As we transition into late summer, I can feel fall in the air. Through the cooler mornings and evenings, the slower growth of the grass and plants and by so many things going to seed. We are in the seed collecting times and it's a great activity in the evenings to go to my flower plants and save their brown odd seeds.
Along with harvests, we're putting away some foods this year. As we are so busy, we aren't pushing ourselves too hard on this front, but I have made a few batches of pasta sauce that I've frozen in baggies. These Opalka tomatoes pictured sliced in half below are amazing paste tomatoes that I'll definitely grow again for these purposes!
We are also getting a lot of growth on the Okra plants. This is "burgundy okra" and I like it - but then again, I've liked every Okra variety I've ever grown. It's such an easy plant to grow and I am a huge fan of okra sautéed in oil with salt and cooked low for a while. Mmm mm!
The high tunnel waned a bit in the heat, but we put on a good deal of mulch and gave some deep waterings and it's coming back. The tomatoes, peppers and figs are rocking! The cucumbers are out and we're going to do a cover crop of ripper beans in their place. We'll start some fall/winter crop seeds like kale and other fav greens to put in after the ripper beans.
Today Ini planted Okinawa, a perpetual spinach variety from Japan. Though frost sensitive (we usually bring it in), it grows quite large for as long as you let it! It's a tasty cooked green. We set it here in between two figs, which are doing quite well in the high tunnel.
Tending the plant nursery
Ini up-potted and heavily watered all of the plants in our plant nursery. Some of these will be planted out in permaculture guilds around our house once much of the land-works are complete and others will be for sale as our nursery gains more steam over time. It was so fun this morning to play in the garden together - it's both of our true passions and with all of the other work on the homestead (read: building a house!), it can be easy to get caught up in what HAS to happen and forget how much we love gardening and working with plants!
Aronia berries (Aronia melanocarpa) are starting to ripen! I have eaten a few and don't really mind the strong chalky flavor knowing how high they are in nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants! Haha! I'm having to hold myself back from harvesting because I've read that though they look ripe in late July/early August, they'll be most ripe come mid-August. I'm looking forward to making low sugar syrups, freezing some and maybe vinegaring a batch.
Also my first harvest of elder berries from the land this morning! I will freeze these (taken off the stems) and wait til I get a larger harvest before I start processing them into syrups, vinegars and other such things. Exciting!
We've waited a few years for our plants to start fruiting and this is an exciting summer because so much is doing so well!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.ozarkmountainjewel.com/2019/08/02/season-of-harvests/
I don't know which looks more enticing...the tomatoes or the berries! This is the beginning of your food forest concept, next the trees will begin fruiting. 3 tiers now :) So exciting, all of your hard work is coming to fruit-ition! I love it! oxoxox love you!
love you! the berries and tomatoes are each amazing in their own right! i'm so glad you "SEE" our food forest concept... so true that we are 3 tiers into it ... and that yes it's coming to fruition! love you mama and am excited for you to enjoy this fruition for years to come :)
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Ooooh look at all that goodness! And I must say, that is a huge greenhouse!!!
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thanks! we got a grant for it last year and we love growing food in it!
Thanks! we got a grant
For it last year and we love
Growing food in it!
- mountainjewel
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
Lovely! We are on our third year of growing and still figuring out what works out best here, how to take care of some plants and also how much we need to grow to sustain a family of 4. It's a lot to figure out
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yes! we are on year 4 and definitely in the same boat. still figuring it out and paying attention each season-- which we'll likely do forever. what are some of the favorite things you have growing to sustain your family of 4?
I love having zucchini. Thats always a must for me but something took off with the whole plant! So none this year :(
Tomatoes are always good, great for sandwiches, sauces, snacks and soups :P
Pumpkin too is always a favorite but even though my plant is alive its not growing. it stayed tiny and never flowered. No clue as to what happened there.
Im getting a kick at watching hot peppers grow. I think that will be a new favorite.
The rest is to see; I got cucumber, beans and peas, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes (wont be getting any this year, nothing sprouted), onions, cabbage, brussel sprouts and beets. I also planted 2 other things but i dont know what they are. One has purple thing stems and dark green leaves. small still though, and the other has bigger leaves, bright green. Watching to see what happens. I also grew carrots and parsnips but nothing came from that either.
I got a medicine garden happening but its small still. Got roses, lavender, sage, lemon balm, lemon grass, chamomile etc. I usually have another flower which im forgetting the name... good for skin, usually yellow... Oh! Calendula! I forgot all about it this year. And every year Im adding another to it.
How about you?
awesome!! sounds like a great diversity of plants :)
we too love potatoes, squash, tomatoes as main crops. we did lots of beans this year too and that's great. peppers.. we also let greens crops grow like lambsquarter and purslane which thrive even in the worst heat -- "weed" crops... other than that, basil and other greens... and focusing on more and more perennials like berries and other root and tree crops :)
That's great stuff! Love knowing you let "weeds" grow! Lambsquarter is an awesome one to have 😃
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Did anybody else think the cover photo was a red juicy steak?
hehehe juicy red is a perfect way to describe that tomato... would go great on top of a steak :)
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That tomato deserves 2 upvotes! :))
hehe thanks! yeah not sure how that double posted! oops!
You've been visited by @porters from Homesteaders Co-op. Wonderful to see all the growth happening at your place! Those tomatoes are huge with so much flesh in them! I'll have to source out some seeds and give them a try. Great that you keep the garden happening all season long with even winter crops! Come winter the only growing I do is indoors! Thanks for sharing and happy gardening! ---
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