Harvest Monday – September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011  |  5 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

I’m not proud to admit that it’s been a few weeks since I’ve written a blog post and a Harvest Monday post. I’m also not proud to admit that I’ve neglected most of my garden, since the end of August. I traveled over the course of two Mondays, and, here, in Baltimore, we received an obscene amount of rain, enough that my basement flooded. Granted, it didn’t flood as bad as some, but enough that I had to throw some things out.

Harvest Monday September 19 2011

Harvest Monday September 19 2011

In my absence, the garden suffered a bit, mostly from insect ravaging. Something killed the hops’ cones, and I think that ultimately killed my gardening motivation for the year. I was truly looking forward to brewing up an IPA with these cones. Sadness.

Insects obliterated the Cherokee Purples; I went to pull one of the tomatoes off the vine, and a black and yellow beetle with a black spot on its back crawled out. I image-searched, in hopes of finding what it was, but I haven’t been able to find a match to what I think I saw.

The damage was extremely upsetting, but most of the insects then left the Bush Early Girl Tomatoes alone. I harvested nine pounds from the two plants, this weekend, a personal best. I’ll have to try the Cherokee Purples again next year because Mother Nature just didn’t give this one a fair shot.

The eggplants aren’t thrilled that the temperatures have dropped into the fifties and sixties. Both are still flowering and fruiting like champs, though. The Ichiban has more fruits on it now than it has all season. Might try to overwinter this one.

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Harvest: 4 Cherry Tomatoes Weight: 7/8oz.

Cayenne Peppers

Cayenne

Cayenne

Harvest: 3 Peppers Weight: 3/4oz.

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Notes: These two plants turned out almost 9lbs of tomatoes over the last two weeks. Most of the fruits were small, unlike some of the tomatoes from earlier in the season. However, with all the rain and the quick decline in temperatures, it doesn’t surprise me that the fruits didn’t get very large. There are still probably more than two dozen tomatoes left to pick, once they ripen.

Almost all of the ones pictured above became gazpacho or salsa. The former was absolutely delicious, with a warm quesadilla; I couldn’t even let the gazpacho chill before wanting to eat it.

Harvest: A grocery bag full of tomatoes Weight: 139 1/2oz.

Red Beauty Pepper

Red Beauty Bell Peppers

Red Beauty Bell Peppers

Notes: There was originally a fourth pepper. However, when I brought all of the harvest in, and I left it sit out overnight, the pepper collapsed in on itself. It smelled awful, and its innards had, basically, putrefied. If I was more adventurous, and I had a mask, I would have dissected it.

Harvest: 3 Peppers Weight: 10oz.

Bush Green Beans

Bush Beans

Bush Beans

Notes: The two plants that survived Mother Nature produced a ton of beans. Most of these probably should have been picked before I let them get so big; from what I’ve read, greenbeans are best when they haven’t fully matured. Oh well. They’ll make something delicious this week.

Harvest: Bagful of Bush Beans Weight: 10oz.

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Purple Bell Peppers

Purple Bell Peppers

Notes:  I let two of these peppers fully mature into their reddened state so that I could harvest seeds from them for share and to see what happened when they fully mature. Might sample some of the “reddened” peppers and compare with the “immature” purples.

Harvest: 5 peppers Weight: 12 5/8oz.

Early Sunsation Sweet Bell Peppers

Early Sunsation Bell Peppers

Early Sunsation Bell Peppers

Notes: These started to develop random brown spots. I had to scrap one; it was just beyond safe-eating salvage. I didn’t see any insect penetration or damage. Maybe something else got to it (like Time).

Harvest: Two peppers Weight: 5 1/8oz.

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Notes: This is the final cucumber of the season. Wave goodbye!

Harvest: 1 Cucumber Weight: 11 1/4oz.

Ichiban Eggplants

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Harvest: 1 Eggplant Weight: 7 1/8oz.

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Notes: No idea why one was starting to turn neon yellow.

Harvest: 1 Eggplant Weight: 5 1/4oz.

Weekly Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 202 1/2oz.

