Happy Harvest
This weekend I headed to the Farmer’s Market to pick up some tomatoes to can for the winter because I was worried my plants weren’t going to produce enough. It’s been rather cool here this August (70’s during the day, 50’s at night), so the tomatoes don’t really seem to be ripening as quickly as they usually do. This weekend we finally got some warm weather, in the 80’s. It’s still getting cold in the evenings, but it seems like this warm spell was all the tomatoes needed to ripen up. I harvested tomatoes yesterday afternoon and got my biggest harvest yet.
I picked 10lbs of tomatoes yesterday! This brings my total 2008 tomato harvest up to 26lbs (21 romas, 5 beefsteak). I also discovered 4 hornworms on one plant. So, they were stoned (yep smashed with a big rock, another use for all those rocks I dig up out of my flowerbeds).
It’s funny the different sizes of tomatoes that can come from one plant.
I’ve heard rumblings from a few people it’s been a bad year for tomatoes. My plants are healthy and productive. How are your tomatoes doing this year?
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Happy Labor Day!
Happy Labor Day out there for all you readers. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. We’ve had a busy weekend here at Chiot’s Run. Sunday I potted up some hydrangeas (that were started from cuttings 3 weeks ago) and we built one more raised bed. Today, we plan on laboring part of the day in the garden, mixing up soil for the new raised bed and perhaps building more, if we’re energetic.
Before you start feeling sorry for us working all day, we did have an afternoon & evening out yesterday with our friends. First we headed down to 50th anniversary party at a camp we all worked at. It was a beautiful sunny day. If you’ve all been wondering what I look like, here’s a self-portrait.
After a few hours in the sun, we headed up to Cleveland to go to The Pub, an interesting little English restaurant with all kinds of frosty brews on tap (the front of the menu says it all).
Our friend was excited about finally being able to get a real black and tan*.
So what did we get for dinner? Fish and Chips of course and they were delicious (homemade tarter sauce was also spot on!).
A good evening was had by all. So what fun things were you up to this weekend?
*Remember to have a designated driver, Don’t Drink and Drive.
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A Perfect Day for a Farmer’s Market
Yesterday morning I got up early and headed down to the Carrollton Farmer’s Market. I was hoping for mountains of produce, since it is the peak of the growing season here in NE Ohio. I was also on the hunt for a bushel or two of tomatoes to can. The sign promised: sweet corn, melons, tomatoes and more! How exciting.
I have a system for shopping at the market, first I walk around and look at all the booths trying to decide what I want, then I buy on my second round. I try to buy from smaller booths with less produce (these are usually the smaller farmer’s or individuals that do it as a hobby).
There were booths full of melons of all different sizes and colors, tomatoes in every color, shape and size as well. I always ask if they are home grown and chemical free (I have been to farmer’s markets where I have seen the same boxes of melons in the back of the trucks that you see at the big grocery store – beware of these booths. There are none of these at the Carrollton Market though)
I was surprised at the lack of zucchinis, prolific producers that they are, I think I bought the only 2 that I saw. Or perhaps my lack of zucchini growing skills was actually a product of the kind of summer we were having and had nothing to do with my lack of skill. The fresh fruit stand was particularly intriguing with baskets of apples, pears, plums and peaches.
So what made it into my reusable shopping bags on this trip to the market?
1 bushel of tomatoes for canning
1/2 bushel or roma tomatoes for roasting
1 bunch of carrots
1 eggplant
5 purple & white peppers
2 pints of grape tomatoes (yellow & red)
2 bags of potatoes (1 new potatoes, 1 big baking)
1 quart of green beans
6 red onions
7 heirloom tomatoes
1 quart yellow tomatoes
2 doz. ears of sweet corn
1 cantaloupe
1 watermelon
1 large green striped zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash
1 peck of cooking apples
7 lbs of sausage (local naturally raised pork).
Looks like we’ll be getting our full share of veggies this week, and all of this only cost me $50.
Currently we have a bountiful table (and counter).
Tonight the tomatoes will be roasted and tomorrow they will be canned for delicious winter sauces. We enjoyed the corn last night for supper (the remainder was cut off the cob and frozen) and we had some sausage cooked up this morning with delicious local eggs on a homemade sourdough english muffins. What delicious local food did you buy at the farmer’s market for this holiday weekend?
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Quote of the Day
I have seen women looking at jewelry ads with a misty eye and one hand resting on the heart, and I only know what they’re feeling because that’s how I read the seed catalogs in January.
Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life)
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Lovely Sight
Yesterday morning when I went out to look around, I noticed that many of the plants were drooping low with the weight of the rain from the last 2 days. We really needed rain, so I’m glad they’re bending to the ground heavy laden with water than with wilt from lack of it. The asparagus fern was particularly beautiful since each of it’s feathery branches was covered in tiny drops. What a lovely sight.
I got 250 gallons of water in my rain barrels from the last system that moved through. Can I get a Hip Hip Hooray?
