Community Garden Journal. Though we have officially hit Autumn on the calendar, summer has yet to release it's grip here in the Atlanta area. I have thoroughly enjoyed the very few cooler moments we've had to tease at what I hope is soon to come. Until then, at least the warm weather has kept the garden producing a small bounty for us to enjoy!Hey there friends! I'm happy to be back this month for another fun round of sharing what's growing in the garden for @simplymike's
I'll get to the salad in a bit, but first I'll lead you on a stroll through the backyard garden to see how it compares to last month. Many things are the same, but we've finally got a few other plants making a late season comeback, as well. The big producer continues to be the butternut squash! We've already pulled off at least 20 pounds, with the latest being a 5 pound record for the season...
The plants went a little wild, so I did trim back some of the excess vines. I left a good bit of the craziness going, though, since it is hard to tell where each plant is connected. Can you see why I call it the jungle? Albeit, a suburban one, haha!
There are at least five squash still growing happily, so I didn't want to accidentally snip off any of the offshoots where one of these babies is hanging on. 😉
We thought we had some watermelons also growing, but after pulling one of the vine we found out it was another squash! Oh well, maybe next year we'll get some melons again. Until then I know we will enjoy all the squash!
One of our late bloomers is the one eggplant that is finally producing! We have one fruit going strong so far...
...and hopefully a few more on the way!
After a rough start, the hot peppers are exploding now. I gave a handful away to a client yesterday, but we have plenty left to harvest ourselves. I might have to look at what @zekepickleman and @enjar do to use theirs up! Despite the hot weather, I did make some delicious chili using some of these this week.
We're on the last leg of the tomatoes. The cherry tomato plant has been quite consistent in giving a nice little haul every few days, though the other tomatoes seem to never want to ripen up on the vine. @dksart made a few batches of awesome quick pickled green tomatoes to use up what we did pull off the plant. Yum!
The herbs are hanging in, as always. The mint shriveled up for a bit, but it is now making a comeback in new sneaky spots. It's sister the lemon balm is EVERYWHERE again. I need to order some tea bags to finally start putting together the mint & lemon balm tea that we are going to give out for holiday gifts. That way I have room to dry some more! Many members of the family have trouble with anxiety, and lemon balm is reported to be a naturally supportive herb for that. So besides just creating a lovely homemade gift, I'm hoping the tea might help calm some nervous loved ones a bit! Especially during the crazy holiday season. I'll make sure to leave plenty for myself on that note...
My purple and regular basil is also looking fantastic. It had been a while since I had any basil growing, so I am very pleased to be able to enjoy this round. The purple is just so lovely in dishes, as well! Just like the lemon balm, basil has lots of wonderful healing properties, so that is one other awesome reason to keep it happy and producing! Just the smell alone boosts my mood and lifts my spirits.
Autumnal dish that she posted a few days ago. This type of meal is always one of my favorite items to make for lunches in my weekly prep!We have some beets and a few other things sprouting, but we'll see if any of those produce for this season. With the way the weather has been it is hard to know how anything is going to turn out, but it is always fun to at least give it a try! On top of what we have grown ourselves, there is always the farmers market to replenish the rest of my veggie stores. The salad I shared above was a great mix of local goodies inspired by @lenasveganliving's beautiful
My bowl had...
- Roasted Butternut Squash
- Roasted Beets
- Fresh Butter (Lima) Beans
- Farro
- Dried Tart Cherries
- Spring Mix Lettuce
- Fresh Dill
- Grapefruit White Balsamic Vinegar
I thought about making more of an actual dressing to drizzle on top, but I was happy with the light and bright vinegar to add just enough moisture and pop against all of the other flavors. I'm about to make another bowl for dinner before I head back into work this evening with some of the homemade pickled tomatoes. Perfect fuel to get me through the end of the day!
Thanks for joining me once again in the backyard! I look forward to seeing what everyone else has growing in their part of the world. 🌱
Just love your food and this salad looks amazingly delicious indeed - simply yummy
Thanks!
me encanto tu ensalada se ve exquisitay muy bonito tu jardin,
That salad looks amazing, love the colours and textures! Your garden is producing really nicely!
Hubby's started his gardening project so I'm hoping to share that soon.
Lovely post @plantstoplanks!
Posted using Partiko Android
Thanks @lizelle! We're pretty happy with how well it has done this year, though we are always learning how to continue to get better at the whole gardening process. I can't wait to see what the hubs has going on! I'm sure you'll make some delicious meals out of whatever he gets going. :)
Mmmm that bowl looks and sounds very tasty. I have never grown Lima beans - only ever bought them dried. They are a great shade of green and I bet they must be delicious.. Wonderful food, thanks for the inspiration as always. All the photos are brilliant too... what Happy plants! Resteemed.
The Lima beans are delightful fresh like this! A totally different taste from the dried version. I love using them this time of year when they are in season, though I loved the dried ones, as well. Not many beans I don't enjoy. Thank you so much for your kind words!
What a mouth watering garden!! Sooo much goodness!!! Lemon balm tea bag gifts are a great idea!!!! My tomatoes never ripen on the vine in time either. I stick to small ones like romas and cherries. So excited about season... as you harvest, we sow!
I am really so pumped how awesome this year has been. Despite the relentless heat, we managed to keep things going pretty well. It's always a blast to share on here because every time I learn a little something new to tweak going forward. The cherry tomatoes definitely did well, so perhaps I just need to stick with those and get my delicious heirlooms from the farmers market. I'm about to go dig into the basil for an easy Friday night pasta. Can't wait to see when you get your spring plants going!
Congratulations!
