200 lbs

Today I broke 200 lbs...exactly 2 weeks after harvesting 100 lbs of produce. I have to say that the majority of the harvest have been tomatoes, especially after losing the zucchini and cucumbers to the otherside.

I harvested the remainder of the onions yesterday evening and once cured, I will weigh those to see how well they did. I don't think I will grow Copra onions again. They are only slightly larger than a golf ball. But I do want a good yellow storage onion so the hunt begins for a better Copra. I am loving the Walla Walla onions and will definitely be planting those again.

I checked on the watermelon today and it looks like I can start harvesting them towards the end of the week. Finally. The craziness of farming is that all 7 watermelon will be ready about the same time. Guess I won't need any watermelon any time soon. I hope that the weather cooperates and the plants start producing more flowers so I can get some watermelon in mid-end of September. Fingers-crossed.

Swimming...No, Drowning in Tomatoes

Perhaps I planted too many tomato plants.  Perhaps.  

Over the last 3 weeks, I have harvested over 150 lbs of tomatoes.  So far, I have made:

1. Salsa 
2. Brushetta
3. Marinara sauce
4. Pasta sauce with meat 
5. Pasta sauce (veggie)
6. Lasagna
7. Caprese salad
8. Tomato ricotta tart
9. Homemade ketchup
10. Homemade BBQ sauce (sweet and savory)
11. Grilled cheese with tomato on rye
12. Garden salad
13. Margherita Pizza
14. Sun-dried tomatoes
15. Tomato and mayo sandwiches with feta cheese and sweet onions
16. BLTs

I have also given away a fair share of tomatoes to friends, neighbors, and co-workers.  Some people have commented that I should set up a "farm" stand and sell my produce.  After seeing the price of tomatoes at the grocery store today ($2.49/lb), I should seriously consider doing this to support my farming habit...ahem, supplement my income.

Interim Report

Since we are keeping track, let's see where we are mid-season...

• Squash Vine Borers - 2
• Cucumber beetles (stripped and spotted) - 10
• Squash Bugs - 0
• "Violent" thunder storm - 1
• Blossom End Rot - 20
• Rabbits - 8
• Slugs - 0
• Me?

Haha...I broke 100 lbs today! That is right. My garden has produced over 100 lbs of produce as of today (103.1 lbs to be exact). That is not including lettuce, herbs, garlic bulbs, onions harvested for fresh use or any vegetable lost due to disease, pest damage, or rot. 

The Onion You Can Eat Like an Apple

Walla Walla Onions

Success! Walla Walla onions are ready to harvest. The onions ranged from baseball to softball size and are perfect specimens.  

Walla Walla onions are sweet onions with paper-thin skins that will not make you teary-eyed when you slice into them.  Unfortunately, Walla Walla onions will not store very well and must be used within about 6 weeks of harvest (when stored in the refrigerator).  

Due to this short storage time, I am harvesting only what I can use within a week's time span. I wonder how long I can post-pone the harvest of all these tasty onions.

Blossom End Rot

A visit to the garden today revealed a number of tomatoes with Blossom End Rot - sunken leathery/rotten patches on the bottom of the fruit (the blossom end). I am not too concerned as it does not spread to other fruits on the same or different plants.

Blossom End Rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. It is likely due to the extremely high temperatures and the lack of rain we have been experiencing the last couple of weeks. To help combat this problem, I removed the affected fruits and watered the garden with a little Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (15-30-15). This week's 80 degree temperatures should give all the plants in the garden some time to recover. Now, time to do a rain dance.  

Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes
(pepper with sunburn)

Spaghetti Squash UPDATE

Squash Vine Borer (enjoying his last meal) 

Squash Vine Borer

A little surgical extraction on the spaghetti squash revealed the culprit that caused the demise of the spaghetti squash - a single squash vine borer larva. I have read about the squash vine borer but I believe this is the first time I have encountered this little bugger. As you can see in these pictures, the larva feeds through the center of the stem - killing the plant by cutting off its water supply. The orangish-colored "sawdust" looking material just below the larva is called Frass...essentially, larva poop. A new word for you to use the next time you play Words with Friends or Scrabble.

Spaghetti Squash

I am not the biggest fan of spaghetti squash but my clean eating mother-in-law gave me a seedling to transplant in the garden during her visit in May. Surprisingly, the seedling survived being packed in a suitcase, an hour flight from NY to MD, and a one and a half hour car ride before being safely transplanted into growing medium before being transplanted out into the garden. But not everything that starts well, ends well.

Full production

Today's bounty
Cherry tomatoes, Big Boy tomato, Big Rainbow tomato (Back left to right)
Zucchini, Bush Green Beans, Pickling Cucumbers (Middle left to right)
Roma tomatoes (Front middle)

Yay! My garden is in full production! To date, I have harvest over 22 lbs of produce (not including lettuce, herbs, onions that were not dried, or garlic bulbs - or any vegetable lost due to disease, pest damage, or rot). I can no longer go out to the garden with just my bare hands to harvest the day's fruits. Today I had to bring out the small harvesting bucket to help carry everything back to the house.