Onions, Winter Squash, Melons, Garlic, Shallots and Beans

A rattlesnake bean vine imitates its namesake as it crawls its way over the top of the trellis 

Holy smokes it was a hot beginning to the week! We are not used to hot weather here, and the first half of this week temperatures were in the low 90's. The garden was not pleased with the heat either. Crispy leaves, blossom drop and bolting plants were happening all over. Thankfully, the second half of the week had more seasonal temps in the low 70's.

Here is the garden this week 

A third of the onions had fallen over, indicating that they are done growing. Unfortunately, due to the high temps and lack of water, the rest of the onions tried to go to seed. If I dig them up they'll rot instead of cure so I'll leave them in the ground and pick as needed over the next couple of months. The others were dug up and placed in the shed to cure

Jumbo Pink Banana 

Galeux D'eysines

My winter squash are setting fruits. The Jumbo Pink Banana has already set 5-6 squash and is blooming like crazy. There is also a set Galeux D'eysines squash with lots more unbloomed ones on the vine

The melons are getting a late start, but are finally spreading out and starting to flower 

The soft neck garlic was dry enough to string this week as were the first picking of shallots. The shallots are so small is year, but I'm glad to have so many. Both are hanging in the pantry, waiting to flavor recipes over the fall and winter 

I trimmed and cleaned up the hard neck garlic. Some of the heads weighed in at nearly 4 ounces each, big for standard hard necks. They taste better than the soft neck, but don't store as well, so they will get used first, mostly in pickles and pasta sauce 

I got a nice mix of produce harvested this week

The cucumbers, beets and green beans were cleaned and jarred up to ferment into pickles. I make fermented cucumbers every year but this is a first for the beets and green beans. I usually heat can those, but I wanted to try fermentation and see if we like the flavor/texture better

My soybeans and limas are finally flowering. The nasturtium in the bed kinda went bonkers and overwhelmed the soy and lima beans earlier in the season. However, both have now grown up over the nasturtium and are looking very healthy 

Weekly Harvest:

10 pounds 3 ounces garlic

4 ounces tomatoes

2 pounds 13 ounces shallots

1 ounce pepper

1 pound 3 ounces zucchini

12 ounces peas

1 pound 1 ounce cucumbers

1 pound 9 ounces cabbage

1 pound 12 ounces beans

6 ounces carrots

4 ounces kale

1 pound 11 ounces beets

Yearly Total:

70 pounds 10 ounces