The Flowers of our Labors

It has been a HOT May in Middle Georgia, which is awesome for our heat-loving plants. What is not awesome is the horrible lack of rain - we haven't had one drop in over 3 weeks. We've tried our best to conserve water (and our utilities bill) by extending time between waterings. The compost, mulch, and leaves serve double duty by holding moisture in the soil and feeding the plants.

So far, it's been too hot (or I've been too lazy) to do any "official" fertilizing, pest or weed control. But I have been using some DIY mixtures which seem to do the trick for the most part.

For weed control:
1 part white vinegar to 1 part water. Shake it up in a spray bottle. Be careful you're only spraying weeds - it WILL kill your flowers and veggies. This works wonders!

For bug control:
1 tsp. dish washing liquid soap to 2 quarts water. Shake up in a spray bottle and spray both the top and underneath sides of the plant leaves. It works well for tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, but test on one leaf for more delicate plants. I recommend using this in the evening - it can scorch on leaves if it dries in direct sunlight.

For fertilizer:
1/2 Tb. Epsom salt to 2 quarts water. Shake up in a spray bottle or mix together in watering can. Pour at the base of young tomato plants. Spray on blooms of tomatoes and peppers.

With these simple management techniques, we have a heck of a garden this year!
Eggplant

Tomato (these are the ones I started from seed!)

Little Tomatoes

Big Tomato

Cayenne Pepper

Cucumber

Pole Beans

Zinnias (finally about to bloom!)

Spring Garden

Here are some recent photos from our yard:

Pretty Peas





Trying something new this year: pole beans on bamboo poles and cucumbers on trellises
Companion plants: marigolds and zinnias


Azaleas (which I've never lifted a finger with these...I guess we're blessed)

Garden Update

It may have taken a few months, but we now have our first peas!


Despite a few nights of cold temperatures (though it didn't frost in our backyard), we continue to have chilies (which I keep adding to my riesta), tomatoes, and blooms on our eggplants.











Perhaps one of the greatest benefits to gardening in Middle Georgia is this crazy-long growing season. Now that it's cooler, the plants seems happier and there is virtually no bug problem. Happy plants = happy gardener!

The Great Fall Tomato Harvest

Dear God of the garden,

We thank Thee for Thy mercy and protection during the first, second, and third frosts of the year. We exalt Thee for Thy provision of a bountiful harvest of tomatoes. Glory to God in the highest, Amen.



They may not be the prettiest tomatoes in the world, but you wouldn't be too pretty either if you survived three frosts, three nights in a row with nothing to protect you but a flannel sheet. As posted last week, we're also harvesting the larger green tomatoes. But these red(ish), ripe tomatoes I set my mind to tendering them to fruition. Patience pays.

In honor of our tomato bounty, I thought I'd share a recipe. This recipe was inspired by a recipe sent to me by a (vegan) college friend. She recently enjoyed vegan biscuits and gravy at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.

Kate's Tomato Gravy
2 T. Olive Oil
2 T. Flour
1 small onion, diced
1 c. green tomatoes, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c. almond milk
1 t. lemon juice
Smoked paprika to taste (about 1 t.)
Tabasco sauce to taste (about 1 t.)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and green tomatoes; sautee until soft. Add flour and stir until a thick paste forms (also called a roux). Gradually whisk in almond milk. Gradually whisk in the canned tomatoes (plus liquid) and lemon juice. The mixture should be the consistency of thick gravy. If too thick, gently whisk in more almond milk. Stir in paprika, tabasco, salt, and pepper. Adjust according to personal preference. Serve with biscuits.

Garden Update

Nothing much came of the carrot and beet seeds I planted, but the greens (turnip, mustard, kale) seemed to do well despite hot temperatures early this fall. Now that it's cooling down, I'd expect the garden to start dying off. On the contrary! The two tomato plants that didn't produce anything all summer long are finally producing tomatoes. And in abundance, I might add! In anticipation of the coming first frost, Marcus harvested some green tomatoes (pictured below).

The pepper plants seem to not know when to stop producing also! We finally harvested some habanero peppers (pictured below), though we're not quite sure what to do with them.

Our eggplant plants are flowering again, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get more eggplant this fall. I have a feeling in the next few days we'll be covering plants like crazy, including our more delicate herbs.

