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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Jul 26, 2009 8:45:03 GMT -6
Are any of you getting any fresh garden produce yet? We have over 20 tomato plants that are loaded with small tomatoes but certainly not ripening yet. Our cucumber plants have two tiny cukes. I am salivating thinking about a good tomato salad as per Barefoot Contessa and I love sour cream and dill cucumber salads with fresh cukes.
The best cantelope I have ever had are the Muscatine mellons from Iowa. Are you Iowans getting them yet or is it a little early? How about home grown sweet corn?
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hasset
Master Member
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Post by hasset on Jul 26, 2009 9:27:26 GMT -6
We have been getting a lot of sweet corn and it is really good this year. Last year the weather harmed the quality so we didn't buy much. The price is greater this year and I understand that. It is 13 ears for $4.50. I don't mind buying it if it is good. The melons are good too. The problem with muscatine melons is that they get so big but the holes in the center are enormous. I like the other kind of melon better. I used to plant a lot of melons of every kind and there is nothing better than your own home grown melons. The best watermelons I ever ate came from my own garden. I think I am missing having a big garden. I don't like to weed gardens and I always used lots of cardboard boxes to block out the weeds. It did not look good but it worked.
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Post by knollwood on Jul 27, 2009 15:00:46 GMT -6
I have picked strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce, radishes, onions, broccoli, pea pods, kale, and some other herbs. All my cool weather vegetables did great! I made a great stir fry with my broccoli and pea pods yesterday. Yum!
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Post by knollwood on Jul 27, 2009 15:02:14 GMT -6
We used to get the best mellons in Indiana and we called them musk mellons. I wonder if that is the same thing?
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hasset
Master Member
Posts: 633
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Post by hasset on Jul 27, 2009 20:05:42 GMT -6
There is nothing better than home grown peas or those chinese pea pods. I am assuming you picked pea pods. I love them both but I do not like to shell peas. I wonder what the canning factories do to make peas, either frozen or canned, taste so ordinary. The home grown ones are wonderful.
I used to know what the muskmelon/cantelope thing was all about but I have to look it up again. Any of those things are wonderful in your own garden. I actually got sick of cantelope one year because we had too many and I felt like I had to eat them all. The best watermelon I ever had was one I had missed when I picked melons before fall set in real hard. Then we had a terrible snow on Oct. 26 and when that all melted, I saw there was one more watermelon amongst all the dead and brown garden plants. That was the sweetest, most wonderful melon I ever ate. I always thought they needed lots of sun and warm weather to be so sweet.
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Post by dtothelux on Aug 6, 2009 13:10:19 GMT -6
How about Iowa or Minnesota sweet corn. I assume it is a little early yet or is it? I just don't think the crud from Georgia and Florida compares. The road side stands are selling sweet corn, I guess I should ask where it has been grown.
What are the rest of you experiencing?
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Post by knollwood on Aug 6, 2009 13:53:21 GMT -6
I heard sweet corn in this area is really late. I have had some good stuff from the vegetable stand (in Pine River) but I don't think it was local.
I found some really good wild blueberries and raspberries last weekend. Does anyone know when the wild blueberries are usually ready? Are they just starting now?
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hasset
Master Member
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Post by hasset on Aug 6, 2009 18:23:52 GMT -6
I am located in southern Iowa, almost on the Missouri border. Corn has been ready for three weeks now. I asked how much longer it would be sold around here and they said it will continue until after the first week of August, and maybe the second week of August. It has been a good growing year as the rains came at the right time and it didn't get too hot or too cold.
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hasset
Master Member
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Post by hasset on Aug 6, 2009 18:28:56 GMT -6
I forgot to mention that I envy you and those wild blueberries. Blueberries are so good for you and the wild ones taste the best. Wal-mart has frozen wild blueberries but they cost $10 for 4 lbs. I hope you pick all you can find and freeze them for the winter. I love blueberry pie!
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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Aug 6, 2009 18:43:08 GMT -6
I agree about the blueberries but here you have to beat the bears to them. Mrs. Robely made a terrific blueberry pie on Sunday. It didn't last long. Last week she fixed a wonderful blueberry coffee cake. I'll try to get her to post the recipe. She wins rave reviews for it.
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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Aug 7, 2009 8:47:03 GMT -6
Schaefer's in Nisswa had Minnesota grown sweet corn this morning that looks terrific and fresh. They also had baby back ribs on sale so of course I had to pick up several. One of them WILL be in my Cookshack smoker this afternoon. I can hardly wait.
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hasset
Master Member
Posts: 633
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Post by hasset on Aug 7, 2009 13:53:50 GMT -6
I picked my first big red tomato this morning. It is the pioneer type called Brandywine. All the other tomatoes are green as we have had lots of global warming (COLD!!!!Coldest July in history!) weather.
I saw someone on a cooking show who said that when you smoke your thick sliced bacon, do it slowly and at the end of the cooking time you put a little maple syrup on them. I did that and made a BLT out of the bacon and my one WONDERFUL tomato. You couldn't buy the likes of that sandwich in a restaurant anywhere!!!! It was delicious but it looks like I will have to wait a month to get anymore tomatoes. The maple syrup really added to the hickory smoke flavor.
Do you Minnesota folks pick wild gooseberries? I love those things as much as blueberries. I am waiting for mrs. Robely's blueberry coffee cake recipe and I bet she has one for gooseberries too.
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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Aug 8, 2009 7:30:42 GMT -6
I have not seen gooseberries this far north but maybe someone else here has.
The ribs were fabulous but unfortunately the sweet corn was very ordinary. Minnesota sweet corn is usually wonderful so we were disappointed. The freshness was not the problem, but rather the flavor. It was rather bland.
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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Aug 10, 2009 13:32:25 GMT -6
August 10, we have way over 100 tomatoes on our many plants and ---- they just won't ripen. Are any of the rest of you having any luck yet? I suppose they will ripen the last week of August and we will then get a hard frost on Sept. 1.
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Post by colonelbuckrobely on Aug 16, 2009 11:17:09 GMT -6
Finally!!! We will be picking our first large tomato today and having a BLT tonight. Even with the heat we have had they are ripening slowly.
How much rain did everyone get through the night and this morning? We think we got about an inch and a half, much needed I might add.
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