Vegetable Gardening: July 2009

Spent some time this afternoon in the garden working on things. The evening light was perfect for taking a few photos as well.

Adios, Arugula
After going to seed for the second time, I just decided it was time to yank these out of the ground. It was no longer producing the small, delicate leaves that you normally get. I harvested enough leaves for a final batch of arugula pesto.

Hey, Broccoli
There are three heads about ready for picking and it looks like more on the way. This is such a fun plant to watch grow. It's pretty low maintenance as well.

Picking Parsley
The Italian flat leaf parsley is doing great. Today I harvested two batches with the intent of drying them. Reading online it seems they need to hang in warm dark place for 2-4 weeks. I hung one batch in the pantry (temperature constant but on the cooler side, dark) and one bunch in the garage (warmer due to the dryer being in there, dark, more temperature variation). I'll report back on these in a few weeks.

Zucchini
What more can be said? We're swimming in it. We're giving it away. We're making zucchini bread on a daily basis. We're searching the internet for zucchini ideas.

Here's a shot of zucchini plant leaves in the afternoon light. Thankfully, the two plants we have are nearing the end of production.

Let us have lettuce

We have been enjoying fresh salads with just-picked lettuce leaves. The romaine heads probably have only a few weeks left in them before they will start going to seed. The Red Sails are winners.

Basil
I have made about four batches of basil pesto and stuck them in the freezer. More to be made tomorrow. This year's plants did not grow as tall as last year's most likely due to the cooler summer we've had this year. But overall, they have done pretty well once we got some heat and sunshine.

Apricots
Seem to be days away from ripening! Other fruit trees are on their way!