The galvanized steel bucket in our garden has a new resident. The bucket is full of rain water and our friend is either swimming or perched on the rim. The mystery is how the little fellow figured out it had water in it—he (or she) is a little short to be able to see into the bucket from the ground. Click on the image for a larger view—its eye is amazing.
Category Archives: Edible Garden
Vegetable Harvest
Along with tomatoes and blackberries, we are getting other veggies. On the left are Early Summer Yellow Crookneck Squash. Our beans this year are Kentucky Wonder, the large green pole beans, Provider, the mid-sized bush beans, Masai, the small bush beans, and Blue Coco, the purple pole beans. The small tomato in the picture is Gardener’s Delight. And last are our cucumbers. The round variety is Lemon cucumber and the other is de Bourbonne Cornichon pickling cucumber. Unfortunately, because of a lack of water or inadequate fertilizer, the de Bourbonne did not turn the green it is supposed to be. Click on the image for a larger view.
New Heirloom Tomato Varieties
This year, we are growing two heirloom varieties that are new to us. The red fruit on the left are Amish Paste Tomatoes. As the name suggests, they are a great tomato for cooking and canning. Fresh, they are soft and sweet. The Black Prince is a rich tomato, great for salads. They are not large, but the plant yields a good crop. Click on the image for a larger view.
Tomato Glut
Our tomato harvest is starting to reached the late summer glut. It is wonderful thing to see the garden so productive, especially since we were starting these plants indoors in early spring.
The yellows are Yellow Pear (smaller) and Yellow Banana Leg (the three long fruit). The top right red tomatoes are Juliet. The bottom left reds are Heather. And the bottom right is our favorite: Black Cherry. The yellow tomatoes and the Black Cherry are heirloom varieties. Click on the image for a larger view.
Tomato Harvest 2015
Late summer is a busy time. Our fruit is starting to ripen. Here are some of the heirloom tomatoes we raise (and one lemon cucumber). Click on the image for a larger view.
Blackberry Harvest 2015
A month ago, our blackberries were green. This week, we began our annual harvest. This usually lasts about a month depending on the size of the crop. It looks like it might be a good year. Click on the image for a larger view.
Queen Anne’s Lace—Edible Weeds
Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota, was once cultivated in Europe as a vegetable and is a biennial plant. Like carrots, the roots and leaves of the first-year plant are edible. Flowers can be used raw in salads or fried. Seeds can be used for seasoning.
Raspberry Leaves
Raspberry-leaf tea is great all year round. In summer, we mix it with mint or Japanese green tea and serve it cold. In winter, we mix it with camomile and drink it hot. Raspberry-leaf tea is claimed to have various medical benefits, particularly for women.
In July, we harvest the new shoots of our wild raspberry. We air dry the leaves on the branches indoors, and finish by placing the leaves in a dehydrator. The tea is light and sweet. Wild raspberry spreads quickly and is considered a weed, but we value it as a herb and source of soft fruit. We have several varieties. Click on the image for a larger view.
Raspberry Harvest
Naomi and I were collecting raspberries this evening. We have three or four varieties on our land, perhaps more. This year has been very good. We normally get only a handful, but we have collected a couple of pints so far. Click on the image for a larger view of this jar of fruit.
Tomatoes in July
The summer in Maine has very little margin for error for growing tomatoes. A cool summer can leave us with a lot of unripened green fruit by the end of the season. We did pick a few of our first tomatoes this week, but many of our plants are still in bloom. Click on the image for a larger view. (While tomato flowers attract the usual pollinators you except to see, we were surprised to see our hummingbirds feeding from them.)
