Welcome Back to the Jungle! {September Garden Update & Harvest Salad}
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 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!
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.
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 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!
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,
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!
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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 :)
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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!
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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. :)
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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!
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!