What are you growing and cooking?

[DancingWaters]

GROWING: I have a small herb & lettuce bed that I keep under bug/shade netting all summer to prolong the growing season. It works remarkably well! Today I harvested Dill (it's done for the year) Basil (just cut it back - it grows like a weed and I will have plenty all summer) Cilantro (I just cut it back, it may or may not come back) + 1 head of Romaine lettuce. In the area where I pulled out the dill, I planted more lettuce and radishes for later in the summer. It's supposed to be 106º tomorrow and the next day, so I also did some extra watering.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the dill in the picture on the right is about 3 feet tall, so I harvested a lot of herbs! I'm going to dry the dill for pickles, salads, dressing, etc, and chop the cilantro and basil in the food processor (separately) and freeze it in ice cube trays, and then store in freezer bags in the freezer. This is a super easy way to store a lot of herbs, and when you need some for whatever you are cooking, you just drop in a cube of herbs for a fresh taste.

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My herb & lettuce bed looks rather funny, but it works so well! It gets so hot here, plus we have cabbage loopers and they LOVE lettuce and herbs. And yes, those are binder clips - I use them all over my garden to hold things in place. To get into the bed, I just unclip one panel while I work, and then clip it back on when I'm done. In each corner, there is a 5 ft. wrought iron rod driven into the ground to support the netting.

All looks beautiful!

 

[TheHolleys87]

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.

Small globs on waxed paper — that’s perfect for my harvests! Thanks!

 

[bizaro86]

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?

Indeterminate tomato plants will just keep growing, pretty much indefinately. I had one in my sunny south facing window (over a heat register) for well over a year, and it was ~20 ft tall/long when I finally got fed up with it.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Indeterminate tomato plants will just keep growing, pretty much indefinately. I had one in my sunny south facing window (over a heat register) for well over a year, and it was ~20 ft tall/long when I finally got fed up with it.

wow. a 20 ft tall long tomato indoors makes me picture that plant from ... don't remember the name, but maybe a B'way musical from 40 yrs ago ... you know the one

 

[DeniseM]

After two weeks out of town, my garden has gone rogue and needs a lot of TLC, pruning and tying up (also, powdery mildew, aphids, and cabbage loopers.) We won't have cold weather until November, so I will get produce for 2 or 3 more months. Unfortunately, I had to throw away some over-ripe and over-sized veggies, but that's to be expected. Here's what I salvaged - so we are having a cucumber, tomato and sweet pepper salad tonight!

 

[slip]

After two weeks out of town, my garden has gone rogue and needs a lot of TLC, pruning and tying up (also, powdery mildew, aphids, and cabbage loopers.) We won't have cold weather until November, so I will get produce for 2 or 3 more months. Unfortunately, I had to throw away some over-ripe and over-sized veggies, but that's to be expected. Here's what I salvaged - so we are having a cucumber, tomato and sweet pepper salad tonight!

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I want to plant some sweet peppers.

 

[Chrispee]

Patty pan squashes freshly picked today.

And cooked with coho salmon that our teenage son caught, and local farm stand corn and romaine.

 

[DeniseM]

COOKING: Today I'm making a big pot of pasta sauce. I will freeze most of it in 5 c. containers, and use some of it for spaghetti tonight (at Rod's request.)

Something strange: since Rod had open heart surgery, his sense of taste has changed and it's taking me awhile to figure out how to tweak things - for instance, some things taste too sour, too acidic, or too bitter to him, and he doesn't like the taste of beef anymore.

I have no recipe - this is one of those "use what's on hand" recipes. Canned tomatoes have a lot of salt, and Rod is on a reduced salt diet, so I didn't add any additional salt.

Add to a big pot and stir:
Diced tomatoes - 2 - 28 oz. cans
Tomato sauce - 1 - 15 oz can
Tomato paste - 1 - 8 oz can
Homegrown pureed tomatoes - 4 c.
Homegrown diced tomatoes - 4 c.
Celery - 1 c. diced
Garlic - 1/4 c. diced (I use the stuff in the jar)
Sweet White Onion - 1 large, chopped
Homegrown spinach, chopped - 1 c.
Homegrown sweet peppers, chopped - 1 c.
Homegrown basil - about 1 cup firmly packed
2 T. Italian seasoning
2 T. sugar

I'm also going to sneak in 2 c. of grated zucchini when Rod's not looking!

Bring to a simmer and then turn down to the lowest temp at with it will continue simmering (slow bubble.) Simmer 2-4 hours, until it reaches the desired thickness. Stir well every 20 min. or so. If you use all canned tomato products it will take less time, because they have less water, and fresh tomatoes will take longer because they have more water.

When I make spaghetti tonight, I will use 4-6 c. of the sauce, and add 1 lb. of browned ground turkey and simmer it 30 min. more.