Garden Update

I realized I haven't posted in a while about the garden. Fortunately, unlike the rest of my life, the garden has gotten out of control! I kindly refer to the eggplant, okra, and basil as trees and to the tomatillo as "the big green monster." Since my husband has been away, I honestly have not applied a single fertilizer, insecticide, or herbicide. Surprisingly enough, the plants keep on growing. (I do weed and prune from time to time - go me!)

Our tomatoes are done for the season, but our eggplant, okra, tomatillos and peppers continue to produce. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what to do with all of them, so I've started dabbling with canning. So far I've pickled okra and jalepenos, and I'll find out in a few weeks how they actually taste! If they're decent, I'll share the recipe. If they're a complete failure, I'll pretend like it didn't happen.

Fall/winter veggies I started from seed seem to be doing okay. I think it's been way too hot for some of the seeds, especially peas and carrots. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll start harvesting greens and pole beans. Here are some recent photos:

Last week in Veganville

This past week in Veganville was pretty boring. We have an overabundance of tomatoes coming out of our garden right now, so I've been trying to come up with different ways to use them. I made pasta sauce, I made chilli, I made salsa, and I ate them raw. But this past week I had jury duty for 3 days and went in a different direction with the tomatoes - mostly out of convenience, and party out of craving.

When I lived overseas, my Chinese friends would make this dish that consisted of tomatoes and eggs. They would sautee the tomatoes and then crack eggs into the pan so the eggs kind of poached and scrambled at the same time in the stew-y tomatoes. It was Yummy, with a capital "Y".

Since I'm not eating eggs, I pondered how I could recreate this dish. Duh - Tofu! This week, I ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I ate it with toast, I ate it with chapati (Indian bread), I ate it with homemade oven fries. I'm even craving it as I write this.

Tomatoes and Tofu
1 block firm tofu
2-3 medium tomatoes, cut into 8ths or 16ths (depending on the size of the tomatoes)
1 tsp. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 tsp. garlic powder (you could also substitute fresh minced garlic)
1/2 tsp. ginger
salt (Kosher) and pepper to taste

Heat EVOO in a sautee pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes; sautee until stewed-looking. Add the tofu, breaking into small crumbles as you mix in. Add garlic powder, ginger, salt, and pepper. Sautee until tofu is hot.

This takes about 10-15 minutes total to throw together. It's super easy, super healthy, and super filling. I hope you enjoy!

Like Two Peas in a Pot

Sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around the extremely long growing season here in Middle Georgia. Last weekend, I started planting for fall/winter veggies. I had two large planters and two trellises left over from our wedding that I was finally able to put to good use. In one, I planted English peas, in the other, pole beans. After only a few days, I have germinating seeds! I haven't been this excited about germinating seeds since my 8th grade science fair project! (Which, by the way, was about how bacteria affects seed germination). Here are some photos of this little gardening project:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have veggies!

Though not yet ripe enough to harvest, we're getting close on a few plants. We are SO excited! We've already begun using herbs from our more prolific plants - basil, cilantro, thyme, and mint - and are probably at a point where we can start making salads from our lettuce plants. Yay! Here are some recent pictures from my camera (I'll add more pictures from Marcus' camera soon).















The first of the Roma tomatoes.














The "Big Hoss" (my nickname for it, not the official name)















Lovely squash/zucchini blooms














Attack of the Lace Bugs! Poor cabbage!














Hooray for eggplant!














Lovely lettuce.

More pictures to come! Our praying mantis have hatched!

Vegetable Garden

The day we first looked at our house this past November, we both agreed that the back corner of the yard would be a perfect place for a vegetable garden. And wouldn't you know it, five months later we have a lovely little plot.

Back in March, Marcus marked off the plot. In early April, we bought a heavy-duty tiller and tilled the plot. About a week after that, Marcus and a friend picked up compost and manure and tilled it into the soil. Shorty thereafter, we planted 10 tomatoes, 2 tomatillos, 10 yellow squash, 10 zuchini, 10 okra, 10 cucumbers, 4 eggplant, 2 lettuce, 2 cabbage, 2 hubbard squash, 2 cantelope, and 10 peppers. Already, most plants are flourishing although some are struggling (cantelope and okra). This project isn't a 100% DIY, but folks have been asking about our garden. Here are a few pictures:














The plot on a sunny day.














The garden on a misty May morning.



















The first little tomato!














Flowering tomatillos and tomatoes.














Flowering eggplant.



















The first of the peppers!



















Oh right, we have an herb garden too!