Monday, October 29, 2012

Harvest Monday 10/29/12

This edition of harvest monday is last for the tomatoes. Last Saturday morning we got our killing frost. A couple weeks ago the cherry tomatoes got frosted enough to drop everything, but the big tomatoes were still hanging in. No more.
The last Cherokee Purples, still so good.

We had great luck with the San Marzano paste tomatoes this year. I turned this bunch into some more sauce for freezing. The cherry tomatoes sweeten the sauce and they make a nice combination.

Still a few green tomatoes left. If I baby them we might have a few around for Thanksgiving. 

Other than tomatoes, the fall garden is pretty pathetic. For whatever reason my fall lettuce didn't germinate. We have some kale, broccolini, and carrots left to pull. The garlic I planted a few weeks ago is up and it looks like every one of the cloves is going strong. I have never had garlic above the ground in the fall and will have to see how it affects the bulb size next spring.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Harvest Monday - 10/8/12

The garden update for this harvest Monday is more of a revisit. I picked the garlic in early July and hung to cure. This weekend I processed and planted one bed's worth of garlic. I ended up planting 60 cloves which was way less than last year, but as you can see, we have more than enough. I probably spent $30 on garlic last year so it is nice to not have to buy any this year. The rest of the garden is still going strong. The tomatoes got a little cold over the weekend. I checked this morning and they should be OK except for a few tops. This week will be much warmer and I think we will still be getting tomatoes until mid-October.

I also harvested bee cocoons. Last winter I got some mason bees. They aren't hive forming and pretty docile. They lay eggs in cardboard tubes I put out near the garden. I put 8 cocoons out last spring and ended up with three filled tubes. They are packed with mud and look like this. 

You peel back the cardboard to find a bunch of cocoons. The bees lay eggs in cells and then pack it full of pollen. The larva grow all summer before spinning their sink case for the winter. 

Then the collected cocoons go into the refrigerator. This way I can control when they get placed outside in the spring in case it gets warm too early. I ended up getting 20 or so viable cocoons. 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Roe Circle Country Club Concert Series Night 2

Last Friday night the Wingtips played the back patio. As usual, Brett and Neil put on a great show.

We were treated to some guitar, base, fiddle, standing base, and banjo.

There was plenty of Oktoberfest to go around and everyone had a good time.