Month: October 2024

Pickled Green Tomatoes

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Just before adding the brine (vinegar, water, peppercorns, garlic, sugar, kosher salt)

Two days ago, I harvested many of the green tomatoes that were still on the vines in our new vegetable/flower bed outside the community garden as we had a light frost that night. They were all of a smallish variety (I think it was Mountain Magic), with the fruit being very uniform perfect little globes of about 1.5 inch in diameter. Last night I quick-pickled them and filled two jars. I always use this recipe but omit the turmeric and the dill. They keep in the fridge for a few months. I am looking forward to adding the pickles to sandwiches (sharp cheddar/apple/grainy mustard, pickled tomatoes is a great combo – yum!).

Late October Plot

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Plot today after harvesting the squash and removing tomato plants

Today, I started cleaning up the garden plot. It is (unseasonably) warm during the day but there will be frost tomorrow night. I took out the tomato plants and harvested all the butternut squash. Over the next week or so, I will get an area ready for planting my garlic. I still have chard, kale, radishes, beets, fall greens, leeks, carrots and flowers growing.

Swiss Chard
Calendula
Fall greens
Radishes

Ginger

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This year, I experimented with growing ginger in a container. I started in February with a piece of store-bought organic ginger that I misted with water for about a month to encourage formation of growth buds. Then, on March 12, I planted it in a pot, very shallow, with the roots exposed.

Ginger today just before the harvest
March 12

I let it grow indoors for a couple of months until temperatures were warm enough to bring the container outside.

May 14 (ginger in center in the back)
October 17
October 17

Today, I harvested the ginger. The pot I used had a smallish diameter, and I did not get as much ginger as I had hoped. The new ginger is so juicy and fragrant! I am very excited to use it. Next year, I will grow ginger again, but in a wide shallow planter.

Harvest (notice the strong fibrous roots)
A piece of ginger with old growth on the left and new growth on the right

I saved a small piece with several growth buds (and two stems) and replanted it in the same container. I plan to overwinter it in my back hallway.

Overwintering ginger