2011 Year-To-Date Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 38.1328125lbs. (610 1/8oz.)

Daphne is the ringleader of Monday Harvests. You can see her here and wish her a speedy recovery.

Harvest Monday – August 29, 2011

August 29, 2011  |  7 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

I feel blessed that after a hurricane moved through the East Coast, this weekend, that my garden is still in relatively good condition. You can see pictures of the aftermath here.

Monday Harvest August 29, 2011

Monday Harvest August 29, 2011

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Note: These were a garden first, for the year. This plant has suffered some major annoyances. Among them, blossom end rot and, most likely, squirrels. These two fruits were cracked and scarred from all of the rain that we’ve had here, in Baltimore. I was stubborn and wanted them to ripen on the vine. They were just fine, during consumption and seeding.

Harvest: 2 Cherokee Purple Tomatoes Weight: 6oz.

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Note: Only a few fruits left on this one. After that, it’s game over.

Harvest: Cherry Tomatoes Weight: 2 5/8oz.

Cayenne Peppers

Cayenne

Cayenne

Note: These will join the others that are drying, in the basement.

Harvest: Peppers Weight: 1 1/4oz.

Jalapeno Peppers

Jalapenos

Jalapenos

Note: Oh yeah. Time for round two of Jalapeno poppers. This time, taco-style. I reddened two of the peppers so that I could harvest the seeds to start more of them, next year.

Harvest: Peppers Weight: 1 1/4oz.

Red Beauty Pepper

Red Beauty Bell Pepper

Red Beauty Bell Pepper

Note: Are they red, you ask? Yes, yes they are.

Harvest: 1 Pepper Weight: 3 1/8oz.

Bush Green Beans

Bush Beans

Bush Beans

Note: I planted 8 of these suckers, and only two have survived. One was killed by the hurricane. Two more were severed at the soil level. The other 5 died under various causes (loss of leaves, wildlife, didn’t sprout). I didn’t plant a lot, for the fall; I wanted to sample their quality first. So far, they taste green AND beany. Kinda light on the bush, though.

Harvest: Handful of Bush Beans Weight: 4oz.

Ichicban Eggplants

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Note: This plant is still chugging along. Two more fruits are still developing; both survived Irene. When I harvested this one, a fire ant fell off and bit me. A fire ant? Really? I am loathed to admit that I let out a squeak of shock. Yes, it was a squeak, too.

Harvest: 1 Eggplant Weight: 8 3/8oz.

Weekly Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 26 3/4oz.

2011 Year-To-Date Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 25.4765625lbs. (407 5/8oz.)

Daphne is the ringleader of Monday Harvests. You can see her here.

Also, while you’re here, check out the question of the week: How many of your plants, this year, succumbed to death from disease/insects, before their time?

Monday Harvest – August 15, 2011

August 15, 2011  |  9 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

All the makings of raw salsa.

Harvest Monday August 15, 2011

Harvest Monday August 15, 2011

Ichiban Eggplants And Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Ichiban Eggplants And Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Bush Early Girl

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

Note: These tomato plants just continue to power through tomato production. Heather used most of what I had picked to make gazpacho. I, then, proceeded to pick more tomatoes. She can’t keep ahead with the production, at this point. I think some of the tomatoes might go to a local food bank.

Harvest: 9 Bush Early Girls Weight: 58 7/8oz.

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Note: A couple more of these were completely poached by local wildlife. I’m okay with these smaller ones being eaten. I moved the container to a higher location in hopes of keeping ground creatures away from it.

Harvest: 4 Cherry Tomatoes Weight: 7/8oz.

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Harvest: 3 Ichiban Eggplants Weight: 14 1/8oz.

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Harvest: 2 Eggplants Weight: 2 7/8oz.

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumbers

Patio Pickler Cucumbers

Note: This plant just continues to produce and to impress me. I’ll probably grow this one again next year.

Harvest: 3 Cucumbers Weight: 35 7/8oz.

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne

Cayenne

Note: These are huge. Nine inches of delicious cayenne peppers. Hanging them up to dry for a few weeks.

