August Harvest

The sun is out and the temperatures are heating up. The MVG is loving the warmth and producing lots of veggies this month.

We have baskets of tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumber, eggplants, bitter melon and hot peppers. We cannot eat them fast enough so most of the veggies are cleaned, chopped, and frozen in Ziploc bags. 

To date, we have 6 quart bags of frozen sweet peppers and eggplant. We also froze a gallon and a quart of bitter melon too. 

The tomatoes are in full bloom. The meat is super sweet and taste great in salads. We only have three tomato plants this year so we might not have enough to freeze for winter. Right now we are eating them faster than we can save them.

RIC - The Okra's reign in the MVG has come to an end. This was the first time we have grown Okra and we loved watching the flowers bloom and each Okra grow into maturity. I have pulled up all of the Okra plants. The stalks are drying out in preparation for chopping and inclusion in the compost pile. Rest in compost Okra.

Purple, white, black, green, and red...the eggplants and peppers have arrived!

MVG August 7, 2013

The summer is cooling down and the corn stalks are drying out. The green beans and squash plants have been uprooted and tossed into the compost. BUT... the eggplants and peppers have arrived.

eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and one tomato

The eggplants are in full bloom and producing lots of black, purple, and white oblong shaped fruit. There are still lots of flowers on the plants too. Hopefully these flowers will push out a few more eggplants before the summer season ends.

Yatsuifusa peppers

The hot and sweet pepper plants are also showcasing green and red fruit. The Yatsuifusa and Thai Chili peppers are producing handfuls of red peppers each day. There will be lots of spicy dishes in our near future. Any hot peppers that are not used immediately will be frozen in Ziploc freezer bags for later use.

jalapeno peppers

The only hot pepper plant that is still maturing is the habanero plant. The habanero peppers are still green and will need a little more time to mature into a golden orange hue. However, the jalapeno peppers are doing great. The plant produced over a dozen jalapeno peppers so far and still has lots of smaller orbs maturing for future harvests. These green peppers will be excellent in salsa and soups.

chicken soup with MVG veggies

Speaking of soups, my family is putting the MVG veggies to good use when making chicken soup. The most recent batch of chicken soup features summer squash, green bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, and okra. With the exception of the chicken, chicken broth, noodles, and long green onions, my family tosses in any and all types of the veggies grown in the MVG. This means that every pot of chicken soup is different which can cause more stimulation on the taste buds. I personally do not eat the chicken soup but my family sure does love it.

zucchini and summer squash bread

I have been making a variety of zucchini and summer squash bread. I used the standard zucchini bread recipe I found in my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook 15th edition but only use half the amount of sugar. This helps tone down the sweetness. I made a total of three dozen muffins, 6 large loafs, and 8 small loafs of bread. I froze most of the bread to ensure they would last the winter.

zucchini and summer squash

RIC - The Tabasco and Chile D'Arbol hot pepper plants have joined the compost pile. Both plants did not produce a single flower this season. Sometimes a plant just can't make it regardless of how much water, fertilizer, and care you give it. Rest in compost hot pepper plants.

bouquet of oregano and sage

2013 Corn Harvest

... if you plant it, they will come.  The corn has arrived! This year, I filled up our garden cart with a load of sweet corn from the MVG. The warm start to the summer helped our four rows of corn produce large plump ears of corn.

Morrison Victory Garden July 19, 2013

My family and I will blanch and freeze the ears of corn. This is the easiest way to store the yummy kernels for the winter. Last year, we documented our corn freezing process and it proved to be very efficient for our winter culinary needs.

The cucumbers are still growing strong. We have canned an additional 3 quarts of dill pickles and added 3 quarts of kosher pickles to our pantry.

Fairytale eggplant

Nadia eggplant

The eggplants will soon be joining our weekly harvests. The Fairytale and Nadia eggplants are looking very large and plump. I cannot wait to grill these yummy vegetables on the BBQ.

Big Daddy sweet pepper

cherry stuffer sweet peppers

Our hot peppers are beginning to show colors and shapes. The Habanero peppers are peeking out and the Thai dragon peppers are transitioning from green to red.

Habanero pepper

Thai Dragon peppers

RIC - The green beans have come joined the compost pile. The bush beans were no longer producing flowers and veggies. We have a total of 7 quarts of blanched green beans in the freezer. Rest in compost yummy bush bean plants. We will see you again in 2014.

Okra flower

Summer 2013 First Harvest

The MVG is giving birth to a variety of vegetables! Woo hoo! I picked our first harvest of the season yesterday. The harvest consisted of 3 cucumbers, 5 zucchini, and 4 squash. 

The rest of the garden is in full bloom.  We have lots of veggies dangling from branches and will soon be filling our bellies with yummy goodness.

bell peppers

summer squash

tomatoes

plums

The rest of the plants are blooming with color. The eggplants are showcasing purple flowers while the green beans are pushing out little white petals.

I hope to see many more veggies in my harvesting baskets within the next month. I cannot wait to start canning and cooking new recipes.

Fuyu surrounded by green beans