Squash Bugs Are Called that Because They Deserve to Be Squashed

I managed two harvests this week. Monday I pulled in the last 3 zucchini, and then pulled the plants. The leaves were completely covered with powdery mildew, although the zucchini themselves were fine.

And then, when I pulled up the plants, I found something I hadn't missed at all.

Squash bugs. [shiver]

These creepy crawlies look almost spiderlike, particularly when they are small, and can quickly devastate your squash plants. I didn't think I'd have to worry about them this year, since this is the first year of squash plantings. How wrong I was! I'm just thankful the zucchini was at the end of its season before they presented themselves.

In addition to the three zukes, I managed a handful of green beans--the first (and perhaps even the last!)--as well as several more tomatoes. The tomatoes are clearly losing steam, and I didn't think I'd feel this way, but I'm a bit glad. I hauled in 2 Peach Toms, 3 nameless yellow tomatoes, 4 Best Boy, 1 Beefsteak, 1 Costulouto Genovese, and 4 purple tomatoes--not sure what kind. I've been calling them Brandywine, but today I realized they aren't. I also harvested 95 sun sugar tomatoes and 11 Sungold Select.

Today I harvested a second time this week and picked my first 9 okra! The okra plants are tall and strong, despite the chewed-up parts of several leaves where the Japanese beetles have been feeding. We can't seem to get rid of those little buggers!

I also harvested 7 plum tomatoes of some kind, 3 Peach Toms, 3 Beefsteak, 4 Brandywine, 3 purple tomatoes, 2 yellow tomatoes, 3 Best Boys, 101 Sun Sugars, and 16 Sungold Select.

My goal tonight is to make a batch of salsa and what will probably be the last batch of tomato sauce this season.

Freezing Frenzy

One of the hardest parts of this experiment called "Playing in the Dirt" is finding the time and energy to cook, process, and put away the harvest food before it goes bad.

I managed tonight to process the tomatoes into tomato sauce (8 pints) and also ended up with 4 pints more of diced tomatoes. The Best Boy tomatoes seem to work best for dicing, while the meaty Beefsteak tomatoes work really well for the tomato sauce. I threw into the tomato sauce this time the few Costoluto Genovese tomatoes I had as well as several Orange Banana tomatoes, which are very sweet and meaty. Interestingly, the flavor of the tomato sauce is very different this time--definitely sweet. I think when I make tomato soup this fall, I'll use this particular batch of tomato sauce. I think it will make very tasty soup to accompany my grilled cheese sandwich! The round dots on top of each jar are labels that I've scribbled the contents, month, and year on so I can identify the frozen foods and also know which to use first.

I also put up most of the rest of the bread and butter pickles, which have been curing in the refrigerator for about a week. Unfortunately, I ran out of jars before I could get all of them put up, so I moved the rest into a smaller container until I can pick up more freezer jars. I did have one marinated artichokes jar on hand that I had just washed, so I used that for some pickles for the refrigerator--I'm not certain that the jar is freezer safe like the canning jars.

I'm pretty happy so far with what I've put away in the freezer for winter. I feel a bit like a squirrel preparing for the cold, foodless months, but at least I know where I hid my food.

Tomatoes Fizzling Out

The unseasonably early cool weather--including some nights in the low 40s--and too much rain has definitely caused my tomatoes growth to come nearly to a complete halt. On Monday, I was only able to nab 3 Best Boys and 2 Beefsteak tomatoes. The zucchini, of course, will never die, and I managed to get two more of those picked. I also decided that before the next series of rainstorms moved in, it might be wise to dig up the onions. I can't believe how tiny they are! I've got 5 white onions (which might add up to one whole onion) and 38 yellow onions, some of which don't look much bigger than the sets I planted. I'm not sure what went wrong, other than perhaps I planted them too late in the season (very likely). I will definitely be reading up on onion planting over the winter so I can have a better crop next year.