Harvest: 5 Peppers Weight: 1 7/8oz.

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Harvest: 1 Pepper Weight: 1 1/4oz.

Weekly Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 115 3/4oz.

2011 Year-To-Date Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 20.859375lbs. (333 3/4oz.)

Daphne is the ringleader of Monday Harvests. You can see her here.

Also, while you’re here, check out the question of the week: Would you eat produce grown with human waste?

Harvest Monday – August 08, 2011

August 8, 2011  |  13 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

After some troublesome times, over the last couple weeks, this past week was a much better change of pace. We received some much needed rain, here in Baltimore (at least, in my part). Best of all, my tomatoes were left alone, all except for one. That Early Girl was only a quarter eaten, and left for dead.

Since I sprayed my Capsaisin mixture, I’ve only seen one squirrel: the one chewing on the aforementioned tomato. I will be reapplying it tomorrow, since we’ve received a ton of rain. The best part is that the Early Girl plants, between the two of them, have at least 2 dozen new fruits on them.

Monday Harvest - August 08-2011

Monday Harvest - August 08-2011

Also, biggest crop that I’ve harvested, to date.

Bush Early Girl

Bush Early Girls

Bush Early Girls

Note: I also harvest four more that are still a bit un-ripe. I’ll count those next week. I only removed them to avoid not being able to harvest them before the squirrels.

Harvest: 5 Bush Early Girls Weight: 29 1/4oz.

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes

Harvest: 11 Cherry Tomatoes Weight: 3oz.

Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Yellow Pear Tomato

Yellow Pear Tomato

Harvest: Yellow Tomatoes Weight: 1oz.

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Harvest: 1 Ichiban Eggplants Weight: 6 1/8oz.

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Fairy Tale Eggplants

Harvest: 3 Eggplants Weight: 4 7/8oz.

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Harvest: 3 Cucumbers Weight: 23 3/8oz.

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne Peppers

Cayenne Peppers

Note: These are huge. Nine inches of delicious cayenne peppers.

Harvest: 2 Peppers Weight: 3/4oz.

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Purple Beauty Bell Peppers

Harvest: 4 Peppers Weight: 6 3/8oz.

Early Sunsation Sweet Bell Pepper

Early Sunsation Sweet Yellow Bell Pepper

Early Sunsation Sweet Yellow Bell Pepper

Harvest: 1 Pepper Weight: 6 1/2oz.

Weekly Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 81 1/4oz.

2011 Year-To-Date Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 13.625lbs. (218oz.)

Daphne is the ringleader of Monday Harvests. You can see her and her 81lbs of tomatoes here.

Also, while you’re here, check out the question of the week: Would you eat produce grown with human waste?

GTTC – Ichiban Eggplant Redux And Jalapeno Poppers

July 20, 2011  |  3 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Cooking, Gardening

Well, since my wife didn’t want her half of the Ichiban Eggplant Curry that I cooked up, last week, I decided to kick it up a notch; she was content eating her creamy quinoa that she cooked up for lunches this week. I couldn’t blame her; it was delicious.

Ichiban Eggplant Curry Redux

Time to whip up a quick batch of “Pad Thai” sauce, because I’m an addict and this simpleness goes well on any noodle dish. In the bottom of a bowl, I squirted a healthy dosage of Sriracha sauce. On top of that, I coated it, liberally, with Teriyaki sauce. I squirted in a packet of take-out-sushi ginger, since I needed to use it up. Powdered ginger works just as well. Fresh is still best. I tossed in a small block of palm sugar (which is effing delicious). Lastly, I tossed in a sizable portion of JIF’s Extra Crunchy peanut butter. The peanuts are a nice addition. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, just enough to soften the peanut butter. Mix it up; add the curry dish. Heat. Stir. Eat.

Boom.

Ichiban Eggplant Curry Redux

Ichiban Eggplant Curry Redux

Jalapeño Poppers

(Disclaimer: You’re going to want gloves. I cannot be held responsible if you touch sensitive areas and cause yourself to weep, uncontrollably. This recipe does not include tissues.)

