Well, the plum tree is now bare of leaves and the 10-day weather forecast also calls for 9 days of rain. I think that means it's finally over. I pulled up the tomato and remaining pepper plants today. I harvested all the tomatoes that were left (and one lone bell pepper). Most of them were green.
These guys all show signs of ripening inside.
These guys are all immature and should be used green. Recently Homesick Texan posted a recipe for pickled green tomatoes that look kind of delicious. I do love pickles. There is always fried green tomatoes too. I've actually never had them before. Maybe now is the time.
Now that I have pulled up the tomatoes and harvested the rest of the fall radishes it's just the winter veggies left in the garden (By the way, I have three sandwich bags of radishes and I don't know what to do with them. I was hooked on that radish pasta last Spring, but Mike is off grains right now. Any ideas?).
As I said before, the winter crops aren't doing so well. What we do have that is promising to get us through the winter is:
Kale: Three plants are doing really well. They got a head start before whatever little bug or worm came that is eating the rest of my starts.
Red Cabbage: There are a few starts that keep getting bigger and are showing promise of making it. Cross your fingers.
Onions: We still have oodles of green onions out there ready to pick at a moment's notice.
Carrots: There are still a couple rows of carrots ready to eat right now. They are supposed to keep in the ground just fine, so we can use them as we will throughout the winter.
Broccoli: Maybe, just maybe I have one broccoli that will make it. It's a few inches tall and hasn't been eaten yet. But with only one to rely on, I'm not holding my breath.
Swiss Chard: We still have three rows of chard that are growing and holding well.
Arugula: I impulse bought arugula and I have two rows going. I'm glad I did because most of my spinach didn't sprout, and the ones that did aren't growing. Did you know in the UK they call arugula rocket? Cute.
I put all my green tomatoes in a cardboard box (there were a LOT) and I was really surprised how many ripened. Probably about half of them so far.
ReplyDeleteI also haven't had a ton of luck with the fall garden, I think it's because it took the bunnies most of the summer to figure out that our yard = lunch.