Today I went out to harvest again, and true to form, found 3 more zucchini. Can I take a contract out on these plants legally? Sheesh! I also hauled in 163 sun sugars, 13 Sungold Select, 2 Costolutos, 1 Peach Tom, 1 Mystery tomato, 9 Best Boy, and 12 Brandywine. I'm having to pick the tomatoes a little earlier than I'd like because the bugs and other critters seem to be gnoshing on them as they begin to ripen. I placed several on the windowsill and, in a day or two, they'll be just fine for slicing. I think that unless we get a warm, humid spell, my Beefsteaks are about done producing. Sad--those are my favorite! I think I'd like to get one more round of BLTs eaten before summer fades away.

TOTAL PRODUCE COUNT TO DATE:
Zucchini: 110
Cucumbers: 178
White Onions: 6
Yellow Onions: 40
Sun Sugar Tomatoes: 1,123 (broke 1,000: woot!)
Beefsteak Tomatoes: 56
Best Boy Tomatoes: 64
Cosmonaut Volkov Tomatoes: 2
Sungold Select Tomatoes: 40
Peach Tom: 4
Brandywine Tomatoes: 20
Orange Banana Tomatoes: 3
Costoluto Genovese Tomatoes: 6
Mystery Tomatoes: 4
Herbs: cilantro, mint, dill

The Dishwasher

I've been looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment here at home, both little and big. I'm not convinced our dishwasher is as eco-friendly as it should be, but since it works, I won't be replacing it anytime soon. It's more eco-friendly than washing by hand.

However, I think we have discovered an impressive way to avoid the dishwasher: Yogi.

Yogi is cleaning up his father's dinner plate (we had bratwurst and baked beans that night). I didn't get a picture of the finished version...you couldn't even tell the plate had any food on it! I could have Yogi clean the plates, and then I could just stack them back in the cabinet, no dishwasher needed!

OK, Dad, I am just kidding. ;-)

Waxing Poetic about Sunflowers

There's something really appealing about sunflowers. They seem stately, somehow, elegant. Of all the plants in the garden, the sunflower towers over all as it stretches its stems upward to worship the sun. When it is in full bloom, the head drooping heavily, laden with the burden of seeds, it seems a reflection of the sun looking down upon us, its seed center a full eclipse upon the sun's flaming beauty.

My sunflowers are indeed stately, standing soldier-tall, heads facing directly up to receive full benefit of the sunlight. The spiky head leaves are a direct contrast to the softer, more graceful arms. The stalks are thick, strong, and stable, supporting not only the weight of the flowers-to-be, but also the weight of the cucumber vines that have used them as trellises over the last few weeks. The last cucumbers I picked were hanging from the sunflower stalks and were blemish-free; they had rested protected beneath the sunflower's shady leaves.

I'm hoping our first frost is far enough away that these sunflowers have a chance to bloom and develop seeds; I want to enjoy the flaming beauties before fall takes a foothold. I want to be able to save and roast the seeds, to enjoy a taste of sunshine until spring, when I can plant these beauties again.

Recipe: Easy Natural Cashew (or Peanut) Butter

Hubby and I eat a lot of peanut butter and almond butter, but to buy the kind at the store that is actually healthy is an expensive proposition. For example, a 12-oz. Arrowhead Mills All Natural Creamy Cashew Butter can be had from Amazon.com for $6.84 (plus shipping). Of course, that cashew butter is made with Canola Oil and the safety information indicates that the butter "May contain 0.5% or less of the following almonds, peanuts, and/or sesame seeds."