Next up, I decided to make Jalapeno poppers with my harvest, from ten days ago, or so. I found a recipe, quickly, that I felt was worth trying. Later, Matt found several more that would have been tastier choices. I noticed some…inconsistencies with the recipe. So, I made my own.

  • 10-12 medium Jalapenos
  • 1 8oz. block of Cream Cheese
  • ½ cup Sharp Cheddar, shredded
  • ½ cup Pepper Jack, shredded
  • Cayenne pepper powder
  • Chili pepper powder
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic – salt, powder, minced.
  • Milk
  • 1 Egg
  • Panko Breadcrumbs (This is a MUST)
  • Flour
  1. Halve and seed the Jalapenos.
  2. Soften the Cream Cheese. 30 seconds in the microwave. You don’t want it runny or hot.
  3. Add the shredded cheese to the Cream Cheese. Add more if you don’t want to poop for a while.
  4. Add as much of the garlic, cayenne, chili, salt, and pepper, as you want.
  5. Mix this well so the spices and cheeses are evenly distributed.
  6. Spoon the mixture into the halves of the Jalapenos.Make sure to do it evenly.
  7. Beat the egg into the milk.
  8. Roll the Jalapenos in the milk-egg mixture. Roll in the flour until covered. You don’t need to worry about the mix falling out of the pepper. I found that it stayed in, even as I rolled the flour bowl around to coat the pepper evenly.
  9. Repeat for all halved Jalapenos. You may want to do this 2-3 times, depending on how much you care about batter.
  10. Re-roll the floured Jalapenos in the milk-egg; make more if you need to. Roll in the Panko breadcrumbs. Apply liberally.
  11. Bake or fry. I baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Then I broiled, on low, for 2 minutes. I didn’t need a perfect browned breading. I was happy with what came out of the oven and into my mouth.
Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno Poppers

Fire in the hole. Serve with a dipping sauce, or just eat ‘em straight, like a man!

Garden To Table Challenge: Ichiban Eggplant Curry

July 14, 2011  |  3 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Cooking, Gardening

Earlier this week, I made my first Harvest Monday post. So, of course, a GTTC post would quickly follow.

What’s a GTTC post? It stands for Garden to Table Challenge, and it’s run by Wendy, over at the Greenish Thumb. This is an encouraging practice for gardeners to show what they cook with the food that they harvest.

Since I picked that Ichiban Eggplant on Sunday, I’ve been itching to use it in something. Drawing from the post made by Charm City Balcony Gardener, I decided to made some fiery curry dish with my Ichiban. Here was my process:

  1. I cut the eggplant in half (which smelled awesome) and baked it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
  2. While that was baking, I boiled some rice noodles. Was not in the mood for rice at all. I boiled them for about 10-12 minutes since I’m never happy with them at the 6-8-10 minute marks.
  3. I diced half an onion and sautéed it in way too much butter. Three tablespoons, I think.
  4. I cut up green onions and put their roots into the glass of water I have on the window sill. They’ve actually already began to grow since 6:30PM, when I cut them.
  5. I also cut up half a red and half a green bell pepper. My wife had a baggie of cauliflower, in the veggie drawer, as well. I’ve never been a fan, but I decided to add it before it became worm food.
  6. After the onions cooked down, I threw in the veggies. I scraped the eggplant out of its skin and into the veggie mix. I wasn’t sure if I should have used the skin. I think, next time, I’ll use two-three eggplants and cube them before baking.
  7. My most random ingredient was to add some lemon grass cuttings. I’ve never cooked with it before, so I had no idea what to expect from it as the concoction mixed down.
  8. I mixed in a lot of Patak’s Hot Curry Paste, but even at 5-6 teaspoons, there was barely any bite.
  9. I tossed in a tablespoon of minced garlic, since I believe most things can be enjoyed with it.
  10. I let this cook down for 10-15 minutes.
  11. I mixed in the rice noodles and ate a plateful.
Hot Curry Made With Ichiban Eggplant

Hot Curry Made With Ichiban Eggplant

Honestly, I wasn’t very hungry when I made this, but my wife will be able to enjoy it after it has had some time to meld flavors.

