Not only are our tomatoes going great guns so I can bring in baskets full every day, but the peppers are starting to ripen. I’m not canning tomato recipes yet so I’m grinding and freezing the “extra” peppers so I can add them to various recipes later in the season. Our Seneca Sunrise sweet corn is starting to dry down nicely (with no birds this year … so far) and the hybrid sweet corn I plant so I’m not tempted to not eat it but save it for seed, is getting ripe. Will and I had some two nights ago and were so glad to have fresh corn to munch on. (It’s not as sweet as Seneca Sunrise, but sure much better than store corn.) Will picked a big bunch of wild plums, so I’m busy taking out pits and getting ready to make a big batch of plum jam. Yum!
Today the sun’s out and Will’s busy raking and baling one of our last big fields of hay. We’ll both be glad to see the haying finished. We may even get some second crop this year, which is really unusual here. The bountiful rains are the reason it grew back so fast.
My Dragon Tongue beans are ready for the first picking, and I haven’t even dared to look at the Providers, which probably have set many more beans on their plants. Dragon Tongues are one of our favorite tasting yellow beans. I planted some, years ago, then forgot what they were. I canned up a bunch and we loved the flavor, but I couldn’t remember what they were! It took about five years and a lot of trial before I again planted them and was so happy to have found them again. They’re a pretty bean too; kind of long and flat, light green with purple stripes. When you can or cook them, they fade to a yellow. I make lots of mustard bean pickles with them that we really enjoy during the winter months and at holiday meals.
Well, gotta hit the garden so I’ll see you all later! — Jackie
Do the plum seeds usually grow? I bought two packages last year, put them in moist potting soil in the fridge for the winter and planted them in pots this spring. Not a single one germinated and I babied them a long time. Did I do something wrong? We had those plums in California and I would love to grow them again here (Texas).
Do I understand that you sell seed for plum trees. Do they have to be grafted on to any other tree?
Maggie
It’s harvest time here too! Tomatoes in scores, and I have made several batches of sauce. Canned them and set away. My beans are crazy. I have to get out and pick tomorrow. But I might not til Tuesday. I have to go cut more hay in the morning, as we cut 80 some acres today. Almost done. Only like 200 acres left. Just ready for it to be over. I was just tickled pink tonight when I picked a green romaine lettuce I grew from seed I bought from you. It is so sweet and crisp. I was in heaven, and we picked cucumbers, some tomatoes, a few carrots, and even two onions for salads for dinner. I am just in awe at the lettuce. It did so well, which I was not expecting! I feel like we have finally gotten something right!
Let me tell you, the squash- especially the Hopi pale and N. Georgia Roaster are INSANE. I have so many, and they are getting huge! Do I pick them now so they stop? One Hopi pale is probably 40-50 lbs. it’s massive and just won’t stop growing. I am so glad it’s gonna be a beautiful harvest and that I can share. But wow! I wasn’t expecting this outcome!
Congratulations on your bounty!!! I wouldn’t pick the Hopi’s yet. Let the vines suffer a light frost. When the stems get corky, then it’s an indication they’re fully mature. Then let them sit for a month before eating. That lets the starch convert to sugar and they’ll be much more flavorful and sweeter. This goes with any winter squash.
Oh good. Glad to have asked because I sure wasn’t sure how to deal with the mothers. I grew some on cattle panels in an arch, and we love seeing the hanging fruit. It’s a fun thing for sure!
Those peppers are so gorgeous! And canned beans are my favorite! It would be fun to try the yellow ones.
Do you grow you early red peppers in the green house to get them to ripen up?
No. They’re Early Red Bells and they’ll go red all on their own, outside.
Jackie, I want to try wild plums as well. Do you sell the seed? I hope Javid is doing well.
Having those wild plums on our property when we lived in MN was great. I want to plant some here in Oregon too. Loved the jams I used to make.
Yes, we do sell seeds. I make jam from the plums and wash and dry the pits for others.
What a beautiful garden So blessed to have a plum tree! We can’t have any fruit trees because the bears usually strip them overnight!
We’re lucky; sometimes the bears get the wild plums but often, we beat them. Our orchard is fenced and if they ever bother the fence, we’ll electrify it.
You are so lucky to have plums. Our tree died several years ago.
Your peppers look great and nice and yummy. How are your knees and Javid?
We are! We’ve had trees die too, but we just plant more. We believe in the adage, “Plant until you’re planted!”. The knees are so-so but Javid is doing well.
I haven’t had wild plums in 50 years. Do you think they could grow alright in zone 5? If so, I’d like to buy some pits. It’d be nice to get some trees started, anyway, and someone could enjoy them years from now.
Glad your knee(s) are cooperating again.
Any new news on Javid yet?
My aunt had a plum tree here in zone 5. It produced prolific amounts of plums. I have no idea what variety of plum (I was in elementary school at the time).
Mulberry trees, love them or hate them, grow well in zone 5. Ah the days of youth and gorging on them (which is probably why I’ve not eaten any in my adult life lol).
Yes, wild plums will grow in Zone 5 with no problems. They do mature quite quickly so you may get plenty in the future.
The knees are behaving if I wrap and am careful.
Javid is doing well but has to be in rehab for another month before going home.
Beautiful peppers! I slice my peppers (green and red ones), freeze them on a tray, and then bag them up and use my Food Saver for the final freeze. They go me all winter so I do not have to buy peppers until late in the spring/early summer.
Sounds perfect. I do freeze some peppers and dehydrate quarts of them to add in various recipes. Yum!
Oh plums. Used to make plum jelly which I really like but unfortunately a couple of years ago I lost one tree and the other is not looking too good.
Being a bit south of you, my plums were ripe in June.
kathy in MS
We really love our plums! I especially love eating them right off the tree with juice running down my chin.
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