July 6, 2015

Harvest Monday, 7/6/15

Summer is just flying by. July already, I'm just not ready for summer to end. I've only been picking 4 vegetables the last few weeks but hopefully other things will start appearing. The first melon was spied in the garden, a fuzzy green baby Uzbek.
We have more green beans from the bush bean bed which ended up being more than the first picking by 1.32 pounds.
Summer squashes and a cucumber.
Here's a close-up of the Gelber Englischer Custard squash, it's huge and the coloring is very pretty. It had been hiding under a leaf.
The first grape tomatoes. We got another handful on the 4th of July, they're all meat with a nice firmness and good tomato flavor. Not too sweet which my husband likes.
Lots more squash.
I cut the broccoli side shoots way too long, at least it was only one plant.
Most of these cucumbers became... 2 quarts of refrigerator pickles.
6.08 pounds cucumber
5.89 pounds snap beans
3.95 pounds summer squash
1.19 pounds broccoli

Total harvest: 17.11 pounds

The stems of the summer squash plants look terrible. It’s been raining a lot and I’m afraid that the plants are getting ready to rot out. The heirloom patty pan and hybrid Zephyr squash have been wonderful, they cook up nice and tender with great body and taste wonderful with a sweet nuttiness. I have seen vine borer moths flying around. But no telltale signs with the little pile of sawdust, then again that could've washed away with the rain.

The pole beans are starting to flower and it looks like the bush beans might give one more picking, then they'll get pulled out to give more room to the Brussels sprouts which are looking pretty good.

Please join us at Daphne's Dandelions Harvest Monday. Where you can see what's been happening in our gardens and kitchens.

10 comments:

gardenvariety-hoosier said...

That heirloom summer squash is beautiful.

David Velten said...

Very nice, your garden harvests are getting really interesting. The Englischer Custard squash looks really attractive. Have you had a chance to try it yet?

Phuong said...

Hi Garden Variety,
The heirloom patty pan squash are delicious, and I've only been picking from 3 plants including the Gelber Englischer Custard which has just started producing. The Bennings Green Tint started producing at the same time as the hybrid Zephyr so they're both fairly early at 48 days from seeding in the garden.

Margaret said...

That custard squash is gorgeous! I'm really looking forward to some refrigerator pickles this summer. My cucumbers have just started to go up the trellis (I'm so behind this year!) but I already see some babies forming, so hopefully I won't be waiting too long.

Phuong said...

Hi David,
I was planning to cook the Englischer Custard in some butter and then scrambles some eggs with it for breakfast tomorrow. The eating quality of the patty pan squash is just wonderful, they were fantastic in a pork stir-fry.

The plants are still kind of young, they haven't even branched yet so there haven't been tons of fruit. If they end up being prolific, I probably won't grow Yellow Crookneck anymore.

Phuong said...

Hi Margaret,
If you're already seeing baby cucumbers, you'll be having cucumbers in no time. If I can find some fresh honey pineapple on sale I'm going to stir fry some cucumbers with it, so good.

The ruffled edge and color of the custard squash is really pretty. It's actually still a small plant so I was surprised to find that big squash on it, there's now a couple more little babies just starting to form on it.

Daphne Gould said...

I love that custard squash. As Margaret said it is gorgeous. I couldn't agree more. I tend to grow just zucchini. I guess I'm boring with my summer squash.

Phuong said...

Hi Daphne,
I think zucchini is wonderful. Curried matchstick zucchini with fat soba noodles, carrot, and onion. Yum. And of course stuffed zucchini and zucchini bread. If only my zucchini germinated, I've never actually gone without zucchini in the garden before.

norma chang said...

Beautiful harvest, I too love your squashes. Did not grow any squashes this year, may be next year.

Phuong said...

Hi Norma,
The Englischer Custard is actually delicious and sweet and for such a large patty pan squash it had the tiniest seed cavity with barely formed seeds, so it was a young.