Getting Fresh

Food from the Garden: If you know me, you know that’s near and dear to my heart! We picked another round of the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes from the All- America Display Garden and brought it to the Food Pantry in Peace Dale. Earlier in the season everybody (that’s me and The Boys ) had a sampling of this bounty. The eggplants are amazing; there are so many, and each one is tender and delicious! Of course the cherry tomatoes are a hit, also  prolific, and there are 4 kinds of peppers from mild and sweet to quite hot. The Food Pantry is happy to have fresh food, and it has been a highlight of the work week to deliver the harvest.

This year it looks like there will be at least 4 large pumpkins from the one monster vine growing near the CE Center: through the garden, over the fence, and across the grass.  In contrast, the Christmas melon  looks as lame as it did last year (what’s up?) but there are  beautiful watermelons AND acorn squash getting bigger by the day in the upper Display Garden.  Dodge the trucks and crates of glass to see them in between the greenhouses, and enjoy the pink petunias (‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’) keeping it cheerful over there.

Other Garden goings-on:  I finally saw honeybees in the garden (where have they been all summer??), along with a praying mantis. Mike said he’d eat a worm — does that count as Food from the Garden? A Tuesday Tour tonight at 5 PM, should be a lovely cool evening. Finally, here’s a picture from Olallie Daylily Gardens, in South Newfane, Vermont. 

The Vegetable Garden

“August brings the sheaves of corn, now the harvest home is borne.”

The All-America Selections Display Garden has vegetable varieties this year as well as flowers. There are four types of  peppers (plus an ornamental pepper), two types of eggplants, and a carrot variety called ‘Purple Haze’. Two kinds of melon and a winter squash were also planted. Vegetables are as much fun to grow as flowers, plus you get to eat them. With adequate watering, it has been a great vegetable year, with plenty of sun and heat.

The peppers have been especially prolific, although they are just beginning to turn red now.  I’ve been picking some of them green but they are more delicious  red.  Three varieties are hot…great for salsa or chili.   The fourth  is  a long shiny dark green mild pepper which stays green.

The eggplants struggled a little bit, but then again, I’ve never had much luck with eggplant. At home, I get to harvest one about every ten years! We’ve picked a good amount since the end of July, even though they’ve been small. Still tasty and tender.

The purple carrots were sweet and delicious. The purple color is only on the outside, so if you cut them up crosswise, you have colorful orange and purple rings. Carrots are a great crop to grow with children; most kids will eat carrots even if they think they don’t like vegetables. And pulling them up is usually a favorite garden activity with kids.

After we had a taste of each vegetable, we began bringing the extras to the Jonnycake Center Food Pantry in Peace Dale.  Because most of the food donations are non-perishable items, fresh food is especially welcome. Hopefully the weather stays mild and we’ll have a few more weeks of eating right from the garden…what’s better than that?