The Garden Returns

Since the temperatures have begun to drop into the 80s and even sometimes the 70s during the day, our garden has had a bit of a resurgence.  The zucchini has slowed down, but it is still producing a few a day.  The cucumbers have started blooming again and putting out fruit, but it is still very bitter -- I'm not sure how to stop that.  We have a ton of green tomatoes on the vine, and I am pinching blossoms to encourage the existing tomatoes to ripen, which they are doing a little at a time. 

 

In addition to the new produce being put out by the plants, it is finally time to start harvesting the melons and squash I've been keeping an eye on all summer long.  That yellow splotch on top of the honeydew melon is the sign that this fruit is ripe, and it was ripened on the vine.  We cut into it last night, and it was one of the best melons I've ever had -- sweet and succulent.  You could smell the fragrance throughout the kitchen.  I have a smaller melon that I'm letting go just a little bit longer before we harvest it.  And the Hubbards are rock-hard, which is apparently the sign that they are ripe.  I have some on the vine that are just starting right now -- I don't know how they are going to ripen in a few short weeks when these babies sat on the vine all summer, but we'll see how it goes.  We did have some very small heads on the one broccoli plant that didn't get infested with aphids, but they were really bitter too, so I finally pulled it.

 

I think that I'll be baking another mock apple crisp with the zucchini I have right now.  The last one went over really well at work.  This is the recipe I used before, which calls for 8 cups of chopped zucchini and a 9x11 inch pan.  I used some really large zucchini that I had harvested late, thinking that the extra-firm flesh would work well in an apple recipe, and it did.  I'm going to try it again in an 8x8 inch pan, halving the recipe, and with some smaller squash, but I think it should work pretty well.

 

We also got collard greens in our Bountiful Basket this week.  I know the traditional southern version involves stewing them with a ham hock, but I don't have one of those.  Instead, I'm going to try this recipe for pasta with collards and tomato sauce that I have all the ingredients for.  There's still a lot of bacon involved, so I think we'll be in good shape.  *smile*