





(served topped with feta over rice) – Aug 25









Not pictured: countless Caprese sandwiches, creamy cucumber salad (with sour cream dressing), Swiss chard frittata.

Not pictured: countless Caprese sandwiches, creamy cucumber salad (with sour cream dressing), Swiss chard frittata.
I roasted two sheets of tomatoes today. 250F convection oven (on bake) for 30 minutes. They were grape to cocktail size, and that was the right amount of time. I used them to top a tomato tart I made for dinner. So yummy!
I took advantage of the cooler temperatures yesterday morning and spent two hours weeding my garden plot. My cucumbers are on their way out. They have started to wilt, I think I might have over-watered them. The green beans never made it. The seedlings are eaten by something/someone right after they emerge from the ground – I suspect the resident rabbit. The parsley died again. Like last year, the leaves turned reddish and pale and the plant basically disappeared. I ripped it out. I did some research and found that it might be due to a phosphorus deficiency. I will have to seriously amend my soil this fall. The greens are doing very well and the squash is looking good as well. The eggplants are growing nicely and the tomatoes and basil are also doing well. The first dahlias will bloom very soon – I am super excited. Soon I will put in fall greens and beets.
… and today’s harvest:
Yesterday’s harvest: five cucumbers, Swiss chard and basil. I had harvested two cucumbers a couple of days earlier, so I used some of them up in last night’s dinner: I made a big Greek salad and served it alongside Mediterranean steak tips (marinated with fresh herbs from the back porch) with yogurt sauce, roasted garlicky eggplant, tahini sauce and rice. That still leaves four cucumbers 🙂
Things are happening fast now in the garden. We had some good rain a few days ago and it has been pretty hot. Everything is growing well. The squash has been taking off:
I also harvested the first Chiogga beets. So pretty! We had them shaved with salad for dinner tonight. Delicious.
I did some more planting yesterday. In the plot, I planted chard seedlings, two types of squash (butternut and delicata), a hot pepper, a zucchini and three cucumber plants. All of them were grown from seed. I also harvested some lettuce from the back porch and replanted that container with chard seedlings.
Still no water in the garden. So, currently I have radishes, carrots, lettuce, beets and parsley growing in the plot. The seedlings are strong and ready to go in the ground, but I will wait a few more days hoping that we will get water soon.
I replanted two tomatoes, one hot pepper, eggplant, parsley and basil plant each on the back porch. There are also two lettuces in medium-size pots and a variety of herbs. The front porch has dwarf peas, lettuce and kale as well as mint, chives and cilantro grown from seed.
First harvest of 2020: baby greens (arugula, lettuce and kale) plus cilantro from my back porch container garden. I used it to top a fried egg-sandwich made with chili-garlic mayo on homemade sourdough bread. Yum!