July 9, 2012

Harvest Monday, July 9, 2012

Tuesday's harvest of green beans, okra, and tomatoes

Thursday, the first harvest of Zephyr summer squash

Thursday's harvest of okra

Two of the okra picked on Thursday were 9 inches long and still tender

Sunday, more sunburned tomatoes and a couple of summer squash

Sunday's okra harvest

Thank goodness it rained a couple times this week and put an end to the 108˚ F heat wave (42˚ C). The tomatoes have some sunburn on their fruit and two summer squash plants have succumbed to vine borers without ever producing any fruit. The beans and tomato plants have gotten fairly burned up in the heat, they're just a little crispy. And I've been finding tomatoes that have been nibbled or pecked at, looks like critters are finding their way through the bird netting looking for water sources.

The first summer squash of the season have been picked! The Zephyr hybrid summer squash is excellent, it has a wonderful texture and flavor that is sweet tender and firm when sauteed with a little butter. Not at all watery or spongy like summer squash can get.

The main green bean bed is definitely winding down production but the smaller plantings are just starting to flower.

This weeks harvest:
2 pounds, 14 oz tomato
2 pounds, 4 oz squash
1 pound, 6 oz green beans
1 pound, 5 oz okra

Total: 7 pounds, 13 ounces

Thank you for visiting. Check out Daphne's Dandelions and her Harvest Monday posts, where gardeners from all over the world take part and post their weekly harvest.

20 comments:

Shawn Ann said...

Looks like your KY garden is doing quite well in all this heat! I think I will have to try the Zephyr squash sometime. I too have some peppers that have sun scold! Nice to see another KY gardener here!

Stoney Acres said...

Great harvest, those squash are beautiful. All of our summer squash and most of our pumpkins have contracted some kind of wilt and I don't think they are going to make it. So this may be our first year every without any summer squash! :(

Michelle said...

Those okra are amazing! Glad to hear that you are getting relief from the heat, it sounds like it was unbearable.

Cristy said...

I love that okra, and your Zephyr squash is beautiful. I planted Clemson Spineless okra and I have to pick it before it is any longer than my index finger to be able to eat it. What type do you have?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear about your squash plants being killed before they even produced anything. This year for the first time, I cut out the SVB caterpillars from my plants. Of 7, 4 are still living (done 3 weeks ago) - one of the dead ones was pretty far gone already (which is how I knew the dreaded SVBs had started early for us this year).

Good looking summer harvest!

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

That is some fine looking okra there! We're still waiting on ours, but it won't be long. I've lost 1 squash to borers and 2 to virus wilt. Love those yellow pattypan squash.

Lisa said...

Gosh, that okra is beautiful. I don't think it gets warm enough in my part of Northern California to grow it...

gardenglut said...

Nice harvest Phuong! Love those two-toned summer squash and your arrangement of okra in size. It's fun playing with your produce isn't it!

I really like your pottery too.

Mary Hysong said...

So far so good on squash here, tho I lost some tomato plants to a mystery wilt. Very nice looking okra, what variety is that?

Phuong said...

I really liked the Zephyr squash, they seem to be firmer when allowed to get a bit larger. My peppers are not doing well this year, they're blossoming but I haven't seen any peppers forming yet. Perhaps it's this terrible heat wave we've been having, thank goodness it's cooled down a bit.

Phuong said...

That's terrible about the wilt getting all your squash! Do your plants have any cucumber beetles infesting them? I've read that the beetles may carry the bacteria that causes it. I've seen more vine borer moths flying around my squash and I have been squishing lots of cucumber beetles.

Phuong said...

Thank you! Okra are such interesting plants, I love growing them. Thank goodness the heat wave seems to have passed.

Phuong said...

This year I'm growing Stewart's Zeebest and Philippine Lady Finger, both were purchased from Bakers Creek Seeds. They're both smooth podded varieties, but Stewart's is the one I've been picking pods at 9 inches long when the plants are bigger and more filled in.

Phuong said...

Vine borers are such a menace to squash plants! I've never tried cutting the caterpillars out, did you bury the stem after cutting them out?

Phuong said...

It's so exciting when vegetables start to come in! I just ate the pattypan squash this morning and it was delicious, it's a hybrid called Sunburst. But it's awful that your squash plants are succumbing.

Phuong said...

But there's so many wonderful things that can be grown in northern California like avocados, lemons and limes.

Phuong said...

Thank you! I truly enjoy arranging the vegetables for photos.

There's not many pictures of the garden because I've been so busy with pottery. I'm glad you like it!

Phuong said...

I think it's worse when wilt attacks tomato plants because it's so unexpected, compared to squash plants which seem to get all kinds of problems. The longest thin okra are Stewart's Zeebest, and the shorter thicker okra are Philippine Lady Finger. Seeds were purchased from Baker's Creek Seed Co. They're both new varieties for me, so I've been letting the pods grow longer just to see how they do.

Anonymous said...

Great backdrop for the photos! Really makes the bounty stand out!

Cristy said...

Thanks. How do you like the taste?