September 9, 2008: In the Garden

The veggie garden has slowed a bit, I seem to be down from 6 to 6-1/2 pounds of produce every other day, to around 4 pounds about twice a week. But oh, what lovely produce it is! The tomatoes went a couple of weeks looking rather sickly, with cracks in the tops, but the ones that are ripening now are beautiful. The two I picked today are quite small, but bigger ones are coming soon.




The beets were planted 7/18 and are pretty small, but I just couldn't wait any longer. This is the first time I've ever grown beets that the greens weren't ruined by leaf miners (always with my spring planting), so for the first time ever I'm going to cook the greens and see if we like them.

I have a red bell pepper! The first one to turn color for me this year (besides that one lonely yellow one). It should have stayed on the plant a bit longer, but there are some signs of slug damage and I don't want to lose it!

Mr. H is sick of green beans, so since the late planting of bush beans will probably be producing by next week, I took one last picking off of the spring planted ones and pulled the plants out to add to the compost. They have been producing over such a long period of time, almost as well as pole beans! He's also sick of the yellow squash, but I'm not...so I guess you know what I'll be eating for a while!

The green onions are some I got from the produce department at the grocery store and planted in the garden so they wouldn't turn to slime in the refrigerator. Their story is here.

I just couldn't bear looking at those powdery mildewed squash leaves any longer, so look what I did to my poor zucchini!



Of course, this was my small plant, I'd never be able to get that drastic with the large one!

My neighbor, Pat, has rewarded me for giving her so much from my garden this year. One thing she has kept me well stocked in is her zucchini relish, which is absolutely delicious! I had some on a hot dog the other day, and it beats sweet pickle relish all to heck.

Pat's Zucchini Relish

2 cups chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. salt
1-3/4 cup sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Combine zucchini, onion and the peppers. Sprinkle with salt and let stand 2 hours. Drain vegetables and press out liquid. Combine vinegar, sugar and spices, and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot mixture into hot jars (1/2 pint size works well), leaving 1/8-inch of head space. Adjust caps and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Recipe may be doubled.