Well, here we are smack dab in the middle of September. The beans are slowing down just when they finally got started (we only picked about 4 ½ pounds this morning), the cukes are on their way out now (we only get 6 or 7 instead of 20 or more when we pick now), the onions are ready for storing, the leeks are growing nicely as we hill them every now and again, each section of beets planted at various times gets larger each week, some of the sweet peppers are actually turning red (I didn’t think that would happen at all), the potatoes yes I said potatoes are doing really well (they are a surprise for us all as we got them in so late it was a gamble which is why I didn’t mention them earlier), some of the edible flowers are done and some are still blooming nicely, the chard and kale are just doing as chard and kale always do – growing nicely, the celery is amazing and more carrots are growing longer and thicker as we planned.
This morning we emptied some spent rows of salad mix and arugula in order to plant more, which we did. We picked and picked tomatoes until it was too hot to pick any more. Imagine I said too hot. I actually turned on the irrigation system in the Beans, Greens and Onions bed for a second time this year. The Tomato garden never needed water at all. Same with the Pepper garden.
 |
| some great variety, roprecos and green zebra oh, and a volunteer yellow zucchini |
 |
| some huge carletons, my favourite gilberties for dehydrating and a purple russian tucked in there |
 |
| more plums, romas and friends |
 |
| the blanche du quebec tomatoes we thought would never ripen |
 |
| cherry varieties including yellow and red pear, black and green cherry, gardener's delight and ceylon |
There are almost too many tomatoes to pick in the time we have. Tomorrow morning we'll be picking, washing and packing salad greens, hilling up potatoes with straw, emptying an onion row, hilling up leeks, a bit of weeding and hopefully processing some tomatoes in one form or another.
 |
| a few of the hot peppers heading to Wilf & Ada's Diner this weekend including hot portugal, black hungarian, long red cayenne, jalapeno and thai - there will be many more by Saturday |
 |
| sweet peppers starting to turn red, hopefully more to come |
People have been calling for bushels of tomatoes, which is certainly doable. The weather this week is completely suitable for tomato ripening at its best. We’ve made and processed batches of basil tomato sauce and have started on the Vampire Buster sauce you’ve been asking for. I’ve been lucky to have local cilantro donated for our fresh salsa and see that the cilantro we transplanted several weeks ago is doing great and should be ready when we start canning up Salsa. In the meantime, we’ll have fresh salsa for you each week. The basil in the gardens h as come back to life when I thought it had been damaged permanently by the cold nights. Good basil.
I had a tooth pulled on Monday and was unable to work outside and was instructed not to lift heavy things so was able to clean and tidy indoors a bit. Housework is a piece of cake compared to the work we do outdoors all these months. I prefer the outdoors work. Thus the saying “Gardening Forever, Housework Whenever”. J
I bet you are good and hungry with all this talk about food so let me tell you what we have to eat this week:
Beans $3/pound you can order ½ pound if you like
Beets, red and golden $3/pound
Beet Greens $3 bunch
Carrots $3 bag
Carrot TOPS free with your order if you need them for your little bunnies or horses, etc.
Celery $2 bunch
Chard $3 bag
Cucumbers $2 each
Garlic $3, $2, or $1 each
Garlic $12 / pound
Granola, with fruit $8 /500mL jar
Granola, with nuts and fruit $10 /500mL jar
Herbs, fresh: bay leaf, citrus thyme, dill, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme $2 each
Kale $3 bunch
Mizuna, Red Streaks $2 bag
Onions, yellow $2.50 / pound
Onions, large sweet Ailsa Craig $2.50 pound
Onions, sweet Spanish $2.50 / pound
Pea Shoots $2 bag
PESTO, basil (frozen now) $4.50 125mL jar
Radicchio $2 each
Radishes $2 bunch
Salad Greens $5 bag
Salsa, fresh $4 250mL jar
SPROUTS, Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish & mustard) $3 / bag
SPROUTS, Spring Salad Mix (broccoli, radish, red clover & alfalfa) $3 / bag
Sunflower SHOOTS $2 bag
Swiss Chard $3 bunch
Tomatoes, cherry $3 / pound
Tomatoes, heirloom $3 / pound please let me know if you’d like all large or a mix
Zucchini $6 or $4 each I have LARGE ones right now, good for baking
I look forward to receiving Your Special Order. Call or email me with amounts you’d like and any questions you may have. Remember you can order any day. Just give me 24 hours to pick freshest for you. I deliver to Ottawa and Merrickville either Saturday or Sunday each weekend.
Until next post, have a great every day.
Jo
joanne.daybrighteners@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment