Hot weather brings big veggies!

July 6th - biggest harvest of the season

We had a major heat wave pass through the Morrison Victory Garden. The heat brought lots of growth to the plants and also helped produce extra large veggies.  Additionally, I had to break out my big wicker basket to hold the larger harvests. So far, our largest harvest of the 2013 summer season includes 5 zucchini, over a dozen summer squash, over a dozen cucumbers, 10 okra, and a basket full of green beans.

The cucumbers and the summer squash endured a major growth spurt during the heat wave. I have included a side by side comparison of each vegetable. The smallest veggie is the regular size and can help you estimate the size of the extra large veggies. I don't want you to think I left the veggies on the vine for weeks either. I pick veggies every three to four days. I think the combination of super soaking the veggies a few days ago and our 90 degree temperatures helped increase the size of these two veggies.

The tomatoes are doing very well. All three plants have filled the tomato supports and are holding dozens of green oblong tomatoes.

Crescent Moon eggplant

Purple Rain eggplant

Nadia eggplant

The eggplants and bitter melon are showing of a variety of colors and textures. By August, both plants will be filled with ripe veggies for soups, stirfrys, and BBQs.

Bitter Melon

The ears of corn are plump and are showcasing brown strands of silk. It won't be long now. Depending on the size of the kernels I might start picking corn within the next two weeks.

Even the sweet peppers are enjoying the heat. We are proud of our Big Daddy plant. This is the largest pepper to have dangled off of a branch in the MVG. WOW!

Big Daddy Pepper

Due to our large bi-weekly cucumber harvests, my mom canned dill pickles on 4th of July. Ten quart-size mason jars were sterilized, packed, and filled with yummy dill pickle goodness. I cannot wait to try them out next year. Yum!

canned dill pickles

The hot weather has subsided but we hope the warmth will return soon. We definitely like the increase in the size of the harvests and the size of the veggies.

Herb row (L-R): Sage, Oregano, and Rosemary

Let it rain CORN and BEANS!

The MVG is in full swing and the vertical gardening is proving to be well worth the time and energy to set up.  As you can see in the picture above there is lots of green leaves and plump veggies to harvest.  This week, in preparation for the annual Harvest BBQ, we had our bean and corn harvests!

The bean box has matured and is producing handfuls upon handfuls of long firm Burgundy beans.  These beans are great when eaten raw but also taste good when canned or used in casseroles.  I will be using all three types of beans, Burgundy, Blue Lake and Scarlet Emperor, to make a bean stir-fry for this year's Harvest BBQ.  Additionally, any beans not canned or eaten have been blanched and frozen.

Here is our bean breakdown for this season:

• 4 quarts blanched and frozen
• 2 pints of Bread and Butter beans

Our corn harvest occurred on a cool Wednesday morning.  The harvest went well but is very small when compared to our corn harvests in the past.  We reduced our number of corn rows and used the remaining years-old corn seed when planting this year's corn crop. This decrease in quantity and quality has brought forth a small corn harvest for the 2012 victory garden season.  Luckily we had a great harvest last year and have plenty in storage for the Harvest BBQ this year.  Elote! Horn Corn! Cheese Corn! Mayo Corn! It does not matter what you call the yummy corn dish but one this is for certain... corn, lime mayo, Cojita cheese and hot sauce will be on the 2012 Harvest BBQ menu.

Corn husked and ready to be blanched.

I decided to store only the corn kernels from this year's harvest.  Here is my step by step process for freezing corn kernels.

1. Blanch the ears of corn in boiling water for five minutes.
2. Immediately transfer the corn to a cold water bath to cool down.
3. Once the ears are cool, cut the corn kernels off and pack them in Ziploc freezer bags.

I was able to pack 5 quarts of corn.  It might not sound like much but to eat sweet corn in the dead of winter is sweet delight!

Pickling veggies... DILLicious!

dill is a great herb for canning

I love our bread and butter veggies from last season.  My mom and I snack on them throughout the day. I just take the jar from the pantry and place it into the fridge. A few hours later you have cold, crisp, and sweet zucchini and squash.  I have also eaten them as a side dish to a sandwich, a bowl of soup or a soy dog.  Either way canning veggies has brought lots of variety to my family's diet.

Zucchini is getting big...yikes!

We also make dill pickles and enjoy eating pickles by themselves or as a side dish to a meal.  Dill does not last long in my herb garden and often goes to seed by mid-summer.  I wanted to take advantage of the fresh dill while canning my first round of veggies.  I searched through my sacred text, Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, and found two recipes that produce canned vegetables with dill.

July 1, 2012 harvest

The first recipe explains how to make dill pickles.  I substituted cucumbers with the three vegetables I have on hand.  I like to keep my canning moving throughout the season and use only what the garden produces. Making dill veggies allowed me to use most of the dill from Herb Row and a variety of beans, zucchini and yellow squash from the garden beds.

Victory Garden 2011 - corn, cucumbers, and zucchini

The second recipe is titled Pickled Garden Vegetables.  The recipe asks for a large variety of veggies, such as carrots, onions, zucchini, squash, etc.  I only have beans, squash and zucchini and found this same combo worked great with the Bread and Butter Pickles recipe.  I used a variety of Burgundy, Blue Lake and Scarlet Emperor beans. The key to this recipe is to cook your dill with the liquid and add garlic.  This is very different from the dill pickles recipe, which does not include garlic. Additionally, when making dill pickles you place the dill in the jar with the cucumbers before adding the liquid. I welcomed the variety in cooking procedure and taste. I cannot wait to try my first batch of pickled garden vegetables... mmmm! I can still smell the dill and garlic boiling in vinegar, sugar and salt.

June 30, 2012  canned vegetables

In total, I canned three quarts of pickled garden vegetables and four quarts and 2 pints of dill vegetables. Yeah!

The first canning of the season has successfully added more food and variety to our pantry. My family has begun consuming the remaining jars of bread and butter, dill, and kosher pickles from 2009 and 2010. These yummy pickles will help fuel my efforts in trying new recipes while canning veggies and fruit this season.