Faring The Heat On The Farm
It has been a very hot July with a drought affecting much of the country. The heat has caused early germination in many plants and many more to be burned by the sun. Luckily, there are still plants in my vegetable garden that are growing, including several that enjoy this sort of heat. I have already begun harvesting many vegetables and many more are developing. I hope you are all finding ways to stay cool in the heat and enjoy these photos from my home in Bedford.
1 Wilmer and Ryan have been meticulously weeding the vegetable garden.
2 The extreme heat combined with not enough rainfall can be a dangerous combination for a vegetable garden. It's important to monitor the health of each plant and water regularly. However, there are many plants that thrive in the heat.
3 Tomatoes happen to love heat, so I am expecting a good crop. Last year, because of Hurricane Irene, I lost many of my tomato plants.
4 I'm pleased to see so many growing this year!
5 When a tomato begins to mature, it produces a chemical called ethylene. This chemical is responsible for its red color.
6 Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and believed to help the heart.
7 Summer squash, like zucchini, is another heat lover and will not begin to germinate until the temperature is above 70ºF. As you can see, it's growing large and healthy.
8 Zucchini is a type of summer squash. Summer squash have thin skins and tender flesh, while winter squash, such as acorn squash, have thicker skin that makes them last longer after being picked.
9 Squash blossoms can be picked and eaten as an edible flower. They are often fried, stuffed and baked, or eaten raw on top of salads. Use them the same day they are picked as they do not last very long.
10 If left alone, the squash blossoms will develop into vegetables.
11 As the squash grows larger, the flower withers away.
12 There are many varieties of zucchini, ranging from long and green to more bulbous and yellow.
13 Zucchini Striato di Napoli has dark green stripes and a strong flavor. Originally from Italy, these are sometimes picked when they are very small and cooked like you would asparagus.
14 Delinel beans, also known as French beans, are ready to pick when they reach three inches or more in length.
15 On the other side of the garden, peppers are popping up.
16 I also have several different varieties of eggplant. This one is American, the most commonly found in grocery stores.
17 This longer, skinnier variety is a Japanese vegetable. They have thin skins and a sweet, delicate flavor.
18 Cucumber plants will grow outward if you let them. These plants will be strung up bamboo poles to keep them from overtaking the bed.
19 Okra. also known as lady's fingers, is one of the most heat-tolerant plants in the world. The edible seed pods are delicious in stews and soups and are quite prominent in gumbos.
20 Most of the plants that were started in the greenhouse have been transplanted to the outdoor vegetable garden, leaving mainly herbs in here. Ryan recently planted endive which the chickens love.
21 Ryan planted yellow, white, and red onions during the winter in the greenhouse and recently harvested them.
22 They will be left to dry out, or cure, which will increase their shelf live. These will be cleaned and transferred to a dry bin for the curing process.
23 Many carrots are peeking out of the soil. You can tell when they are ready to pull by the size of the tops and the leaves.
24 Most carrots grow straight, but factors like the consistency of the soil and how close they are to one another can affect the shape. The carrot on the right had the root of another wrapped around the base, resulting in the strange tip.
25 As you may recall from earlier this spring, I have a new pumpkin and squash patch. They are growing quite nicely next to the hazelnut trees.
26 Hazelnuts are beginning to form but will not be ready until September. The nut will fall out of the outer husk when ripe.
27 Last year, I did not get to enjoy the hazelnuts as the squirrels got to them first. I'm keeping a closer eye on them this year!
28 This amazing flower grew through the top of the window of the greenhouse.
29 Aristolochia gigantea is a deciduous woody vine with large flowers, with a fragrance much like lemon.
30 While the clematis in the pergola have final started to fade, bright sunflowers have begun to take their place. They attract both bees and birds, both of which are welcome visitors to the farm.
31 My apple espaliers have grown quite large so it's finally time for a pruning.
32 Chhewang carefully trims the top branches. There are many clusters of apples forming already.
33 I save the apple branches for cooking. Applewood is excellent for adding a smoky flavor to meat and fish.
34 A view of the finished pruning—pruning is important as it removes old growth to stimulate new growth, which keeps the plant young and healthy.
35 Nearby, my French bulldogs, Francesca and Sharkey, have been keeping watch on the corn crib that now houses my growing guinea fowl. The birds are still too young to roam the grounds, but are growing larger every day.
36 Some other fowl on my farm, my Pomeranian geese, have been keeping cool by bathing in their new tub.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
All looks great. You must have a very good watering system.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | July 24th, 2012 at 12:25 am
I love the farm...We have a 20 acre farm so I know what weeding is about. Its a small farm but our vegetable garden it what takes all of our time. Thanks for sharing
Posted by: Abby | July 24th, 2012 at 1:22 am
Hi, Martha,
Thank you for the pictures and the captions of your vegetables growing in your garden. I have seen pumpkins growing in their patch, grapes growing in vineyards, and apples and pears growing in trees, but I have never seen vegetables growing in a vegetable garden or nuts growing in a grove. How utterly remarkable! I particularly liked the eggplant and the hazelnuts.
Posted by: Bobbie | July 24th, 2012 at 2:55 am
Thanks for the update on your farm Martha, we do love it so! The tomato plants
look healthy as do the summer squashes. The Striato de Napoli sounds very interesting. I just harvested my carrots, they are delicious! I can't wait to see the pumpkins and the progress of your guinea hens!
Posted by: Cindy F | July 24th, 2012 at 7:50 am
Thanks for great vegetable photos. Guinea fowl is interesting for me as "Grandma Mike" raised these in homestead days on the prairies here. 2012 continues to be year of weather differing from prior years. Dakota Wheat Commission reports harvest is far ahead of usual time. 2011 preventive planting payments saved farms but commodity prices plummeted yesterday.You know marketing is everything in our country and economy woes are a concern..
