MORE SNOW

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Snow and More Snow

There is no garden to write about and I have obviously been holding on to the last post which proved that I did have a garden but I miss posting. Noticed that the Villager had a snow post and decided to add my own.

The monday after Christmas, with the big snow storm that hit, I had to drive my daughter to winter camp. She was so excited to go but with 2 feet of snow - I had my work set out for me. Got bundled up but couldn't quiet get out the door even thought we are  good 2 and a half feet above ground. Got the steps cleared and decided to make my way to the driveway to start digging out the car.

I thought I would get lost only 3 feet from my door. Out on the street safely, I started to dig.

When we finally got up to the camp, the lake was beautiful and they had much less snow than we did. Enough to have some fun.

Today we have more snow.
Daughter is in school but this is what the car looks like and it is going to stay that way until I absolutely have to go some place.

Counting the days till the early spring thaw and bulbs poking out of the ground.

Green Green Harvest

People are still posting on Daphne's harvest Monday and it is a range of harvest depending on location. I have spent the last couple of weeks tearing down the tomato plants, harvesting about 8lbs of green cherry tomatoes that have been slowly ripening. They have lost most flavor but at least I know that I grew them which makes it a few steps above store bought.

I harvested all the carrots but forgot to take a picture.
Planted the garlic and am very excited to have a new crop. The ones  planted earlier have poked out of the ground so I hope that is OK.

I harvested a very large bowl of greens that are beautiful in color and I will most likely get another harvest before the temperature drops too far. Red mustard, kale, pac choi and ruby red swiss chard.

We have been collecting leaves for composting and are trying something a little different this year. Hubby is making a pass with the lawn mower on top of the leaves. Some will be saved to add to the compost bin throughout the year and some will be applied directly to the garden around the greens and garlic.

Apple and Pizza Pie

The pictures are not great but we enjoyed this apple tart and fresh tomato and riccota pizza pie sometime this past week.

The apples are not from the garden but we did pick them at one of our favorite orchards two weeks ago.
Tomatoes, sage, onions, roasted red pepper and olives on ricotta on a crust for the pizza.

Last and Harvest

A few months back, which seems like yesterday, I posted about firsts. The first harvest is always so exciting. I have come to one of my last harvests. I pulled out most of the garden this past weekend and will, for the first time, plant garlic. This is always a little sad but a new crop and the frozen vegetables will keep us happy for part of the winter. I still have a few turnips, tomatoes and carrots left in the garden.
Here is what I pulled this week.

 

  

Harvest Monday

Slow and steady. Some of harvest from the last two weeks. I have not brought myself to pulling the tomato plants. The cucumbers are still producing which is amazing given my past experience. Okra has slowed down. It is getting too chilly for them. Swiss chard, red mustard and kale are kicking in. I am finally getting a few cayenne chilies to turn red and I froze a few cups of pesto. Fall is around the corner.

See some other harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

Celebrating the Harvest

In the Jewish Religion and customs, we have a holiday that celebrates the harvest. It is called Sukkot. It is customary to build a sukkah (a temporary shelter that enables you to simultaneously, appreciate the natural world while acknowledging the fragility of the man made.)

For the first time in my life, we have built a sukkah. Actually my husband did the building but I took care of the walls and the roof. There are a slew of traditions that go along with the holiday like:
DECORATING it with fruits from the harvest -
EATING in the sukkah -
SLEEPING in the sukkah -
BLESSINGS - said specifically over an etrog (citrus fruit) and a lulav (date palm frond).

I am just excited to have such a beautiful and cozy sukkah.

Harvest Monday

This weekend we got down to 65° at night and the garden is slowing down in some areas, picking up in other areas.
I am not getting a lot of any specific crop but a steady small amount of everything. Keeps dinner on the table. Made a wonderful pot of gumbo this weekend and now have lettuce on a regular basis.  Lots of the plants have flowers and small fruits. Hopefully enough time to develop and ripen.

Daphne's has all the latest harvests. Check it out.

Okra - Must Mean Gumbo

The only other poster that I know that gets excited about okra is Debbie from Connecting the Dots. She posted  a few weeks ago on how Tomato plus Okra equals Gumbo. I had a very uncooperative garden this year and did not get my tomatoes at the same time that I got the okra. None the less, I have harvested 35 okra in the last week and thought that was enough to make a fine gumbo. I actually had enough tomatoes to use for the gumbo but had to resort to a little canned tomato sauce to add in there. For the future, I think I will freeze some homemade tomato sauce in ice cube trays for use in small amounts. I often need 4 tablespoons full.

I was cooking for a Jewish crowd and had to leave out any shellfish so I decided to make a jalapeno chicken sausage gumbo. The only thing in the pot that was not from the garden was the garlic, chicken sausage and 4 tablespoon of tomato sauce. The top picture is the roux, I love the color.

The ingredients were:
onions, garlic, okra, swiss chard, Anaheim pepper, cayenne peppers, parsley, tomatoes, and sausage. Check out Greenish Thumb for some other great recipes in the Garden to Table Challenge. The crowd loved it and it is all gone.

Lettuce Update

Back in August I posted on Small but Amazing Things. I had just planted lettuce seeds and marveled at how quickly they germinated. I have been enjoying lettuce from the bed for the last week or two and will be taking a salad to a pot luck tonight.

Sept 7th

August 9th

August 11th

I also have had a small tomato surge. The sungolds and juliets are producing a good bowl full a day. There are about 40–50 green tomatoes of various shapes and sizes on the plants and I am hoping they will have time to  ripen enough for picking.