Fall = Winding Down The Garden

The garden is winding down. It's been a good year for some things (zucchini, lettuce, snow peas) and not so good for others (peppers, eggplant, tomatoes). The last month was slow. We had a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon, but really - that's boring.

Because the zucchini plants died, the cantaloupes over-ripened and the eggplants just weren't right - we had a surplus of rotten produce. What can you do with rotten produce? Shoot it of course!

Ryan and I used the leftover produce as target practice for his new .22. It was completely random and totally awesome at the same time.

A cantaloupe was the first victim:



Mid-way through the experiment:



We wanted to make sure the cantaloupe was completely destroyed:




The mini-sized eggplants may have been terrible to eat, but they were great target practice:



I think I nailed this thing about 20 times!



I also took A LOT of video - but I realized it's not as exciting as I expected. I tried to upload a file, but it didn't work. Oh well!

Happy fall!

Midget Mutant Eggplants Have Purpose

The midget, mutant eggplants have a purpose. They are the perfect size for eggplant fries!!! (and the crowd goes wild). Eggplant fries are a recipe I found on the internet last year. They are wonderful and go great with anything you would normally have french fries with.

You start out with cutting the eggplant. With my midget version, you don't even have to cut them that much!



Mixture is made of 3/4 c flour, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp parsley flakes (salt and pepper to taste). No eggs, milk or breadcrumbs (which make most fried recipes messy to prepare).



After mixing, deep fry to a crispy, golden brown. These delicious guys were the perfect side:



Yay to eggplant fries! Maybe I should edit the eggplant tag to "mutant midget eggplant". LOL.

Bummer Summer

This summer has been a bummer, in the garden and for life in general. But - there are always positive things that spring out that keep me going. I went out this morning (before the excessive heat warning goes into effect for the next 4 days) to check on things in the garden.

I found NINE cantaloupe. Not two, not four....NINE. In fact, I found 11 but two were already mush. I can't believe it. I realized as I dropped them on my front porch, that I have a lot of produce accumulating - good thing I'm visiting friends and family this week!



There is a mix of peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, cantaloupe and a few more mutant eggplants. The garden hasn't turned out quite like I was hoping - but I am going to be satisfied with what I've achieved!

Blossom-End Rot Strikes Again

I thought I was safe from any more damages from blossom-end rot. But, I was wrong. I have been patiently waiting for my eggplants to grow like they did last year. Unfortunately, this week I realized that last year we had mature egg plants at this time. In fact, we were well into the "Summer of Eggplant". Hrmph.

Today, I began to examine my eggplants a little more closely. They had started to rot...still attached to the plant. So, our plans for eggplant fries galore have been reduced to "we'll have some."

Here are the minature eggplants all ready to be eaten (the non-rotted ones):



As I mentioned previously, the green peppers were affected as well. They were already miserable looking, but I took the opportunity to take a picture of this "bell" pepper. They are already turning red...at this size:



Oh well, next year we may have to scaled back the garden and focus on the important things.

Fresh, Farm Picked Melons!

I've been keeping a close eye on my cantaloupes. Last week, I came out to find one all cracked up and bug filled. Bummer. I wish I had some advice on how to pick them perfectly, but I haven't figured it out yet!

Earlier this week, in anticipation of it becoming over-ripe, I picked a cantaloupe. It was terrible. Not completely green, but it was the type of cantaloupe you are served in a restaurant when it's not really in season. It lacked flavor.

Today was a big day though! I had two perfectly ripe cantaloupe. I have a hard time not eating as I cut these. They are so good!



Plenty more where that one came from! Odd that the cantaloupe is ready about the same time as last year, despite getting in the ground about 3 weeks earlier. Interesting observation, I might make a special note.

The Joys of Summer

I love tomatoes. I love to cut them up and eat a whole plate as a snack. Or, as a meal! They are one of my biggest joys of having a garden and one of my favorite memories from Grandpa's garden growing up.

I could seriously write a love poem to garden tomatoes,but I'll keep that one to myself. It probably would have a sad last verse since this year has not been the greatest for tomatoes.

I had a decent hall from the garden today, I picked about 10 tomatoes and a few more peppers. Now,I'm going to sit back and enjoy this:



Delicious.

Zucchini Bread A Fan Favorite

I've made a lot of zucchini bread this summer and I plan to at least freeze already portioned bags for later adventures. Of course, I was happy when Ryan liked it and thrilled when my friend RR (and family) liked it. BUT - I received the BEST compliment of all time today.

The pickiest little eater I know LOVED my zucchini bread. In fact, he said "mmmm" and just to make sure I heard him he said it again even louder "MMMMMM".



I had to refrain from giving him any more than just the one slice. While the Zucchini part is oh so healthy, the bread part isn't. He did choose my bread over his normal go-to of mac n cheese. Point, Aunt Kayla.