so, what's new with the farm. the tomatoes all have some type of blight, or something else that is turning their leaves yellow/brown/crunchy. i'm battling it as furiously as i can, but am slowly losing ground. so it goes. they're still producing like crazy, plus i'm leaving the country in a week and have to leave the farm behind ( :( ), so i'll probably just blame it on the subletters =P
as threatened, i killed the squash. it was a tough decision, but look at it. it was the right thing to do. it's so sad though, sticking up its little arm in a last attempt at salvation.......
its former spot looks so weird and empty now....
but, as a result, the gypsy sweet is now at liberty to do its thing. i had always suspected that its slow pace and dwarfy stature had to do with the squash's bullying, and now it's confirmed. the gypsy sweet has been growing in leaps and bounds, and although the peppers still take forever and are a little tasteless, we're getting there. it's probably doubled in size since the squash started going down, pretty crazy.
oh and look who decided to start producing, after an entire summer of dormancy (and me having to feel guilty/like a jackass buying strawberries at the market every week). just in time for me to leave for the rest of the year and not get to enjoy any of it. hey sweet charlie. you're a butthole.
oh and the cucumber has been going NUTS in production after almost shrivelling up and dying along with the squash. makes me happy. lunch is served.
although of late it's been making some VERY oddly shaped cucumbers. no idea what this may indicate, if it's just bad watering practice, or some other pest or disease. i don't see any critters (aside from the aphids i still regularly squish), and i don't really have the time to look into it either, so i hope it's not serious.
ah, the baby. my pride and joy. look at it :)
also, i may be biased, but these tomatoes have got to be the most delicious i have ever tasted. they are perfectly plump, juicy, sweet, exactly what a tomato should taste like at the peak of summer. i am definitely going to continue planting the seeds, there is NO reason to ever have a bad tomato again.
this was the first tomato the baby made me. i think i might have cried a little. ok maybe that's exaggerating, but come on, it's shaped like a heart!! i feel like all my hard work and nurturing and pest-battling went appreciated :)
the jaune flammes aren't so shabby themselves, except the damn birds keep picking the ripe ones before i get a chance to!!
but, birds or no birds, i've had some pretty rockin' harvests as of late, so who am i to complain. i fulfilled my summer dream of making entire salads without going further than my back porch (this one is freckled lettuce, arugula, persian cucumber, jaune flamme, and momotaro -- with a vinaigrette that josh has taken to making), and i get to make tomato sauce from scratch tonight. summer mission accomplished :)
ok i get to complain a little because one day while watering the kale/arugula/lettuce/mint tub, i noticed some caterpillar had gone to town on the kale, and when i went to look for it, i found the kale completely overtaken by aphids!!!! i was not expecting that at all. so gross, right?? those little mothershits. while i was busy battling them on the cucumber, they'd set up shop unnoticed next door!! well, they only lasted about 3 soapy spraydowns, thus the picture below.
i mean, tell me that's not the jam. it was delicious, too :) i sauteed the kale with some toasted walnuts and butternut squash (i found my first at the market the past weekend - a sad, but delicious, reminder that the seasons are changing), and it was the perfect dinner.
so that's what's new with the farm. i'm bummed that i won't get to observe how it behaves as the seasons change, and i'm extra bummed that i won't get to taste the sweet charlies... and i'm guessing the tomatoes will succumb to the blight because i doubt the subletters will battle as ferociously as i did. but, there's still a week with the farm, and for now...on to that tomato sauce.
No comments:
Post a Comment