Latest Harvest

A few pictures of the latest harvest from the garden.  The tomatoes are starting to come in.  I don’t think we’re going to get as many as I hoped but I do think that we’ll have a nice batch. With the recent lack of rain, I need to get out and water the garden tonight.

There are also a few tomatoes that will ripen nicely this week.

Future Harvest

Here are some pictures of the future harvest. Tomatoes, peppers, and a mystery squash or maybe watermellon?

Hummingbird Moth

This weekend, while in the garden I saw a bug/bird that appeared quite alien to me.  Turns out, it was a Hummingbird Moth.  Apparently I’m not the only person to be confused by their appearance.

Hummingbird Moth

Saturdays in Saxapahaw

Yesterday, we went to our first Saturdays in Saxapahaw. It’s an interesting idea; combine the Saturday farmer’s market with some live music, food, and stuff for kids to do. Instead of holding the farmer’s market on a Saturday morning, it all goes on in the early evening from 5pm to 8pm. We decided to check it out and had a lot of fun.

There are a handful of farmers selling local produce, a few other merchants, a truck from the BBQ Joint in Chapel Hill, and a small stage where local musicians play catchy tunes with lyrics aimed at kids.  While our son is still a little young to take advantage of the water slide or the puppet parade, he did enjoy watching the people, eating my wife’s catfish sandwich, and playing with the bubbles.

I suspect we’ll go again, next time armed with a few more supplies and a picnic basket.

The only drawback is that those cultist Hoopers from Carrboro showed up and blocked walkways with their idiotic and over-priced hula hoops.

Garden Update

Just a few pictures of how things are proceeding in the garden.  If the plants are any indication, we’re going to have more zucchini than we know what to do with.  Otherwise, per my previous post, the tomatoes are mixed so far.  Some plants look good while others are struggling. The herbs in both the garden and front beds look great.

Mysterious Tomato Deaths

So last year most of my tomato crop died out. Looking back I think it was a combination of disease and lack of care (mostly due to the birth of my son). So this year, with renewed enthusiasm for the garden I planted a number of different varieties of heirloom plants I obtained through Seed Savers. I’ve been watering (but not too much) and feeding the plants with compost and compost tea.

Well, two plants have already wilted away and died.  Another three are on the verge of dying. The thing that confounds me the most is that the cheapo hybrid plants that I purchased as either a big box store or Southern States (which is really great) are bushy, yielding fruit, and a lush green.

A few lessons I think I’ve learned…

1. Hybrid plants seem better suited to fight blight or less than optimum soil conditions
2. Pull plants early if you think there is disease
3. Plant early enough to ensure time to buy replacement plants that will yield

Overall, I think the pepper plants I purchased from Seed Savers are going to be winners while my soil conditions may not be ideal for picky plants.

2009 Farm to Fork Picnic

I came across the Farm to Fork Picnic today and thought the idea looked pretty neat.  Essentially a good number of local restaurants and farms have gotten together to promote each other and local food.  While it’s a bit pricey, it looks like a lot of fun.  I’m hoping they put up a menu on their website in the next few days.

Early Harvest

I don’t have any pictures of it, but last night’s dinner consisted of a few things from our garden. Shannon posted the recipe on her cooking blog.

Local Yogurt

While this is technically my gardening blog, from time to time I’ll write about good food too.  Earlier this week I read about Local Yogurt over on the Carpe Durham blog. We were in the same shopping center this weekend at the Wine Authorities and tried it out.  It was a tasty treat on a hot day and yet another positive food establishment in Durham.  Now if only someone would fix the myriad of problems at City Beverage.

Great Gardening Article

I’ve recently staked my tomato plants and plan to get a few pictures of the garden up.  In the meantime, I read a great article from this Thursday’s Home section of the New York Times about growing tomato and pepper plants in the garden.  Titled, A Salsa Garden With Everything but Nachos, it covers some basics on growing the standard ingredients of salsa and offers a few websites that might be handy for next year (for ordering plants and preparing the soil):

• Natural Gardening Company (707-766-9303)
• Burpee (800-333-5808)
• University of Massachusetts lab (413-545-2311)