as he keeps on buying more and more of those fabric cloth bags and installing more and more watering device. The whole porch on top of my 2 car garage is full and now AJF7MIS0SQCbJrvItX7xJg|525x700
, Now, I find out he has plants on top of my swimming pool . However, the weather is making some of the plants get really burnt. For the first time , I noticed the attic fan on. It comes on when it I00 degrees. He is just learning how to garden and is spraying with vinegar as well as milk.I hope my greenhouse wil be built soon
5 Likes
The cherry tomatoes were from yesterday
So were the red tomatoes that I placed in a brown bag to ripen, some from 2 days ago.
The Cherokee tomato(?) is purple. It has not turned completely yet but the other one harvested and consumed was a beautiful purple.
I love the cherry tomatoes as it is, served with basil, mozzarella cheese and a dash of Meyer lemon EVOO. It is particularly good with EVOO and herbs sautéed until the tomatoes burst and released their flavor. I used to make thin spaghetti with shrimp, a tin of anchovy and pesto but now, I only use 1 lb instead of 2 lbs of shrimp with the burst tomatoes.
My son harvested a lot of green tomatoes which I fried, with sweet potato flour, egg and panic but I love them best pickled with usual pickle mix (. he was the one who did it ) with some baby zucchini, poblano but added bourbon to it. They are really crunchy.
Also had zucchini flowers earlier which I fried in my calamari Korean batter mix. Has to be eaten immediately though.
We have around over a hundred pots using cloth bag and automatic sprinkler ( up to 10 times a day) They do not get overwatered as the water spills out of the cloth bag. Had gone to Pennsylvania to buy 4 year old raspberries, strawberries, blueberries ad blackberries, also went to an orchard 2 hours away to buy Meyer lemon and Asian pear fruit tree. ( My son was bitten by their dog and had to have tetanus shot). I had a wild pomegranate tree chopped down ( sshhh! against the law here 2 years ago) as it has wild fruits all over the ground which attracts ground hogs as well as lots of yellow jacket and bees and of course, I have anaphylactic shock from yellow jacket stings. Two doors away, my neighbor also had same problem so after consulting 5 of my immediate neighbors who agreed that they were a menace to not just for me, they agreed not to report me. The orchard where we bought the Meyer lemon and Asian pear told me to return March for their Fuyu pomegranate tree but I am not sure we are welcome as dog bites are reportable case in Maryland and they were visited by the health department. .
I love the French beans just boiled for 2-3 minutes with bay leaf, then shocked and stir fried briefly with EVOO, lemon juice and zest S/P and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Still crunchy!
The garden is currently on top of my co4O4PPxQgGgwPEP2CMgww|525x700 porch but hopefully, we can build a greenhouse but have to wait for carpenter to come from NY and the skylight people to come before July 15. Hope the County will not make me tear it down.
Love the shishito peppers stir fried in EVOO till charred, add lime and salt as appetizer.
15 Likes
Early on, we harvested a lot of green tomatoes thinking they would ripen but they never did. So, I did fried green tomatoes. I also had a lot of zucchini and had to make tons of zucchini bread . Now, we know better and to leave them to ripen on the vine. But , better than fried green tomatoes are pickled green tomato and zucchini with 2 tablespoons
of bourbon. My son made 4 mason jars full and they are wonderful eaten with pork chops or just as is. I prefer them to the fried green tomatoes and fried zucchini. necHAEBjTd2Tc0dpe7tEcA|525x700
3 Likes
Maybe a silly question, but do you wash off the marker before you eat, or is that edible ink?
@ccj – Those are great looking tomatoes! When I see that, I can’t resist making gazpacho, which I find to be a perfect way for enjoying fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes.
I don’t usually mark them, but I wanted to remember the weight of these first few with a picture. They are sharpie markers, and I will probably eat it!
I had never made gazpacho but had looked up recipes for cooking all those tomatoes. I gave some of them to friends who rave about how good their burger or turkey sandwich was with the tomatoes. One friend came over and just kept on picking the cherry tomatoes and popping them in her mouth. By the way she also has cherry tomatoes but she says mine are better.
I went to HT and bought 4 more pounds of red Patagonia wild shrimp. 15-19. The sell ends 7/17 so I have to sue this plus the 4 pounds in my freezer . I wil try and see if I can make a tomato, turkey bacon cheese pie tonight. Hopefully it will turn out OK
2 Likes
Sounds like a plan! I’m going to make a bit of gazpacho.
Gazpacho is my favorite summer time soup! I like to load it up with more garlic and red onions to give it a bit more bite. It’s also nice and easy, since it’s all blending, so it saves on having to really cook anything. I actually don’t do the day old bread, which is common for the authentic Spanish recipes, and I like the texture just fine. It also tastes better, IMO, after it sits for a bit and the flavors of the veggies have the chance to meld.
1 Like
