Hot! But at least the veggies are happy.

Both dogs are stretched out, unconscious on the floor right now, because it is SO HOT!  90 degree weather in Maine is quite the shock to the system, and it looks like only the garden is handling it at all well.  The dogs and I are suffering, and Itch (the cat) is dramatically lying prostrate on the floor of the hottest room in the house, as she seems to have forgotten that the air conditioner is in the next room over.

I've been watering the farm more regularly, because we've had such a long streak of hot weather with no rain.  I'm at the point of actually hoping for a thunderstorm, because then at least we'd get a little moisture.  I visited the squash field this morning, and I'm sad to report that the nutty delica plant is no more.  I guess it couldn't withstand the constant assaults by cucumber beetles, in combination with my unfortunate habit of dragging the hose over it every time I watered.  Let this be a lesson - apologizing for crushing a plant repeatedly is not enough to ensure its survival.  The Uncle David's Dakota Dessert squash plant also doesn't look good.  This morning it was covered with cucumber beetles and the leaves were full of holes.  I tried to pick off as many of the bugs as I could, but I don't think it's going to end well.  The rest of the remaining crop all look very good, though, and I'm hoping that they've now reached a large enough size where they'll be less susceptible to bugs, bad weather, dog roughhousing, and my inexpert hose usage.

We had a fantastic farm centered dinner last night, in which we had our own pattypan squash, zucchini, and green beans for the first time!  Mike was in charge of picking the green beans, and I'm pretty sure he ate more than ended up in the bowl.  Fern, I had to include a picture here so that you know I'm not lying...

We also have our first eggplants beginning to grow.  It looks like my daily potato bug harvesting has eliminated them from the eggplant plants as well (although they continue to show up on the potato plants.  And they're still really gross).



Eggplant 7-20-2011

 The pattypan squash and zucchini plants have all begun to set fruit, and so I'm trying to come up with as many ways to use them as possible.  Tonight I'm planning on stuffing some with a lentil, swiss chard, and soy sausage mixture, but the heat is seriously testing my resolve to use the oven.



Pattypan squash 7-20-2011

 The cucumber plants have also begun to flower, so we should see our first cucumbers soon.  I planted lemon cucumbers, which I've never actually eaten (or seen) before, so I have my fingers crossed that we'll like them.

Cucumber flower 7-20-2011

The asparagus/lima bean bed is looking quite lively now.  I need to research my lima beans to see if they need a trellis.  I thought that they were a bush bean, but the stalks are looking awfully bendy and in need of support.

Lima bean/asparagus bed 7-20-2011



Swiss chard 7-20-2011

 Also, I want to be sure everyone knows the swiss chard situation that we're facing.  It's just like the lettuce, except that it's more versatile (there are only so many times I can serve salad).  Despite the fact that we're eating it with almost every meal, and I've sent every visitor we've had home with a bag, it's still taking up almost a full bed.  The side of the bed that is facing you in this picture is the side that didn't fully germinate.  I'm not really complaining, as I love swiss chard and I've managed to be able to work it into most of our dinners, but I am impressed by the crop.  The picture here doesn't quite do the range of colors of the stems full justice.  Some are red and white striped, and others are an almost neon orange/pink combination, in addition to stems that are monochromatic white, yellow, red, and orange.  The chickens also absolutely love greens, so if the chard becomes too much, or if it bolts, I know they'll be ready and willing to assist.  I think they ended up eating about 90% of the bok choy, which bolted quickly and isn't something that I plan on planting again.

The barn cats have now had the run of the barn and land for four days, and we still seem to have all three of them.  Mike and I have both seen glimpses of Oreo and Persephone, and Mike allegedly saw Pam last night.  Bullet and Lily also saw Oreo and barked at him, so to add extra insurance that the barn cats don't take off I've begun to leave them massive offerings of catnip in addition to cat food and water.  This is also my attempt to try to halt the catnip takover of the herb bed, since the catnip is overshadowing the regular and garlic chives, and Itch seems to have no interest in consuming it.  As you can see below, Lily was convinced the catnip was actually for her.



Catnip 7-20-2011

 Back to last night's dinner - I made a double broccoli pesto with pasta (based on http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/double-broccoli-quinoa-recipe.html, although I had to substitute like crazy since I didn't have a lemon, soy parmesan cheese, and used tofu cream cheese instead of creme fraiche).  I sauteed our pattypan squash, zucchini, green beans, and swiss chard to toss with the pesto and pasta, and made the pesto with our own basil and parsley.  The end result was delicious, and if Mike is getting tired of me endlessly repeating how amazed I am that WE GREW THESE VEGETABLES, he hasn't let on.


Dinner harvest 7-20-2011

Finally, this morning I saw that our giant pumpkin plant has started to flower!  It was just one flower (a male), so I couldn't put my newly researched squash assisted reproduction skills to use.  The flower was also just filled with cucumber beetles (they are attracted to yellow/orange).  I tried to scrape most of them out without disturbing the bees that were circling the flower.  I didn't get stung, and I got at least 10 of the beetles, so I'm counting the experience as a win.