Oh, Rats!

Sabine1 Reply
Rats 🙁

We are having a major rat problem in the community garden this year. They are decimating the tomatoes. Even the unripe, green ones. There are bait stations in and surrounding the garden, but with the abundance of fresh food, the rats do not seem to bother with the bait.

Everyone’s plot is affected. We always have some losses, but this year, we reached a different level. About a week ago, another gardener gave me a couple of nylon mesh bags. I assumed the rats might just “juice” the tomatoes right through the bag, but it was worth a try.

Protective nylon mesh bag, August 2

The nylon bags have been working so far but they are small. I was trying to take one bag off today, and accidentally pulled the tomato, which had grown and was now stuck inside (it was the tomato from the picture above; all the other tomatoes in the picture had disappeared).

Protective wire mesh bag, August 8

I also ordered wire mesh bags to cover individual tomatoes. They finally came today. I installed about 15 or so – all the tomatoes I have currently left. It’s just sad. Fingers crossed I can save at least a few handfuls of tomatoes.

Getting the Garlic Ready for Storage

SabineLeave a Reply
Cleaning the hardneck garlic

Last night, after three weeks of curing, I cleaned my garlic and prepped it for storage. For the hardnecks, I just clean off the dirt and the outermost papery skin, cut off the stems and root hairs and placed them in a ceramic crock to live in my pantry for the coming months. I will use those up first as hardnecks do not keep as well as softnecks.

Garlic haul 2026: Softneck braid and cleaned hardnecks

I also braided the softneck garlic and added a few strawflowers for decoration. The braid now hangs in my pantry. As always, I saved the two largest heads of each type (4 heads total) as seed garlic. I will plant those cloves in early November for next year’s harvest.

Pesto

SabineLeave a Reply

First round of pesto in the freezer! Last night I processed the basil I had harvested the day before and made pesto. I still had garlic scapes in the fridge, and used a few of those plus pine nuts, olive oil and salt. To make the pesto more versatile and to be considerate of pesto lovers in my circle who cannot have dairy, I did not add cheese. Cheese can always be added later. I then froze the pesto in ice cube trays and transferred the (ten) frozen cubes to Ziplock bags this morning to freeze for the longer term.

Thai Basil Pesto and Pickles

SabineLeave a Reply
4 cups of Thai basil

This weekend, I made a first (double) batch of Thai basil pesto. I also made my first refrigerator pickles of the summer.

Pesto time!

My cucumbers are doing exceptionally well this year. The pickles are based on this recipe, but I brought the brine to a boil first (and then let it cool down again) before adding it to the cucumbers.

Pickles – some with dill, some without

July Porch

SabineLeave a Reply
Iceland poppies

I am really enjoying my back porch this summer. (And yes, it badly needs a paint job.) I love having my tea there first thing in the morning, and a glass of wine or cool water at the end of the day, enjoying the sights and scents of the flowers and herbs.

Night porch

This year, I experimented with growing flowers that I had never grown in containers before.

Snapdragons

I had started snapdragons and Iceland poppies from seed back in February (snapdragons) and April (poppies). There is also a Poodle Skirt dahlia in the container with the snapdragons that is about to bloom. And, as always, I planted nasturtiums throughout.

Oregano

As usual, there are a lot of herbs: basil (three plants of Italian and two plants of Thai), parsley (three plants), thyme, oregano, lavender (two plants), mint and dill. One Thai pepper as well, but it seems to remain small. So, again, focusing on flowers and herbs for my summer porch seems to have been the right call. (In the spring, I grew lettuces and radishes in the large containers that now are home to the basil/thyme/Thai pepper and the poppies.)

Basil

More Harvesting – Garlic and First Zucchini

Sabine1 Reply
Russian Red hardneck garlic

This morning, I harvested my garlic. The total haul: 18 Russian Red hardnecks and 17 Transylvanian softnecks. On November 8, I had planted 16 hardnecks (some of them split resulting in 18 bulbs) and 18 softnecks (meaning I only lost one over the winter). They will now spend a day or two on the porch airing out before I brush off the dirt and hang them to dry and cure in my hallway for about three weeks.

Hardnecks on the top, smaller softnecks on the bottom
Nice size 🙂

I also harvested my first Cocozelle zucchini (zucchino?). Looking forward to grilling it and the two eggplants I harvested yesterday. After grilling, I will add a tiny bit more olive oil and sprinkle a little chopped mint on the zucchini and chopped basil on the eggplant. Served with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, prosciutto, crusty bread – perfect summer antipasti!

Garlic update (July 14): This morning, I cleaned the dirt off the garlic – careful to not take off any papery skin – and tied them in bundles of about 8 bulbs each. They now join the shallots in my airy back hallway to cure. It is fine if some dirt stays. It will all be removed after the garlic has been fully cured.

Eggplant

Sabine1 Reply

Today, I also harvested two Asian eggplants. This deserves a separate post and needs to be celebrated, as I have not had much luck with eggplants in my plot in the past. I did not grow this particular plant from seed but rather purchased it from Neighborhood Farms back in May. It did exceptionally well in my plot, and today, I harvested the first two eggplants.

Super happy eggplant