harvest season
This past week brought the last week of gloriously warm, sunny weather to us this year. As always, I lament the fading of summer, but I cannot complain as this was truly a wonderful and long summer. I also love the transition to fall and the abundance of food that flows into our home from our garden and our beloved farm share.
I'm particularly excited about the tomatoes & pie pumpkins that have flourished in our garden this year. This is the first time I planted pumpkins. I only planted 2 pumpkin seeds, and we have 6 sugar pie pumpkins! Here's the evolution of their growth:
I love how they all jumped ship. Only 1 of the 6 is actually in the bed. They were all covered in the leaves of the plant, but I cut them off a few weeks ago so they could ripen in the sun. Yay for learning new things.
Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to make pumpkin pies, breads, and pancakes galore with these beauties. For now, the pop of orange in the garden makes me squeal inside.
I will have to say, as awesome as these pumpkins are, a bigger reason I want to garden is simply to eat fresh tomatoes. I looooove tomatoes. One of my favorite childhood memories was going to my grandmother's house & eating plates-full of sliced tomatoes, freshly-picked from her garden. There is no other taste like it in the world.
I bought four tomato starts at the spring Seattle Tilth sale this year & didn't realize until a week ago that the "Green Zebra" tomato plant I bought produces - guess what - green striped tomatoes. Duh. After waiting a few weeks for many gorgeous clusters of these tomatoes to ripen (i.e., turn red), I noticed some of them rotting. So I picked a non-rotten one, sliced it open only to discover it dripping with perfect, tangy, ripe juices. Lesson learned for this novice gardener.
This picture below is one of three tomato harvests from my garden this week, and they've all been this plentiful. I picked 5 more huge yellow heirlooms today. Oh, I'm in heaven. Must begin canning ASAP.
I'm particularly excited about the tomatoes & pie pumpkins that have flourished in our garden this year. This is the first time I planted pumpkins. I only planted 2 pumpkin seeds, and we have 6 sugar pie pumpkins! Here's the evolution of their growth:
(pumpkin plants are on the left in the bed)
I love how they all jumped ship. Only 1 of the 6 is actually in the bed. They were all covered in the leaves of the plant, but I cut them off a few weeks ago so they could ripen in the sun. Yay for learning new things.
Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to make pumpkin pies, breads, and pancakes galore with these beauties. For now, the pop of orange in the garden makes me squeal inside.
I will have to say, as awesome as these pumpkins are, a bigger reason I want to garden is simply to eat fresh tomatoes. I looooove tomatoes. One of my favorite childhood memories was going to my grandmother's house & eating plates-full of sliced tomatoes, freshly-picked from her garden. There is no other taste like it in the world.
I bought four tomato starts at the spring Seattle Tilth sale this year & didn't realize until a week ago that the "Green Zebra" tomato plant I bought produces - guess what - green striped tomatoes. Duh. After waiting a few weeks for many gorgeous clusters of these tomatoes to ripen (i.e., turn red), I noticed some of them rotting. So I picked a non-rotten one, sliced it open only to discover it dripping with perfect, tangy, ripe juices. Lesson learned for this novice gardener.
Thanks to Seattle Tilth I ended up with some crazy & delicious tomato varieties this year: green zebras, yellow heirlooms (can't remember the exact name), chocolate cherry tomatoes, and a simple red slicing tomato that has turned out to be the most mundane & least fruitful of them all. Here they all are in their end-of-the-season glory.
This picture below is one of three tomato harvests from my garden this week, and they've all been this plentiful. I picked 5 more huge yellow heirlooms today. Oh, I'm in heaven. Must begin canning ASAP.
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