The Vacation Garden

As I mentioned in the previous post, we drove to Arizona recently.  And back.  With a dog.  During harvest time.  With 80 pounds of Hatch chiles.

Probably the most stressful aspect was leaving the garden during harvest.  For a non-gardener, that might seem really silly, but for a gardener, it is perfectly understandable, or so I like to think.  However, I had back-up.  Our son lives not far away, is interested in gardening, doesn't have his own yet and was kind enough to tend mine.  Fortunately also, it rained a lot and was cool, so plant stress was low and ripening slowed a bit.

There was still plenty to harvest, as evidenced by the buckets, baskets and bowls of produce covering the kitchen floor.  So now it is on to cataloging the haul and preserving the harvest.



Tomatoes
     The rain made the slicing tomatoes more likely to split, so some of them spoiled on the vine and others are attracting fruit flies in the kitchen as we speak.  Still, some are absolutely perfect.  I will use some of them, the split ones especially, for sauce or salsa.  As for yield, I have no idea, but I could weigh them when we get them sorted.  Maybe it is enough to know there are a gracious plenty, though.

Tomatillos
     The Cisneros tomatillos that I grew from seed are producing well.  We have a big tub of them to make into salsa, or something.  The 4th generation volunteer tomatillos are behind by a few weeks, but have more flowers than I've ever seen!  We will have a bumper crop if it doesn't freeze too soon.  And everyone can have jars of salsa for Christmas!   Soon we will roast tomatillos for more salsa, but they can keep for a little bit more.

Peppers
     I've intended to talk about the peppers in a pepper-dedicated post.  For now, I'll just say that the harvest is certainly adequate for our salsa and fresh pepper needs with spare to share with friends.

Squash and Melons
     We gave a honeydew away before we left for Arizona and took a honeydew and a cantaloupe with us.  There were 2 cantaloupes ready when we returned and one more on the vine.  All told, we got 4 honeydew and 4 cantaloupes, although there are a couple of teenage honeydew and cantaloupes trying to suck nourishment out of the scrappy vines that remain. We'll see if they make it to adulthood.  The flavor was pretty good, but better after the melons sat for a few days. 
     The summer squash and zucchini were not a problem while we were gone, since I pulled up the zucchini and the squash had succumbed to powdery mildew before we left.
     The spaghetti squash vines fell prey to the mildew also, but left a bounteous legacy.  We have 13 harvested squash and 3 or 4 more on the vine.  I hope they keep well!

Raspberries
     Harvesting the raspberries was a major job.  They require picking pretty much every day and it isn't easy.  With all the rain we've had this summer, the mosquitoes are rampant and lie in wait near the berries.  There is a lot of picking with simultaneous swatting and swearing.  But the yield!   We have about 3 gallons in the freezer and have had plenty for eating fresh.  They are still going strong, too.  Each fall we lose a lot of immature berries to the first frost, but it seems like they set earlier this year so maybe most will be able to ripen.  Thanks to William for picking so diligently.  It's a shame to see them go to waste.

Beans
     The first planting of beans is still producing oodles of beans.  William picked for himself and his guinea pig, which loves beans and there are still plenty.  Maybe I will freeze some.  Or maybe give them away.

The prospect of preserving all this harvest is a little daunting, so it is probably best to not think about it too long.  Wish me luck and patience.