The Return of the Little Green Worms and Other Stuff

$#@!%&*!! Those nasty little boogers have returned, and while my son and I were successful at picking them off the broccoli before they did much damage, we weren't so on top of it with the Brussels Sprouts I was so excited to be growing. I'm afraid my winter crop is a total loss. I pulled out all the plants because the leaves had been chowed down to nubs. They looked so sickly and horrible. So...how do I prevent this from happening next year? I don't know, I'm going to have to read up on these little pests over the winter. Simply picking them off regularly and killing them seems to be the only organic solution I know of, but perhaps there's another way. Oh well.....live and learn. That's what this is all about.

My fall green beans and peas are doing really well. The beans already have blossoms, and the pole bean plants are probably 6 feet tall. Hopefully that will be a good crop.

We had a couple of lovely days of steady, gentle rain, which was so good for everything, and now we've come into wonderful Indian Summer weather...cool at night and warm all day. Good harvesting weather and good growing weather. I will be able to do at least one more big batch of red salsa and one of green salsa before the tomato and tomatillo plants are finished, and I still have jalapenos growing, and 3 or 4 eggplants that will be ready soon. I'm really enjoying the harvest season. So rewarding.

I am up way too late. Must sign off. If you know about organic pest control for cabbage loopers, please do comment.

It's Salsa Time!

Here's photo of today's harvest. The tomatoes are coming in all at once. I picked a whole bunch of tomatillos and cut the plant back a bit because it was overgrown and covering up other plants. My cucumbers are just beginning to show some signs of powdery mildew on otherwise very healthy plants. I'm thinking...hey, it's September and they held out this long, that's pretty good. I stopped using the sprinkler hose once fruit was on the plants and began to hand water at the roots, so I'm sure that helped. Honestly, I've eaten so many cukes, I would have no problem ripping the plants out entirely and planting some fall crop, but...they are pretty healthy and there are a lot of baby cukes on the vines, so I just don't have the heart to do that yet.

I am up late and have just finished making two giant batches of salsa...one red and one green. I will take some of each to a dinner party tomorrow evening, share some at work, and still have a jar of each for us to use over the next week or so.

I also made a big cucumber-tomato salad to take tomorrow night: sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, Walla Walla sweet onion, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper, little bit of fine sugar. Made it a day early so it could marinate a bit.

Yum! I love this time of year!

September Morning

Heavenly Harvest

Well, I had to resort to abuse, but the tomatoes are finally ripening! I withheld water and pruned off all the new growth and blossoms and within a few days there was color and in a week there were some ready to harvest. The plants are now looking a little sad, but the tomatoes are beautiful. Last night I made a simple dinner of chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, sliced green onions, garlic and canelinni beans, tossed with hot whole wheat penne and a little olive oil and parm cheese. It was yummy. What a difference good tomatoes make! Even my kids...who don't usually like fresh tomatoes... ate it. When you toss the fresh ingredients with the warm pasta, the flavors really come out. So easy and so yummy. We're going to a pot luck dinner party tomorrow evening and I plan to make a batch of salsa and a tomato-cucumber salad. I love sharing my wonderful garden bounty!