Garden Harvests - September 26th

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

It was a rainy week in the garden. I think it rained five nights in a row at my house, but I am not complaining because we really needed it. I harvested the last of the third batch of corn. I got about the same amount as before, 35 to 40 ears weighing 25 lbs. This was out of a 4 by 8 foot raised bed. The peppers and eggplants are still producing reliably. I have harvested 15 eggplants from one plant, and there are still a few more on the plant. Last but not least I harvested the second watermelon of the season, this one weighed about 8 lbs.

Garden Harvests - September 19th

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

The temperatures have cooled, but we are in desperate need of rain.  It has been a really dry August and September.  In spite of that, the garden is still producing well.  The tomatoes are liking the cooler weather and I see several small tomatoes growing on the plants now.  I harvested some corn, several eggplants, and more peppers this week.  

This was one good looking eggplant.  It was peeled, sliced, and fried in panko bread crumbs.  It tasted awesome.

Cowhorn peppers

 

Two ears of silver queen and two ears of peaches and cream corn.  The silver queen had a few yellow kernels due to cross pollination.  These were prepared for dinner one night. 

 

I picked a batch of peaches and cream and put away for freezing.  The rest of the corn should be ready in about a week.

 

Another batch of eggplants, gave these away to friends.

 

Jalapeno Peppers

 

1 / 10th of a Ton Harvested

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

I don't know if weighing my harvests is the best indicator of how good a garden season is, but I do get satisfaction out of seeing my numbers grow.  In future years I will be able to compare my numbers to learn and try different things.  I harvested some corn and eggplant this week and those put me over 200+ pounds of harvests this year.  I thought a tenth of a ton sounded better.

Here is how my numbers have stacked up so far this year.

Vegetable Name - Variety	Weight
Broccoli - DeCiccio	0.50 lbs.
Carrots - Danvers #126	9.59 lbs.
Cowhorn Peppers	1.16 lbs.
Corn - Peaches and Cream	49.60 lbs.
Eggplant - Black Beauty	7.14 lbs.
Field Peas (Shelled Weight) - Pinkeye Purple Hull	9.63 lbs.
Jalapeno Peppers	3.15 lbs.
Lettuce - Great Lakes #118	12.25 lbs.
Radishes - Champion	1.25 lbs.
Snow Peas - Melting Sugar and Oregon Sugar Pod II	6.61 lbs.
Squash - Dixie Hybrid	26.00 lbs.
Tomatoes - Big Boy, Better Boy, and Roma	0.84 lbs.
Watermelon - Crimson Sweet	12.00 lbs.
Zucchini - Elite Hybrid	61.82 lbs.
Total	201.53 lbs.

Garden Harvests - September 12th

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

The weather was wonderful this past week. Temperatures were consistently in the 70's, which is well below normal for this time of year. The garden is still producing well. I am still getting plenty of peppers, both jalapenos and cowhorns. I harvested two more eggplants this week. I also harvested four tomatoes this week, and it is about time. My roma tomato plant is loaded with fruit now, so I guess it likes the cooler temps. Hopefully there is enough time left in the season for them to ripen. I planted a bed of lettuce and a bed of spinach for the fall, and I can't wait to eat garden fresh salads again. All in all a great week.

Tomatoes, Cowhorn peppers, and Jalapeno peppers

Black Beauty Eggplant

This was another pepper I pulled earlier in the week.  It was the perfect color red.

Watermelon Vines in Christ

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

I harvested my first 12 lb. watermelon a few weeks ago. I checked the vine and I have a few more coming through right now. I doubt they will be as good as that first one, but hopefully they will get some more size to them.

This week in my men's Bible study we discussed John 15 : 4-8. Writing this blog post reminded me of what we discussed. Jesus used so many metaphors about gardening to explain the gospel in a simple and easy to understand manner. Since I have started gardening, I have really come to love these passages of scripture.

John 15 : 4-8 (New Living Translation)

4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

This is my one watermelon vine, it covers an area 20 by 20 feet.

Baby melon about the size of a golf ball.

Next prospect, about the size of a soccer ball.

Another small one.

How to Fix and Support Blown Over Corn

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

We have gotten some really good rain the last two days. That is good for the garden, but sometimes bad for my corn. When growing corn in really fertile soil, it doesn't take much for your corn to be blown over when it is wet, at least that is my experience.

That is what I came home to tonight after work, two sides just completely blown down to the ground. It stinks too because the ears are just forming and being pollinated. Normally I can just mound up some dirt around each stalk to get it to stand upright, but not this time. The silver queen stalks are so tall, they just flopped back over.

While pondering what to do, I gazed over on my patio and noticed I had a bag of 3 foot bamboo poles and bag of those plastic electrical wire tires. I inserted the poles into the ground in the opposite direction of the fallen stalks. I then used the wire ties to support each stalk to the bamboo pole. Once I ran out of poles, I used the wire ties to support the tops of stalks to each other. It worked really well and I hope it will hold. This method will work well for small plantings of backyard corn, and it is really easy to do.

This is the flattened peaches and cream corn.

This is the silver queen laid out on my eggplant and peppers.

Here are the results after supporting with bamboo and wire ties.

The corn is over 7 ft tall.

Close up of support system

Here are two stalks wired together toward their top.

Amazing Eggplant

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

I have been super impressed with the output I am getting from my only eggplant. I have one black beauty plant and it has really gotten huge. I counted 14 fruits maturing on the plant, which to me seems like a lot. I harvested two eggplants tonight and made eggplant parmesan using this recipe. If anyone has any other good eggplant recipes, let me know. Looks like I will have enough to try it some different ways.

You can't see them all in this picture, but there are 14 fruits forming.

Here are the two that I harvested tonight.

Here is the eggplant parmesan dish I made using this recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Garden Harvests - September 5th

Please visit and like my new facebook page Georgia Home Garden.

The garden is still going strong although I have been neglecting it while working on my new truck. The third planting of corn is tasseling and it should be ready in a few weeks. The pepper plants are staying loaded with peppers. I picked some jalapeno's and one mature cowhorn pepper that was a fire engine red. I have a few more eggplants that should be ready in the next few days. My only eggplant is loaded as well with at least 10 to 12 more fruit.

I need to get a start on my fall plantings of lettuce, carrots, and spinach. We finally got some decent rain yesterday and today. It has been about 4 weeks since we have had a drop, so that should help the garden. It has been a few weeks since I posted any garden pics, and I will post some when the rain stops. Happy Labor Day!

Nice Batch of Jalapenos

Fiery Red Cowhorn Pepper

This is the watermelon I harvested last week, I cut it up last night and it was the perfect ripeness.