 

[clifffaith]

I can only imagine what our garden patch looks like now. Too hot (over 100 for five days now) to even take the ten minute walk to our raised bed, and just don’t get moving early enough to go over when it is “only” in the high 70s at 8am. I figure we either have a bumper crop of strawberries, or a patch of dead plants. We simply aren’t used to prolonged heat like this.

 

[slip]

The Greenstalk is still doing great. We've had a ton of Cherry Tomatoes and one of the plants is starting to wilt so it maybe coming to an end. Kim started some more regular Tomatoes and they are growing nicely.

Beans are starting to produce and the peppers are getting close. I trimmed off some more Sage today and I took some Basil to make Pesto.

I'm making Pesto Pork Chops tonight for dinner.

 

[DeniseM]

The spaghetti was a hit, including the 2 c. of incognito shredded zucchini!

 

[slip]

The spaghetti was a hit, including the 2 c. of incognito shredded zucchini!

That's sneaky.

 

[slip]

The Pesto Pork Chops turned out great.

 

[Chrispee]

Well the fall showers are starting around here so we had to harvest our tomatoes mostly before ripening. Guess we need a sunnier spot next year, or maybe planting a bit earlier? Garlic, fennel seeds, and squashes all did great though.

 

[DeniseM]

COOKING: Today is Rod's birthday and he requested a lemon cake, so I made this Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake.

This cake is delicious and different: super moist and dense. I was happy to find a cake recipe that uses olive oil and will make again with different flavors. It was very easy to make.

My changes:
I did not want to bother with a springform pan, so I baked it in a 9x9" square pan - worked fine.
I am not fond of lemon zest, and didn't use it.
I substituted lemon extract for vanilla extract.

Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Equipment
• 9" springform pan (I used a square 9x9 pan)

Ingredients
• 1 cup olive oil (a light tasting variety)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling the top
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (lemon extract)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• zest from 3 lemons (omitted)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole milk (almond milk)
• powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9" springform pan by greasing the bottom and the sides well, and lining the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Wrap the outside with foil to prevent leaks.

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, eggs, and sugar.

• Add the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Whisk briefly to combine.

• Sift together the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in a couple of batches. Try not to over-mix at this stage, you just want to combine everything until no streaks of dry flour remain.

• Pour the batter into the springform pan. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of granulated sugar evenly over the top.

• Bake for 50-55 minutes. The cake should be risen and starting to turn a bit golden brown on the top. Note: ovens vary greatly and you may need to bake your cake longer to get it done in the center. I recommend laying a loose piece of foil over the top of your cake if yours seems to be getting very brown towards the end of cooking.

• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Then gently remove the cake from the springform pan and allow to cool completely on a baking rack.

• When cool, dust the top with powdered sugar, if desired.

I needed to bake it about 65 min. to make sure it was done in the center, and I did the tooth pick test. I covered the top with foil sprayed with vegetable spray for the last 20 min. to prevent over browning.

* This is a runny batter - like pancake batter, but that's how it's supposed to be.

 

[amycurl]

Today’s labors: 14 quarts of tomatoes and 4 quarts of juice (great as a soup base) of heirloom German Johnson and Cherokee Purples from the farm run by the family of one of my daughter’s classmates. They are beautiful and I am tired.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Eggs, Sugar, Vanilla &/or Lemon, Flour, Baking powder; making me hungry for ricotta pie. our new thing this year was realizing that if you put it outside and use just the right amount of fertilizer, those tiny basil plants really can turn into a bush.
Can we really cut it WAY back and have it regrow? We never get below 32F here. Seldom below 37F I'd say.

 

[easyrider]

since Rod had open heart surgery, his sense of taste has changed and it's taking me awhile to figure out how to tweak things

I hear that can happen after heart surgery. After the heart problem I had, nothing tasted right, so it made it easier to transition to a better diet and loose weight. You can only do so much with Dash spices but one thing that always had a kick is Sriracha Sauce. I still use veganaise and mix it with Sriracha to make a food topper for almost anything vegetable or grain. My wife doesn't like the sauce.

Bill

 

[slip]

The Greenstalk is still doing well. Our Cherry Tomatoes are finishing up. We have plenty left on the vines and we have started and planted some other tomatoes already to take their place.

We finally have some peppers coming in and there are a ton more blossoming. I'll have to trim back the sage and Basil again soon.

I'll probably have to pull the Cherry Tomatoes in a few weeks and then I should be able to plant our other starters.

 

[DeniseM]

Growing: We just got back from a week in Nevada, and even though our garden beds are on a drip system, they are definitely on the way out. It's PLENTY warm, but the powdery mildew was terrible this year, and despite our best efforts, everything got it except the tomatoes, strawberries and peppers. The squash and cucumber are especially bad - they are at death's door, but I did harvest 7 cucumbers that are still eating size.

The tomatoes look bad, but still have a lot of green tomatoes ripening on them, so we are going to give them another couple of weeks. The peppers look great and still have a ton of fruit. The peppers and strawberries seem to be immune to powdery mildew. I am going to cover the peppers and winter them over. I kept one last year as an experiment, and it did great, since it doesn't get cold here anymore. I have pictures of my great-grandparents ranch here in Northern CA from around 1915, and they got lots of snow then. It's unheard of now.

