Summer Garden Notes - July 19, 2016

We're bringing in okra almost every day now -- this plant really flourishes when it gets extremely hot! This year I'm growing Silver Queen from seeds that I saved last year, and a new variety called Gold Coast.  They are both doing great - so far I've harvested almost 3 pounds, and they are really just getting started.  

 Silver Queen Okra

 Okra flowers are so pretty!

This red okra is called Jing Orange.  I only have one plant that matured of this variety because John pulled the rest thinking it was some kind of weed....sigh.....  It's pretty though!

I froze all of the okra we've picked so far using a new recipe for fried okra - "Smashed Okra." Sounds good, right? I added a little Tony Chacheries seasoning to the cornmeal, we like the zing it gives our fried okra.

This next picture is that Long Ex Melon - they are all looking like this. I'm confused - thought they were supposed to be long and thin, but I'll keep watching them.  ????

I'm still bringing in tomatoes several days a week - I don't think I can characterize this as a "great" tomato year - it's been steady, but not as stupendous as last year.  We've harvested about 33 pounds of tomatoes so far.  
First, the 10 Fingers of Naples has not performed very well for me.  The Rapunzel has done great for a cherry variety, but the plants are really stressed right now with this heat.  In any case, these plants will stay put until the first frost, so hopefully they'll pick up some when it cools off some.

Peeling tomatoes for salsa

I've been spending the last couple of days processing some of the herbs that I've had drying for the last week or so.  

 This curly leafed parsley is beautiful!

 Sage - these velvety leaves smelled just like Thanksgiving when I ran it through the coffee grinder.

 Today I hung the oregano to start drying and tomorrow I'm cutting rosemary.

 I brought in a few freebies from the garden -- these plants volunteered from seeds that dropped during last years garden. I got about a dozen green tomatillo and a handful of dried cowpeas!

 Meanwhile the peppers LOVE this weather and I try to go through and pick these at least once a week.  Love those jalapenos!

 And last but not least, the new squash plants have started to produce -- thank goodness I decided to go over and check them, these mature squash were a big surprise! Need to check these more often now!

Going to make some zucchini tots with this big zucchini tomorrow!