Posted by: ann | July 24th, 2012 at 8:55 am
We've been having similar growing conditions here in Southern Ontario. My pumpkin patch seems to be thriving though. I've been inspired to to grow pumpkins this year after seeing and reading about those beautiful Musque de Provence pumpkins in Livings Halloween issue last Fall. I planted them in a raised bed with a 6ft trellis. The vines are growing strong and I've counted 6 pumpkins so far. I feel like I'm growing a science experiment! Everyday I look in wonder how the vines tentacles(I have no idea the correct term)wrap around the trellis and anchor the plant so firmly. And I love seeing the butterflies and the bees flutter around the blossoms. I'm so excited for the harvest!
Posted by: Julie | July 24th, 2012 at 9:15 am
Hi Martha, Thank you so much for sharing the latest information about your beautiful farm! Everything seems to be growing so well even in that extreme heat there! Ryan and his buddies certainly are doing a superior job! I love those tomatoes, zucchini, carrots etc. they all look so wonderful. I have some too and they are doing pretty well but our weather is a lot cooler and the lettuce, swiss chard, and spinach is doing great! I like the idea of using the zucchini blossoms as salad, have never tried that! The leaves of the apple trees must be great for cooking meat and fish for adding a smokey flavor! You have so many great ideas! I have hazelnuts too, but the squirrels knock them down before they are ripe! Sure hope you don't have any bad storms again to ruin your tomatoes, they look so great now and should taste delicious when ripe! All of your photos are superb and I just love seeing all of them! Sure hope you have another great day! Off to see The Daily Wag "Pruning the Apple Espaliers"! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | July 24th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Hi Martha,
It’s great to see your vegetable garden with so much going on in it. I often wonder if I would have moved to Florida if I had given more thought to gardening. I miss that rich soil up in Michigan and can still picture rows of corn and sunflowers in my mother’s garden. It was my uncle who taught me first about gardening though when I was a child. It was magic for me to watch him pull carrots out of the ground that he had planted from a tiny seed. And, while on the subject of carrots, I still laugh when I think about a blooper on one of your old TV shows. You were showing us how to pull carrots up and two that you pulled up were so short you started laughing so hard you couldn’t talk. Those carrots didn’t look anything like what you were describing and you finally blurted out that they were obscene – that just cracked me up! Well thanks for the garden tour. I’m so glad you will have tomatoes this year and I hope you will show us the peppers when they are ready to be harvested. Trish
Posted by: Trish | July 24th, 2012 at 10:08 am
A great vegetable garden with lots of fun and iinteresting things to harvest and cook!
Our very cool weather and lack of sunshine has not been kind to my small space veggie garden. The best thing was the variety of lettuces. we've grown...they love the coolness and i love that i can have a salad every evening.
Back to pruning the boxwood!
Posted by: Sherey | July 24th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | July 24th, 2012 at 10:29 am
What a delightful entry today.
I can't wait until the pumpkins begin growing. Autumn isn't too far off! (ducking to avoid tossed tomatoes)
I like when you showcase the farm animals in your blog. The geese in the tub of water is adorable!
gail
Posted by: gail pierson | July 24th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Gorgeous as usual!
Posted by: Susan | July 24th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
It has been hot and dry here in michigan also, it is very hard work to keep up on the gardening, your garden looks beautiful. how are the new kittens adjusting to all the other kitties? please show more pictures of them, they are darling! thank you jennifer
Posted by: jennifer mcalinden | July 24th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
An article about Darrell White's residence in Brantford, Ontario. Filled with Martha stewart products.
http://marthamoments.blogspot.ca/
Posted by: Darrell White | July 24th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
I miss the beautiful gardens I had in NH. Here in AZ, just too hot for any garden. Guess I have to wait until the fall. Love these garden photos! Thank you for posting.
Posted by: Tina Lewis | July 24th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Dear Martha
You got a beautiful vegetable graden and for the first time I got to look at a zucchini plant and also the other name for French bean is Delinel bean. I love this posting, very educational. Malaysian love their lady's fingers in fish curry.
Posted by: Rosa Phua | July 25th, 2012 at 12:58 am
Something I had never tasted before moving to Turkey is hazelnut butter. Lighter and more elegant than peanut butter, it's delicious on fruit. I also had no idea what to do with eggplant in my American vegetable garden, and never utilized them to their fullest. They grew so easily too so that was a shame. In Turkey, there are so many delicious dishes utilizing eggplant, I don't think I would ever let them go to waste again now that I've tried things like baba ganoush and patlican salad.
Posted by: Karen | July 25th, 2012 at 10:21 am
I love to see your gardens and farm, they are similar in some ways to what we have in Australia. We have just emerged from 10 years of drought where many farmers gave up and walked off the land, their crops were dismal and livestock died from dried up waterways. Towns and cities were on strict water restrictions, many gardens suffered. I use a lot of sugar cane straw as mulch in my vegetable garden to retain as much moisture as possible and keep the soil cool, and warm in winter.
Posted by: Karen Davis | July 25th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Thanks so much for sharing about your garden. I've been growing cucumbers for years and never thought they could be strung up on the 3 bamboo sticks. How do you do that. I tried and the ends broke off. Does it need to be bamboo sticks? I can't wait to see the pictures once they're tied . Thanks again and I read your blog every day.
Posted by: Cynthia Wilhelm | July 26th, 2012 at 11:39 am
that's wonderfull
Posted by: ET-TERCH MOHAMED | July 27th, 2012 at 7:18 pm