Curated by
@Rehan12Join us on Discord
A Youth Run Community Organization from Bangladesh
50SP100SP200SP500SP1000SP2000SP5000SP10000SP
Your garden is doing so well, and that salad looks so tasty
Appreciate it! The only bad part is when you get down to the last delicious serving, but time to hit the farmers market tomorrow to restock!
I hope the farmers market has all you are looking for tomorrow :)
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community
community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.@c-squared runs a
Many thanks @c-squared! Always appreciative of the visit and share!
LOTUS is a social coin for enthusiasts of natural health - from herbalism and essential oils, to food as medicine, meditation and spirituality, as well as the relationship of human beings to the natural world through wild-crafting, permaculture and other 'healthy' earth centred practices. Earn LOTUS by publishing or interacting with others on our front end hereDiscord. You can find out much more about @naturalmedicine by joining our or following others posting under the #naturalmedicine tag!Congratulations, you've been UpLotus'ed! We loved your post and gave it a small upvote with the native token for @naturalmedicine, LOTUS COIN.
Always grateful for a Lotus boost! 💚
Boy that salad looks absolutely delicious. We have tried Egg Plant several years in a row, but have had very little luck growing these tasty vegetables.
Upon reading about Egg Plant I think that the weather is a little cold in this neck of the woods. The info I found states that if you have temperatures that fall below 65 degrees at night the fruit will have a hard time setting.
I had a problem this year with powdery mildew. Before I realized what it was, it was all over my squash and cucumber plants.
I found a very simple remedy for it, and it was the answer.
2 tablespoons of baking soda/gallon of water, sprayed on the infected plants once a week.
Looking at some of your squash vines and egg plants, they look very similar to what was appearing on some of my plants. It is a little late in the growing season, but if you think that they have powerdy mildew, you may want to give this solution a try.
Your garden looks like it was a winner this year @plantstoplanks
Thanks so much for that tip about the mildew! I'm always happy to have another easy remedy for common problems. We will definitely give the baking soda spray a try.
Eggplant usually does really well down here since it stays pretty darn hot even overnight in the summer, but I think our seedlings kept getting eaten early on. This one finally made it past that stage, so I'll be happy to get at least a few of them off before the cooler weather finally sets in. A few years ago we had so many coming off the plants that I started getting sick of it, so at least this year I didn't get burnt out on it and will still very much enjoy whatever we get.
Thanks for popping in and happy Friday!
OMG, that salad looks so delicious....
And the garden looks great, of course! I'm a bit jealous :0)
Figured I might as well share one of the things I made with the squash bounty we've been lucky enough to receive. Next up is figuring out how I want to use the big boy, but I'm sure I'll find some other delicious uses. It's been up and down out there, but overall we've had a great gardening year. Happy to have a fun group to share it with!
That salad!!!! One bowl please? lol Your garden looks amazing :) I do miss having a garden, perhaps I'll convince Mr. Bird to build a raised bed for me, tomatoes just aren't the same down here. Beautiful butternut squash, time for those roasted veggies.
Coming right up! I'll actually be headed down a wee bit closer your way at the end of the month with my girlfriends (close to Pensacola), and I think this might be a fantastic salad to bring with for our little beach getaway. I am always in the mood for roasted veggies, and a salad is a great way to utilize them when the weather is still toasty! I hope you get that raised bed some time soon. Nothing beats a juicy tomato plucked right from a sun-warmed vine!
Awe.. that looks really good... I think if I tried to grow my own veggies animals would tear it up...
Posted using Partiko Android
We're pretty lucky on that front! The little bugs and tiny pests get in there, but we don't have any pets and the bigger rodents and things tend to stay away. Luckily we have a fenced in yard so the deer don't come to dine on our harvest! :)
We have bears, coyotes, snakes, birds, raccoons, possums, and.... MONKEYS.. plus all the neighborhood cats
Posted using Partiko Android
Oh gosh, yeah you have it rough! Haha, and wild. ;) I can imagine the monkeys being particularly handsy!
Yes.. it was from the first Tarzan movie in black and white in the early 1900s they left the monkeys... and I just so happen to be 3 miles away from where they filmed
Posted using Partiko Android
Nice post! That salad looks great, yum. I've never seen grapefruit balsamic vinegar, but I am going to keep an eye out for it, ti sounds like that could make almost any salad work. Your garden is steaming along nicely too.
Thank you! We have a few specialty stores nearby that have a whole selection of all different infused vinegars and olive oils! They are so lovely in salads and many other recipes. I always have quite a few varieties on hand to keep my meals interesting.
Butternut Squash, yum yum... You are having a great harvest this time!
Out of all the things we've tried growing, I am pretty happy that the butternut squash is the one currently doing so well! I love it. I put it in just about any meal, so I hope we continue to get quite a few more before the season ends. :)
I heard you can make pasta with it, I haven't try it yet.
OMG that looks amazing with all the different textures and colors in that salad.
Nice to see the garden is going strong in the end. Sometimes I wonder what a plant are waiting for and then overnight it shows up to the party with goods!
Thanks @enjar! I love a chunky, vibrant salad. Makes it so much more satisfying. It is crazy how one minute the garden looks like a failure, then all of a sudden it bounces back! I need to go check on the eggplant because it was growing fast. Hopefully we can harvest it in the next day or so!
Congratulations on creating such a delicious
medley of colorful healthiness in a salad!
A+ on visual presentation and another
A+ on your impressive garden!
The late blooming eggplant is adorable! @plantstoplanks
Many thanks my friend! This was a fun one to share with you all!
Love your garden! Looks like permaculture, are you into that? Lovely salad by the way :-)