July 09, 2009

Yesterday's work day went really well! Thank you, everyone who came out! We finished the trellises for the tomatoes, harvested the beans, picked some NZ spinach and lettuce, and finished planting and laying the bricks in the second bean trellis.

Our tomato trellises are made out of found materials and have a how-to on this website:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Bamboo-Tomato-Trellis/

Earlier yesterday, Nate and I dug up the potatoes, which turned out very nicely, and the last five carrots. I'll also be picking and digging up the soybeans very soon, so we will have a lot of room open in the garden. If anyone has an interest in those vegetables or requests for what to plant, please leave a comment.

Next week's goals will include digging a new bed for perennials, finishing the bean trellis, and possibly digging beds for herbs.

The work day times are going to change slightly, due to popular demand- the Sunday time will now be from 6pm-8pm, just like the Wednesday one. Keep in mind that this trades heat for mosquitoes, so come prepared. I recommend long sleeved shirts and long pants, or bugspray, if you prefer.

July 07, 2009

Please come out to the workday tomorrow from 6-8pm. We did not hold the Sunday workday this week because it was raining. Wear long pants if you plan to come out; the mosquitoes can be vicious at night.

The tomatoes are beginning to ripen, and the okra is coming in the second bed now. I've been going out to pick it every morning- the pods get tough and hairy if you wait until they're longer than 2-3 inches to pick them. Soon we will have a large amount daily, if someone is interested in having the vegetable. Personally, I'm not a huge okra fan because of the texture, but I tried to experiment with a recipe for sauteed okra and red peppers that I found online and it turned out quite well. It gave the okra a nice crunchy texture that distracted me from the sliminess. The recipe can be found here:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/8/Sauteed-Okra-with-Roasted-Red-Peppers

There are several suggestions online for ways to prepare okra to reduce the slimy texture. The most practical seems to be slicing it thinly and then leaving it to dry overnight. One day I'll have to give it a try...

July 02, 2009

We are going to start having regular work days again! They will be every Sunday from 9am-12pm and Wednesdays from 6-8pm. Next week we will be working on a trellis, weeding, and harvesting beans, spinach, okra, lettuce, cilantro, and parsley.

The okra is coming in nicely, and the squash vines have reasserted themselves in their new paths just fine.

July 1 2009

Today I picked the remainder of the beans to ensure that production continues. I have more beans than I can eat as a result! It also takes a very long time. This is something I suggest we do at workdays so we can split up the time and harvest as it will have to be done 2-3 times a week! If you wait too long, the beans develop and the pod gets tougher. Unfortunately, we've already got some of those in this harvest. The beans have to be picked when the beans inside are just starting to plump up.

Furthermore, about half the first trellis has yet to start producing. Many of the plants have begun flowering:

We planted a nice mix of beans, so we have a combination of green, yellow and the occasional purple, which I find very attractive, almost ornamental. They are all of course, edible and can be cooked the same way. Here's an image of the purple plant flowering; it's a nice accent to the trellis and the harvest:

In addition to this, I trimmed around the box of NZ spinach, once again producing more food than I can eat. I picked off the leaves to save for later.

I moved the squash vines so that we can walk the paths more easily. One of the vines took some damage- squash vines have a surprising tendency to already be weak and split down the middle. So you have to be careful! I watered the squash after I was done; I expect that will take care of any damage.

Finally, I picked the first okra pods today, as they were about three inches and would get tough unless picked. The plants flower continuously, so we will have to pick frequently, about every other day.

June 30 2009

Yesterday I picked a lot of the beans, hoping to stimulate later growth. There are so many!

I also pulled up the remaining five beets and picked a row of edamame to see at what stage of ripeness their flavor is best. I cut about seven branches of NZ spinach that were sticking out around the bed. I weeded a bit and pruned one of the broccoli beds, trimmed back the cilantro that had started going to seed, and pulled up some of the salad greens that had already bolted. My boyfriend and I picked off the tops of some of the lettuce that looked like it was getting to bolt; we ate it for lunch as a salad.

Today I get to cook all of that. My boyfriend is doing the cooking; he also helped me in the garden yesterday and today. He's a wonderful cook. I picked and washed the spinach leaves. They look delicious.

The leaves are more fibrous and have a much stronger flavor than regular spinach- we sauteed it with onions, lemon and garlic to complement the flavor. We also baked the beets- we wrapped them in tinfoil and put them in oven at 400 degrees for an hour. We sliced the beets and put them over the spinach, and ate them with pan-seared chicken marinated in a soy sauce mix.

We also did some work in the garden today. I bought some seeds for the garden from Home Depot, and we planted them! In the spaces left from the plants I picked, we planted radishes, bok choi, and sweet and genovese basil. We also planted two frames of the new trellis with a type of long bean good in stir fry. We decided to give the potatoes one more week to finish producing and then pull them up and replant the bed.