Fairy Tale Eggplants Growing Quickly

Fairy Tale Eggplants Growing Quickly

I think with the Fairy Tale Eggplants, I’ll try to make a more traditional Indian Dish. I bought an Indian/Curry cookbook that I’ve been meaning to use, so these will give me the propulsion that I require to crack this sucker open.

As an aside, I saw a humming bird out at my bird feeders today. Now, I am heavily debating on getting a humming bird feeder when I go to the Home Depot tomorrow. I will need a place to hang it…….

Harvest Monday – July 11, 2011 [Gardening]

July 11, 2011  |  11 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

I have to say, since I started this blog, my whole goal has been to get to this point:

A harvest Monday post.

Sure, I’ve had harvests since I started gardening in the summer of 2008; I haven’t made much more than a post to Twitter. Now, that I’m reaching out to become a part of the community, I get the honor, the privilege, and the excitement of making one of these (and many more to come*).

*As a disclaimer, I am now afraid a tornado or something is going to decimate my garden

July 10 2011 Harvest

July 10 2011 Harvest

It was a gorgeous week, in the garden. I was glad to go out, on Sunday, before it got hot and muggy, to harvest the fruits of my labor.

First up, the peppers.

Jalapenos

Jalapenos

Harvest: 7 jalapenos. Weight: 2.125oz
Note: I think I cut a couple of these earlier than they should have been. I wanted to make poppers with them, this week, as a treat to myself. Need to use up some cream cheese.

Pepperoncini

Pepperoncini

Harvest: 4 pepperoncinis. Weight: .75oz
Note: No idea if these were ready to come off yet. However, the pepperoncini plant had blossoms out the wazoo and, at least, another dozen baby peppers on it. So, I did not shed a tear (of sorrow, not from heat…yet) when I clipped these bad boys. Looking forward to munching them down with a lunch this week.

Now, the heavy hitters:

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Cucumber

Patio Pickler Baby

Patio Pickler Baby

Harvest: 4 Patio Pickler Cucumbers. Weight: 11 5/8oz, 13 7/8oz, 14 1/4oz, and 2 3/4oz.
Note: When I cut the first two huge ones, I was shocked to find a third highly mature one. I also cut a baby once since there were 2-4 more already in the works. I wanted to compare tastes. The large one that I sampled was sweet, with a hint of bitterness.

The small one wasn’t ready to come off yet, by any means, as it had virtually no flavor. The one that I did cut into was cut up with some onion and vinegar to become summer pickles.

The other two might become pickles, this week. I’ve always wanted to make homemade dill pickle spears.

The main attraction:

Ichiban Eggplant Leadin

Ichiban Eggplant Leadin

Ichiban Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Harvest: 1 Ichiban Egglant. Weight: 8 3/4oz.

Update: I forgot to total all of the weights. D’oh!

Weekly Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 57.125oz or 3.57lbs

2011 Year-To-Date Total (doesn’t include various herbs): 3.57lbs

What’s in the wings:

Fairy Tale eggplants. And lots of them. And they apparently have thorns!

Fairy Tale Eggplants Quickly Taking Off

Fairy Tale Eggplants Quickly Taking Off

More on that in the whole-garden update later this week.

Check out everyone’s harvest via links over at Daphne’s Dandelions!

Monday Garden Update – Two Weeks Edition [Gardening]

July 5, 2011  |  1 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

It has been a busy two weeks, not only in real life, but in the garden, as well. In between drinking and almost dying, I forgot to update last week. It’s been mostly hot here, in northern Baltimore city. There’s a real shocker, right? Luckily, it hasn’t crept back into the 100s. For early July, I couldn’t ask for better weather: it’s been mostly sunny with the occasional shower; the tomatoes and peppers are absolutely loving it.

