Summer Harvest

Well, the carrots are ready to pull and this year I planted several different types. I tried Snow White carrots this year and unfortunately they were more commonly known as "Wuss Carrots" because they were very small and some of them bolted. I really tried to eat the bolted carrots but they became bitter and very woody.  The Danvers Half-Long seem to be pretty reliable so hopefully I'll be able to pull a bit more soon. I would really like to make some carrot cake!

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Its been a week since the garlic has been pulled and I actually grouped them by type, however, a surprise rain in the morning mid last week caused some of the bundles to get wet. I moved them more under the tree in hopes the high temperatures would dry them out again. Either way, its suppose to rain a lot this week (thank God!) so they have to be moved into the basement where a fan will be placed on them to further cure. Overall, it was pretty good, about 60 of the 75  of the cloves I planted survived. Some of the ones that didn't make it either didn't come up in the spring or rotted. I think they are smaller than when I planted the batch next to the garage, where a well established garden has existed for many years. 

 

Maybe 10 or so plants looked like they were starting to burst which means they won't store well, so they will be the first to be used with homemade pesto (basil has already started to flower so I am just going to pick em now). I also made a late planting of Basil in pots which used to contain lettuce (which is VERY bitter now!).

One of the best crops this year so far is the Melrose peppers named for Melrose Park, IL. These are well known frying peppers and we are cooking them up today. They were very quick to grow and flower and seem pretty prolific, although I noticed that some of the pollinated flowers are starting to drop (maybe due to the warmer weather?).

 

In other vegetable news, the zucchini and yellow squash have female flowers and premature squash on them, although the mystery squash next to the garage has only male flowers yet. Trail of Tears beans are doing very well but the Purple Podded Pole beans and Asian Yard-Long beans look a little pathetic. Again, this might be location and soil since its closer to the pine tree but since I never checked the pH, I won't know.