Cooking: I am trying an easy new pasta recipe tonight - that doesn't require the oven (104 here today!!!) The main ingredients are ground meat, a jar of salsa, a jar of fettucini sauce, parmesan cheese, and noodles. I will post a picture and review if it turns out.

Slow Cooker Alfredo Salsa Tortellini

*I am making this on the stove - not in a slow cooker.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

Slow Cooker Alfredo Salsa Tortellini–creamy and slightly spicy cheesy tortellini prepared in about one minute using your slow cooker.

Ingredients
• 1 (19 oz) package frozen cheese tortellini
• 1 cup mild salsa or picante sauce
• 1 cup Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used fresh grated parmesan)
• 1lb. ground meat - browned w/ garlic, onion and Italian seasoning to taste
Instructions
1. Combine cook ground meat, tortellini, salsa and Alfredo sauce in slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for 3-4 hours.
3. Gently stir in mozzarella cheese and serve.

Update: The pasta was a big hit. My notes: I doubled the recipe and added 2 cups of shredded spinach to make it a one dish meal. I used 2 C. macaroni instead of tortellini. Picture of finished dish below.

Here's how the dish looked before I added the cheese on top:

 

[slip]

Our last couple of tomatoes are just about done too. We are going to pick the green ones and pull them today. We have three other tomatoes planted that are doing well and hopefully they will blossom soon. We will also pant the other three Roma Tomato starters that are now ready to transplant to the Greenstalk.

The peppers are doing well and I even used some with a Pot Roast that we put in the slowcooker with a packet of Aujus. We pulled it apart and made beef sandwiches with provolone. I still have enough left for lunch today.

 

[DeniseM]

The Beautiful Circle of life:

As you may recall, a preying mantis egg hatched in my yard in the spring, and I had hundreds of baby preying mantis all over the place - they eat bugs, so this is a good thing. A male and a female took up residence in my Plumeria tree and kept little insects off the blossoms all summer. Today, we noticed that they were mating, and as soon as they were done, she bit his head off and devoured it! Within minutes, there was nothing left of the sperm donor...

"Num, num, num - the head is my favorite part!"

 

[TheHolleys87]

Today, we noticed that they were mating, and as soon as they were done, she bit his head off and devoured it!

Wow, thanks for the photo. I've read about this all my life, of course, but have never seen a photo.

 

[DeniseM]

GROWING: A hot pepper lit me up last night!

We have 6 mature pepper plants in our garden which were all selected for their mild taste - I thought! Last night I was making a salad and I cut up a pepper from a bush labeled "Pepper, Italian White Wax." Nothing in that name says hot to me! Fortunately, before I put it in the salad, I tasted one tiny piece and OH MY GOSH! I have never tasted anything so ! One chew and I spit it in the trash, and my mouth burned for an hour! Today I looked it up, and it's a very hot pepper that is only mild when it is young and green: Capsicum Baccatum.

The Italian Wax Pepper is from the capsicum baccatum family and is grown almost exclusively in Northern California. Like other plants in the baccatum family, the Italian Wax Pepper makes a blossom whose white flowers bear a unique, yellow pattern. This pepper distinctively grows from a light, pea green to a whitish, pale green color before finally maturing to red. The Italian Wax Pepper is 3 ½” to 4 ½” long when mature and about ½” to ¾” in diameter. The peppers have a thin skin and a crisp, moderately-thick flesh. The plants produce pendant pods that often grow a little crooked and kinked, unlike other varieties that produce straighter, smoother pods (i.e. jalapenos, petite banana wax). The Italian Wax Pepper is often harvested when it is shorter, dark green and mild. Mature pods will develop heat levels that rival Serrano peppers and hot Hungarian peppers (12,000 to 22,000 Scoville units).

Now I'm debating whether to keep it and try the peppers when they are young and green, or to pull it out.

1. The plant tag, 2. the hot pepper, 3. a regular sweet wax pepper.

 

[slip]

GROWING: A hot pepper lit me up last night!

We have 6 mature pepper plants in our garden which were all selected for their mild taste - I thought! Last night I was making a salad and I cut up a pepper from a bush labeled "Pepper, Italian White Wax." Nothing in that name say hot to me! Fortunately, before I put it in the salad, I tasted one tiny piece and OH MY GOSH! I have never tasted anything so ! One chew and I spit it in the trash, and my mouth burned for an hour! Today I looked it up, and it's a very hot pepper that is only mild when it is young and green: Capsicum Baccatum.



Now I'm debating whether to keep it and try the peppers when they are young and green, or to pull it out.

1. The plant tag, 2. the hot pepper, 3. a regular sweet wax pepper.

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I don't like anything like that either. Way too hot. Hopefully mine are more in the tolerable range.