Bell Pepper Fruit

Bell Pepper Fruit

To date, I still only have one bell pepper. The two plants are so lush with green leaves, and there are budding nodes on them. It’s only a matter of time until I have plenty of bell-pepper fruits. I’m already thinking ahead to the fall and winter, and I’m wonder if it will be possible to over-winter them…

Tomato Blossoms

Tomato Blossoms

Sweet Million Tomato Fruits

Sweet Million Tomato Fruits

Bush Early Girl Tomato

Bush Early Girl Tomato

The tomatoes are doing absolutely fantastic. All of the plants have tons of flowers, and a couple of them have fruit already growing on them. Which means I need to pay close attention to their water levels, every day, at this point.

Ichiban Eggplant Quickly Growing

Ichiban Eggplant Quickly Growing

Last week, I was so excited about my Ichiban eggplant that I gave it its own post. Well, the fruit is now well over six inches long. It looks healthy and purple. And the best part is that the earwigs appear to be leaving the plant alone.

Fairy Tail Eggplant Fruits

Fairy Tail Eggplant Fruits

The Fairy Tale eggplant is happily producing fruits, as well. At last count, it had four budding babies on it. The Fairy Tale is half the height of the Ichiban, but it is putting out more fruits at this point.

Chili Pepper Flowers

Chili Pepper Flowers

Jalapenos

Jalapenos

The jalapenos, pepperoncinis, and chili peppers are doing remarkably well, as well. I’m honestly surprised at how healthy they have been, thus far. I expected some kind of pepper bacterium to swoop in and destroy them (no idea if something like this exists). Keeping my fingers crossed!

Patio Picker Cucumber Taking Over

Patio Picker Cucumber Taking Over

Patio Picker Cucumber Fruits

Patio Picker Cucumber Fruits

The “patio picker” cucumber plant has at least two fruits on them, as well. I will probably pick both this week. I need to research at what point that I should pick them. Or maybe read the info stick that came with the plant.

Planted Moonstruck Marigolds

Planted Moonstruck Marigolds

One of the things that I did of which I am proud is that I picked up five HUGE moonstruck marigold plants to companion-plant with my peppers and tomatoes. So far, they have taken root fairly well. The ones left, at Lowe’s, were less than stellar. With at least four and a half months of a growing season left, I picked up two packs of marigolds as well, and I’ve started them from seed. More on that later this week.

Rosemary

Rosemary

The herbs are happier than could be. We used some of the rosemary sprigs on potatoes, this weekend, and it made them taste fabulous. I am strongly considering trying a sprig or two in a bottle of beer to see if it would be worth using it to “dry hop” with.

The Cascade Hops are happily threading their ways up the jute twine that I have strung for them.

Cascade Hops Sending Up New Bines

Cascade Hops Sending Up New Bines

Cascade Hops Quickly Growing

Cascade Hops Quickly Growing

Currently, each of the two Cascade Hops rhizomes have three flourishing bines that are heading for the tops of their respective ropes. I am so anxious for them to begin producing cones. I’ve been reading on how to brew with them, and that has me excited to try it.

Dying Zucchini And Squash

Dying Zucchini And Squash

Unfortunately, I have lost both my zucchini and squash plants to the forces of nature. More on this later in the week, as well.

How are your plants doing, so far? Let me know in the comments!

First Ichiban Eggplant Fruit of the 2011 Season [Gardening]

July 1, 2011  |  1 Comments  |  by Ben Czajkowski  |  Gardening

Soon, I hope to be rolling in Ichiban Eggplant Parmesan. I can only imagine how good this is going to be with some marinara and fresh mozzarella melted on top.

First Ichiban Eggplant Fruit

First Ichiban Eggplant Fruit

It doesn’t look like the Fairy Tale Eggplant is that far behind, either!

Fairy Tale Eggplant Blossoms

Fairy Tale Eggplant Blossoms

I was worried that the Ichiban wasn’t going to produce after its first blossom dropped.

Ichiban Eggplant Blossom Falls Off

Ichiban Eggplant Blossom Falls Off

So far, none of the Fairy Tale Eggplants have dropped off yet. Fingers crossed that they all begin to fruit!

Fairy-Tale-Eggplant-Blossoms-2

Fruit, you little bastards!