14 August 2018

Plants and a “skyscape”

I don't think I've posted a good "overview" photo of the 2018 tomato garden until now. Even though some of the tomatoes are badly sunburned, a lot of them are not and are beautiful. Damaged ones can be trimmed up and made into tomato sauce for the freezer. We've got six trays of small tomatoes drying in the food dehydrator right now.
Yesterday morning the sky was beautiful as a rain system moved in from the Atlantic and Brittany. Tasha and I got in a pretty good walk early, and then light rain fell in late morning and early afternoon before skies cleared again. We need rain but now we're going to have another a hot, dry spell.
Speaking of tomatoes, damaged by the sun or not, Walt made a big pot of ratatouille on Sunday. He bought eggplants at the market because we don't grow them any more, but our zucchinis and tomatoes went into the pot with onions and garlic, thyme and bay leaf. We put most of it in the freezer for a taste of summer in fall and winter meals.
Another good edible vegetable, leafy green Swiss chard, is growing beautifully out in the garden despite the heat and burning sun. The outer leaves have been sacrificed to the sun god, but the inner leaves keep growing tender and green. The thick, wide, white ribs of the big leaves can be cooked separately from the tender green parts.
Over the past few years, I've learned that colorful coleus plants thrive in summertime on the north-facing ledge outside the living room window. Coleus are nice to look at and it's easy to take and root cuttings to make new plants (you can do the same with basil). These plants overwintered under a skylight window up in the loft and went outside only about two weeks ago.

10 comments:

  1. Scrumptious looking, all of it!
    Yesterday's Zucchini Rice dish looked unusual, but I'll bet it was tasty. Did you like it?

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    1. I thought the zucchini tian or crustless quiche was delicious, thanks to both the zucchini and the rice. I'll be having another slice of it for supper tonight.

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  2. I thought chard was a winter plant, but it looks like a winner for summer. I've always liked coleus, but finding the right spot is difficult. I'll try the North which is our back yard.

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    1. I'm sure the chard will grow all winter long, unless we have a very hard freeze. Last winter, or in early spring, I was digging out plants and cooking chard leaves, as well as giving some to our neighbor the mayor of the village. The recent heat wave hasn't been kind to the chard, but it is surviving and I'm hoping for better days.

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  3. i dont do well with coleus....they r so colorful so I have bought many over the yrs but mine get stalky ....guess i dont know how or when to pinch em off

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    1. When I put coleus plants under the skylight Velus window upstairs, they grow leggy trying, I think, to reach up to the light. When they are outdoors on the north side of the house, they seem to be happy just growing enormous leaves but not long, leggy stems.

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  4. All looks good. My tomatoes have thick skin which would be unpleasant in the ratatouille. How do you deal with the skins.?
    Jocelyn

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    1. The tomato, zucchini, and eggplant skins don't bother us. Of course it would be possible to peel all the veggies. For the tomatoes, it works to drop them for 30 seconds or so into a pot of boiling water and then into a bowl or sink full of cold water. Then the skins slip right off.

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  5. The coleus are very attractive. Like the dark red in the leaves.

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