I made 16 oz. of all-natural cashew butter for $6.99--and I know that it is fresh, because I made it today! Who knows how long ago the peanut or cashew butter you bought at the store was manufactured.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make, how little time it took, and how few dishes it actually soiled. Honestly, we buy things at the store because doing so is more convenient, but in this case, I don't think buying peanut or cashew butter is more convenient than making it at home. I wonder why I've lived 44 years without making my own peanut butter. Here's the recipe, which can be adapted easily in any number of ways:

EASY NATURAL CASHEW (OR PEANUT) BUTTER

-2 c. cashews or peanuts, salted
-1 1/2 tsp. olive oil (I use organic, first cold-pressed olive oil, but you could use any olive or canola oil)
-1/2 tsp. sugar (I substituted 1 tsp. Blue Agave Nectar; I imagine you could substitute 1 tsp. honey or even Splenda or some other sugar substitute, although I would recommend cutting the measurement for the sugar substitute)

Put all the ingredients into a food processor. Tighten down the food processor lid and process for a couple of minutes. At one point, the butter will ball up as it goes around the processor; I continue to process until the ball breaks back up and smooths out and I stop hearing little nut chunks being chopped. Open up your food processor and, using a spatula, scrape around the sides. If you like the consistency (and taste), put in a jar and store in the refrigerator. If you want a smoother consistency, just add a little more olive oil and process a bit more. If you want your butter a little sweeter or saltier, just add a little more sugar/sweetener or salt and reprocess. If you like it chunky, chop up a few nuts and, once you like the consistency, stir the chunks in and then put in the jar.

1 1/2 cups of cashews made 1/2 pint (8 0z.) of cashew butter; I made a full pint using 3 cups of cashews, the size of the Meijer cashews bag. And it is tasty, especially when it is warm right out of the food processor. If you don't want salt, buy unsalted. Or, you can buy unsalted nuts and then add salt to taste, which allows you to control the amount of salt.

I'm going to try making some almond butter in the near future, since in terms of health benefits, that's the butter we prefer. I wonder if it will be more difficult, since almonds are a harder nut than peanuts or cashews. But, as usual, I will keep you posted!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Well, the tomatoes didn't attack me, exactly--the mosquitoes did. I will say, however, that some of these tomatoes probably weigh close to 3 or 4 pounds each, and the basketful was heavy! They might have killed me under just their weight alone!

OK, enough melodrama. I brought in a pretty good harvest of 'maters today: 159 sun sugar tomatoes, 20 Sungold Select, 1 Cosmonaut Volkov, 1 Orange Strawberry, 2 Orange Banana, 11 Best Boy, 1 Peach Tom, 8 Beefsteaks, 2 Costolutos, 5 Brandywine, and 2 mystery tomatoes that I can't track to the originating plant. Check the harvest count at the bottom of this post for a current tally--I'm amazed at how many I've harvested so far.

Oh, and the cucumbers haven't quite given up yet (but are very, very close): I harvested 3 more today. I think I'll use those to make some Italian pasta salad this weekend, and it looks like I'll be dicing up tomatoes and making some more tomato sauce for the freezer.

Also, I'm delighted that one of my students brought me a sizable bag of green beans today, along with a few kohlrabi! Woot! I'll cook up some of the green beans, but will probably blanch and freeze the rest. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, this cooler weather looks like it hasn't been very friendly to the tomato plants. Many of them are getting yellowed leaves. I hope some warmth kicks back in, because it would be nice to get a couple more really big harvests in so I can continue to stock my freezer. I don't want to have to buy tomatoes or tomato sauce at the store. Blech.

I did see one huge zucchini out there...but I couldn't bear the thought of picking one more zucchini. Enough is enough. Seriously.

TOTAL PRODUCE COUNT TO DATE:
Zucchini: 105
Cucumbers: 178
White Onions: 1
Yellow Onions: 2
Sun Sugar Tomatoes: 960
Beefsteak Tomatoes: 54
Best Boy Tomatoes: 52
Cosmonaut Volkov Tomatoes: 2
Sungold Select Tomatoes: 27
Peach Tom: 3
Brandywine Tomatoes: 8
Orange Banana Tomatoes: 3
Costoluto Genovese Tomatoes: 4
Mystery Tomatoes: 3
Herbs: cilantro, mint, dill