What are you growing and cooking?

[WaikikiFirst]

yellow crookneck squash (according to the tag)

Those look like something out of Alien. And did you say you have a 7 ft tall tomato plant?
I didn't grow up on a farm but I can't imagine that. Has anyone else ever seen a tomato plant taller than 5 or even 4 ft?

 

[DeniseM]

The Guinness World Record for the tallest tomato plant is 19.8 meters — that's 65 feet — grown hydroponically by a company in the United Kingdom. Tomato plants like Big Boy and Early Girl can reach 7'+ with proper care and attention.Jul 10, 2022

My two tallest plants are Early Girls.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chrispee]

Despite living in the mildest growing zone in Canada, it feels like I’m months behind all of you. Lots of green tomatoes right now, rhubarb is ready to harvest, and the calendula is in full bloom.

 

[DeniseM]

GROWING: It has been so hot - my poor plants are struggling! Plus the powdery mildew seems to love the heat! It was 111º here yesterday, but we are in a cooling trend and we are supposed to have cooler temps starting Saturday (88º to 94º for 6 days.) I did harvest my first cucumber today!

COOKING: Dinner - Grilled chicken thighs, pasta salad and garden salad, chocolate zucchini cake. Rod grilled the chicken early this morning before it got hot!

Honey Soy Sauce Marinade
1/4 C. olive oil
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 T. honey
1 T. Dijon mustard
4 cloves minced garlic

Marinate chicken overnight and then grill it slow and low.

 

[DeniseM]

GROWING: Today the high wa only 88º! With the temps above 110º that we've been having, it's like a miracle! We are suppose to stay under 100º for a whole week! A week of cooler temps should help the garden recover.

COOKING: I've been marinating a pork loin for 2 days in my favorite marinade and I cooked it in the Instant Pot tonight. It turned out moist, flavorful and tender, and I didn't have to use the oven!

Honey Soy Sauce Marinade
1/4 C. olive oil
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 T. honey
1 T. Dijon mustard
4 cloves minced garlic

1. Add 1-2 T. oil to the Instant Pot and set on saute on med. heat
2. Brown the pork loin on all sides, then remove from Instant Pot and set aside.
3. Add 1/2 - 1 C. water or broth to the Instant Pot and bring to a boil on saute.
4. Scrap the bottom of the pot to loosen up any brown bits and prevent the burn notice - make sure there is at least 1/2 c. liquid left in the pot after this step.
5. Place the trivet in the Instant Pot with the remaining liquid and lay the pork loin on the trivet.
6. Set the Instant Pot on pressure cook for 15 min, and after 15 min. let the pressure reduce naturally for 15 min.
7. After 15 min. open the lid and check the meat temp with an instant read thermometer - it should be 145º or higher - if it's not, put the lid back on for 5 min. and allow the remaining heat in the pot to bring it up to at least 145º.
8. Place the pork loin on a cutting board and allow to sit for 10 min - then slice thin.

 

[slip]

The summer has been pretty nice so far here. It's been a little cooler than normal. Mostly 85 for highs with the occasional 87.

We are harvesting Cherry Tomatoes daily. We started a some Roma tomatoes so those will come later. Basil is coming in nicely and we should be able to harvest some in a couples weeks.

We did harvest some Sage and we have that drying. We will use some as spice and some for tea.

We stopped at the Kualapuu Market yesterday. They had a sale on Pork Cutlets so I am having those with some corn and salad.

 

[slip]

We stopped off at Molokai Pizza after golf today so I'll be having leftover pizza for dinner.

I took some pictures of the Greenstalk today. Cherry Tomatoes are being picked daily and we have a good supply in the works.

The Roma Tomatoes were started and can be transplanted in a couple weeks. They are coming up nicely.

We will be having some Pesto in the future. The Basil is coming in nicley too. We also have some Sage drying and we'll use that with chicken and try some tea.

Peppers are growing well but no buds yet. I may have to plant those higher next time. I have green onions doing well too. I have cut some for chives a few times already.

So far so good.

 

[Passepartout]

 

[easyrider]

We have a new batch of pickles. Yum.

Bill

 

[slip]

The Greenstalk garden continues to do well. Our Green Peppers have many blossoms now and two other pepper plants have taken off nicely.

Ripening tomatoes have slowed but there are dozens on the plants that will be turning soon.

I have one Green Bean plant that now has blossoms and since I have some open pockets, I may just go ahead and plant a few more. It seems strange starting plants at a time that would be extremely late in the season compared to Wisconsin.

The Sage has really taken off after I trimmed it back once already. I will have to do that again soon. I put the Basil in some pockets next to it and they are doing very well. We can even smell the Basil over the Plumeria once in a while.

I have a few pockets of Green Onions and we have trimmed off some Chives a few times already. We will be picking some Green Onions soon.

All in all, everything is really going well. Kim is cooking some Squash this morning for a couple dishes she is making. There is a house along the road that puts out free Squash and Ilikoi. I add the Ilikoi to my Smoothies and Kim uses the Squash in a few of her dishes.

We are going to the annual Bon Dance tonight and we decided to just grab something to eat there for dinner.

