In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen
At last it is tomato season in my garden. We picked the first of the ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes before leaving on vacation ten days ago. I prefer an heirloom like ‘Cherokee Purple’, which has yet to produce fruit, but my husband prefers a “regular” tomato and ‘Early Girl’ is more reliable here in the fog belt.
These are the May planted tomatoes, but the mid-July transplants are catching up. For details see Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt.
The prized, though small harvest for the week was some of the cannellini beans. The first sowing germinated poorly and I’m waiting for additional pods to dry. The succession planting has done much better and the yield should be more substantial.. This was an experiment since I’ve never grown beans for drying. The cranberry bean plants are robust and the pods are beginning to dry. Read about my cranberry bean experiment here.
Most of the trellised ‘Chelsea Prize’ cucumbers from Renee’s Garden look like this. Generally, I harvest two or three such gems daily and neighbors receive them eagerly. Soon, the plants will decide the season is over and they will stop producing, usually before I tire of homegrown cakes.
I removed one of the two ‘Raven’ zucchini plants and the remaining one produces at a manageable pace now.
French sorrel frequently subs for lettuce after harvesting the last of the summer romaine. I purchased lettuce recently for the first time in about nine months. I may sow a container of mesclun lettuce that I can keep in partial shade.
My daughter-in-law requested chive vinegar so I obliged with apple cider and another vinegar.
My husband keeps the rhubarb from overhanging the grass so at times, a pile will show up which usually leads to sauce or a dessert.
I am still enchanted by the ‘Queen Red Lime’ zinnias. These days there’s always a bouquet on the dining room table and enough to share with friends, which keeps the plants blooming.
I’ve added a new to page my website. Check Garden Tasks This Week. Notable was a soil drench of Epsom salts for the tomatoes and peppers. Then head over to see what other garden bloggers around the world harvested last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Happy Acres blog.
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