Category: Preserving

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06/18/2022 onion time

Oops. We disturbed this big beautiful toad.
The toad hopped over our onions to nestle down under some bean plants. We turned the soaker hose on after we were done harvesting to make sure any other plants we disturbed weren’t too upset, and hopefully that will keep the toad safely into the cooler night too.
Three kinds of onion!
The shadiest bed has Inca pea beans planted over Thomas Laxton sugar peas which we removed as they were getting mildewy. Now the pea beans have room to grow.
Our supervisor chose a shady, cool corner.
Left are the dried Thomas Laxton sugar peas for next season. To the right are Oregon sugar pod II (the original kind I had) from earlier this spring. I am going to bleach them to prevent transfer of the mildew to next season. We also put the plant waste in the city yard waste bins as their composting gets much hotter than ours.
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Saturday butter beans

We did more fall garden clean up on Saturday. Look at the size of the roots on this Peruvian ground cherry!!
Neat clouds.
The Lima bean vines were dead but still had some green pods, so we asked The Chef to attempt butter beans. He also added a few slices of jalapeño.
Some drier limas that still need drying but weren’t green enough for the butter beans.
Yum! Thanksgiving leftovers with butter beans.
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Bean counting highlights

Paula and I sorted and weighed yesterday’s harvest.  Look at these beauties!  They were our favorites of each variety. Inca pea beans are maroon and white in the middle. Clockwise from the top are Alabama blackeye butter lima bean (the big flat white ones), slippery silk (pink ones), California blackeye cowpeas (whitish, not glossy), greasy grits (speckled tan), vaquero (moo cow pattern), and bolas maycoba (creamy color).
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Saffron harvest

Wow!! Paula was just here on Friday and said the saffron crocuses were not open like this. This was on Saturday night.
We got 69 threads, for a season total up to 78 threads now.
Happened to be in the spice aisle today at grocery store. Planting your own is a pretty good deal after a year or two!
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Saturday harvest and new lake

The original moon and stars watermelon is still here. The tendril is turning brown so it may be ready soon?
I harvested 162 g of oregano from the front and back yard. The Chef dehydrated it and removed the stems, and the final dry weight was 20 g.
Some blackjack oak acorns.
Walking towards a new lake.
Briar got to stand in the lake.
A leopard frog in the raised bed, hiding.