 

[DeniseM]

We have reached the part of the season where we are harvesting more cukes than we can eat, so I made a few jars of pickles today. Since Rod's open heart surgery, he's been on a low sodium diet so I used a no-salt recipe. Usually, dill pickles have a lot of salt, so I think this may be more of a bread and butter pickle. I'll let you know how they turn out:

Low Sodium Dill pickles

INGREDIENTS (makes 1 quart of pickles)
3–4 pickles or kirby cucumbers, cut into wedges
1 cup cold water
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons pickling spice (without salt)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 sprigs fresh dill (home grown!)
2 garlic cloves

INSTRUCTIONS
1 In a small saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, pickling spice, and granulated sugar to a boil.
2 Remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes. (I chilled the brine before putting it in the jars.)
3 Tightly pack the pickle spears, dill, and garlic cloves into a clean 1 quart mason jar.
4 Pour the brine over the pickles, and let come to room temperature.
5 Cover tightly with a lid and refrigerate for at least 24 hours for the best flavor.
6 Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

 

[heathpack]

Banana bread

 

[DeniseM]

Marinated Veggie Salad for dinner:

 

[Tia]

Marinated Veggie Salad for dinner:

Recipe please?

 

[DeniseM]

Recipe:

1. Clean out the crisper
2. Harvest the garden

I used:
cauliflower
broccoli
zucchini
cucumber
yellow pear tomatoes (small)
carrots
canned olives
red, yellow and green sweet peppers
*Sweet red onions or green onions would also be good.

3. Cut everything in bite size pieces
4. Toss with 1/2 bottle of your favorite salad dressing (I used Newman's Own, Traditional Oil & Vinegar)

 

[DeniseM]

We are going out of town Tuesday, so I harvested a big pile of basil today to preserve, and I planted some more lettuce. I have a shaded & bug netted herb bed this year, and it's producing better than it ever has. I love this garden basket - it has drainage holes in one end so you can wash the soil off your produce before you take it into your kitchen. It's called a "Trug."

 

[slip]

My Basil is coming in nicely but not much. It's only been a few weeks though. Kim has clipped some for cooking too.

The last few times I was picking tomatoes I noticed a Gecko on the Greenstalk. I have a few Pepper leaves that have been chewed in so maybe it's him?

I have to trim my Sage again. It's hasn't even been a month since the last time.

Kim is loving all the Cherry Tomatoes. She makes up some Mason Jar Salads and she adds those to the bottom. We have enough that I can even get some.

 

[DeniseM]

Does anyone have a problem with Cabbage Loopers/Inch Worms? They are the bain of my (garden) existence! When I processed the Basil, I looked at every leaf as I pulled it off the stem and I found 2 cocoons and 1 worm

 

[DeniseM]

I also harvested about a cup of parsley today. I like to use parsley in cooking, but my favorite way to use it is to make green rice salad. I will look for my actual recipe - I just wing it. Basically you cook 1 c rice with 2 c. water and 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley, which turns the rice green. While it's still hot, stir in vinegar & oil dressing to taste and chill it before serving. You can also add any chopped vegetable that you have on hand - green onions are good.

 

[DeniseM]

Please ask Kim for the recipe for Mason Jar Salad - I haven't heard of that one.

 

[TheHolleys87]

We are going out of town Tuesday, so I harvested a big pile of basil today to preserve, and I planted some more lettuce. I have a shaded & bug netted herb bed this year, and it's producing better than it ever has. I love this garden basket - it has drainage holes in one end so you can wash the soil off your produce before you take it into your kitchen. It's called a "Trug."

View attachment 98100View attachment 98101

How do you preserve your basil? I’ve never harvested as much as that from my little Aerogarden, but I have had more than I could use at one time!

 

[slip]

Please ask Kim for the recipe for Mason Jar Salad - I haven't heard of that one.

Here you go. She doesn't use the GoLo dressing. You can use any dressing. She likes having them made up. I have them to and they are good.

Mason Jar Fresh Mozzarella Salad

A classic pasta salad served in a trendy new way.

www.golo.com

 

[DeniseM]

I pick the basil leaves off the stems and then wash and drain the leaves 3 times in my salad spinner. Then I put the washed leaves in my food processor and process them until they are pureed - I add just enough water so the food processor will blend. Then I freeze the puree in ice cube trays. In a day or two I pop the basil cubes out of the tray and store them in a freezer bag in the freezer. To use, just thrown a cube of frozen basil in whatever you are cooking for an fresh basil flavor. This works with any green herb - I also froze cilantro like this early in the season, because it goes to seed really quickly here in the summer heat, so I only have it fresh for a short time.

If you don't have enough for the food processor, just chop it fine and freeze it in the size that you usually use. You can pile small globs on waxed paper, freeze it, and then put in a freezer bag.

 

[DeniseM]

The GoLo landing page asked for a log-in - never mind, it worked the 2nd time.

 

[slip]

The GoLo landing page asked for a log-in - never mind, it worked the 2nd time.

I forgot She still had some made up. Here's how hers turn out.