Eggplants

I picked the last two eggplants today in the garden. I also grabbed a handful of escarole and beet greens for a salad and noticed that I have some lettuce and spinach sprouting. I'm hoping some of that matures before frost. There isn't any frost in the forecast this week but we will be getting temperatures in the forties at night. It's time to start thinking about cleaning out the plot, adding compost, and planting garlic bulbs for next year.

Kitchen Adventures

Some things are still blooming in the garden so I made myself a pretty little bouquet for the kitchen. (Yes, we have a green wall in there. The color is called celery.)

The hot peppers are still going strong so after reading an inspirational blog post (sorry, can't find the link) about making hot sauce, I decided to whip up a batch of my own. I seeded, deveined, and sliced a green bell pepper, 8 salsa peppers, and a handful of itty bitty jalapenos. I threw them into a saute pan on low heat with four crushed cloves of garlic, a chopped green (unripe) tomato, and the smallest amount of oil necessary to get a little sizzle. After everything got a hint of color, I put a lid on and added about a 1/4 cup of water and let them cook for 20 minutes. When everything got soft, I put it all in the blender with 3/4 cup of white vinegar, the juice of a lime, a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and blended the mix until it was smooth and sauce-like. Then I returned the mix to a saucepan, tasted and seasoned it, brought it up to a boil, and decanted the mix into a sanitized bottle.

Besides feeling amazingly cool for having made my very own hot sauce, I now have a super delicious condiment to put on everything from chili to chicken to corn chips. This stuff even has potential in the cocktail realm but that's more Josh's area of expertise.

Collecting Pumpkins and Stretching the Harvest

Three additional pumpkins were acquired at a coastal Jersey farm last weekend.

Mao Mao inspected the minis as soon as they arrived.

Late ripening Mortgage Lifters are resisting late season blight and slowly turning pink in the garden.

There are a couple inch long cucumbers forming on these vines but they'll probably need some doomsday-type global warming for any chance of maturation.

I do think we'll have one last eggplant harvest this season. And yes, we still have plenty of hot peppers. See them hanging out in the background?

Bird Alert

At the garden yesterday I spotted an unusual bird feeding on some of the dried up plants in one of the other plots. It caught my attention right away with its black face mask and bright yellow breast. I made a mental note to figure out who this fancy visitor was the next time I was in front of a computer. After narrowing it down, I'm identifying this guy as a Common Yellowthroat but I would hardly call him common for Jersey City.

What's Going On (in the garden)

I'm still harvesting beets...

and escarole...

and hoping for those late cucumbers to do something...

and threatening these final tomatoes with breading and a fry bath...

and rooting along these cute little guys!

A Few of My Favorite Things

First Pumpkin of the Season, Money's Farm, Middletown, DE

Cowtown Rodeo, Salem County, NJ, August 28th

What To Do Next!

Thinking about relocating to the country?
Read this.
Planting an orchard?
Read this.
Making a pizza for dinner tonight?
Read this.

They're all on my To Do list these days.

Pumpkins on My Mind

A nice visual list of pumpkins and winter squashes can be found here. I like to look at all the photos and dream about planting a pumpkin patch one day. Personal favorites? Boer, Futtsu Early Black, Goldkeeper, Jumbo Pink Banana, and (of course) Rogue Vif d'Etampes.

Garden Harvest Update

Yesterday I stopped by the garden after work to water and harvest some things for dinner. I picked enough escarole and beet greens for a salad, I had a Mortgage Lifter ripe and ready, and I picked a few dark maroon figs for a sweet snack. The garden hot pepper plant has a dozen more fruits on it and the cucumbers I started two weeks ago are almost up to the trellis. Although the tomatoes haven't been terribly productive this year, there are some developing fruits that may or may not ripen by frost. To check your local frost dates, click here. Looks like my tomatoes have until October 20.

Last Days of Summer

First Pumpkin, Melick's Orchard, NJ

Josh and the Spotty Goat

Peek-a-boo!

Where are the peaches?

Mini Garden Harvest