Hot Fun in the Summer Time!

What summer time foods are you harvesting for this Memorial Day weekend?  Memorial Day has always signified the start of summer to me.  Growing up, we usually spent Memorial Day weekends at the lake.  Boating, swimming, fishing and cooking over the campfire.  Summer really doesn't start until the Summer Solstice, this year on June 21.  The longest day of the year, when the sun is farthest North.

With highs in the mid/upper 90's this week, it really feels like summer time out there.  Hot, sweating and bug bitten.  Oh joy.

Did you know sitting in the smoke of the campfire keeps the bugs away?  And you can roast corn while you enjoy the fire.

Holiday weekend or not, the Harvest.Must.Go.On!  Stop on by and visit Daphne and friends and see what's growing around the country on this Harvest Monday.

We are picking tomatoes still.  For that matter, I'm still getting a smattering of strawberries.  The berries are all coming from the plants I put out as ground cover in the partial shade areas.  Kind of hard to harvest now, but what fun when I find them.

We actually had rain.  OMG - wet stuff fell from the sky!  Only 1/2" but my one 35 gallon rain barrel is now full.  So is the pond, and with some extra buckets of water I was able to find the leak along the sidewalk.

Did you know that with that 1/2" of rain on our ball park 1500 sqft roofing area we could harvest 900 gallons of water???  That would keep these thirsty plants well watered.

Lemonade!  Baby Meyer Lemon Tree - first year fruiting.

Field Peas!  Grow baby, grow!  We need a bunch more for a mess of peas next week-end.

You can't turn your back on these peas.  They go from almost ready to shell to LET ME out right now in a blink of the eye.  Well, overnight at least.

Okra!

Our new favorite way to eat okra?  Slice in half lengthwise, salt and pepper to taste.  Munch and enjoy.  Best served while small.  3 - 4 ".  Don't let it get this big or it gets stringy.  Just sayin'

Eggplant!  We are growing Black Beauty, Orlando, Hansel, Ichibon and Florida Market.  Orlando and Florida Market were started from seed this year.  The others are carried over from starter plants set out last fall.  So far, Orlando is my favorite.

Pictured is a Florida Market with a baby lizard hanging out.  How sweet.

Mouse Melons!  Or, Mexican Sour Gherkins!

Can't wait for a hand full of these to get ripe.  Serve with Everglade Currants for snack time.  I've tried one not totally ripe and found it good.  Note that we like sour pickles.  They are ripe when they will fall by themselves from the vine.

Peanuts.  So easy.  Buy a package of green peanuts in the organic section of the grocer.  Randomly toss in the garden bed.  Push in about half an inch or so.  No need to remove the shells unless you want to.

Parsley blooming.  Parsley is one of the underutilized superfoods.  Good in so many ways, vitamin, anti-oxidant, fiber.  With a bit of creative thought, parsley can be added to many meals.  It isn't just a garnishment on the salad bowl!

Parsley should continue through the heat and humidity here in Central Florida.  In addition to this small dedicated parsley bed, I also have some started as an edging in the NE raised beds.

Culantro.  Good in it's own right, but makes a wonderful summertime substitute for Cilantro.  Papalo is another summer herb which deserves more attention.  Known to down home Mexican cuisine, grows well here in our hot climate.

Stewart Zeebest baby Okra.  The red okra is pretty, but so far the Stewart Zeebest green okra does seem more fruitful.  Picked up a starter with a bunch of Clemson Spineless seedlings to get ready for Mom BJ.  I'll keep one of the stragglers and see how it compares to the Stewart.

I really should have had a few in starter pots ready to go in the ground from clearing out the winter & spring veggies.   Lacking such foresight, I did put out some seed.

Cuban Oregano.  Not cold hardy.  One plant is going right next to the garden heater and this one started in a pot so I can bring it into the garage over winter.

Not pictured:  Long Beans, Butter Beans and Sweet Potatoes.  The sweet potatoes are running a crazy for garden domination.  I'm making careful note of which are bush and which are runners. 

I'm happy to report that after what seems like ages, the mountain of oak chip mulch has been dispersed.  I moved a mountain!  Oh, but wait, foothills?  Yeah, so there is still some left, but it is in the compost zone, not on the driveway. 

The vast bulk of the oak chip mulch went over to my shady zone.  Cardboard and/or newspaper first, then oak chip mulch, then bagged grass clippings.  My biggest harvest of the week was black gold from the compost bin.  It is amazing how the BSF turns all the stuff into rich black crumbly goodness.  With high hopes and expectations, I'm preparing an area to be seeded with celery in several weeks.

Hope everybody had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend.  From our house to yours, special thoughts and well wishes to all the guys and gals who serve and have served our country.

/salute