The Vegetable Garden

Till 11pm in tomato sauce production…

Cristina Bories — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:28:46 +0000

Another three bags of tomato paste/sauce to the freezer. I also ordered some canning jars to put some of the sauce and make it into small presents for colleagues and friends. Could not bring myself to clean the pot either last night or this morning… too tired, too much in a hurry.

Another day, another full-to-the-handle basket of tomatoes

Cristina Bories — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:12:16 +0000

I cannot wait until the weekend for harvest processing because I will be leaving! The production is really taking off despite two plants in bed 5 not producing at all. Don’t know why. One is the beefmaster and the other I think a big boy. In general, bed 5 was not a good choice for tomatoes. The plants in the shadier side of the bed have not produced and the sunny side ones are leaning heavily more into the sun and still cannot compare in production with the ones in bed 4.

In full production mode: Tomatoes and Basil

Cristina Bories — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:32:20 +0000

Just in time for Steve’s visit, I harvested a whole bunch of tomatoes. It was around three completely full, balancing the tomatoes on the top, type of baskets. On Saturday I went into full production mode and made a fair amount of tomato sauce. Most of it went to freezer bags (aided by my new trusted bag vacuum sealer) and the rest for an impromptu spaghetti dinner for Steve.
Sunday was dedicated to the basil. I had already frozen some bags of leaves, but it was the turn of pesto, for which I used again the new food processor and it works fine. (Not so much for the garlic and nuts though) Now the plants are trimmed down and I expect that it will be some days before I can have another significant harvest, if any. When these plants decide to start flowering it hard to stop them.

Fertilized tomatoes – give them some umph!

Cristina Bories — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:00:42 +0000

Some of my tomatoes have problems. Blossom end rot. I believe this happens when watering is uneven.
But I’ve just harvested 9 beautiful tomatoes and they taste wonderful. I fertilized them as well.
At least the crow protection has worked!

Cutting tops of basil and I can’t keep up

Cristina Bories — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:51:45 +0000

This is the time in which basil starts really pushing to flower. Today I spent some time in the morning cutting flowers and leaves without mercy. There is still a lot of summer to be harvesting basil and must keep up! Its hard. These plants are really trying.
The ones that are not trying too hard are the tomatoes in bed number 5 (by the tomatillos). THe plants are very high (though they sustained some damage after last weekend’s storm) and lush, but hardly have flowers or fruit. The tomatoes in bed number four seem to be doing ok, but not as much fruit as I had expected. I forgot to fertilize when they were starting to flower. I will do that this weekend or sooner if life permits.
Green beans are doing great. I have discovered that stir frying them with tons of garlic, ginger and sesame seeds produce a dish that both Will and Julio eat with fruition. The rest is going systematically to the freezer.

Jalapenos roast

Cristina Bories — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:28:01 +0000

I took my first bag of jalapenos to Tim so that he could roast them in his roasting aparatus. He brought them back today and also convinced me to buy a vacuum sealer machine. I did so and so far, I’m quite happy with the results.
I repackaged the bush beans as well with the new gizmo.

Special Edition: Outing to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Cristina Bories — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:23:20 +0000

Every now and then, I am going to post some special event somehow related to my interest in plants and food. Last Sunday, my husband Will and I went to the Kenilworth aquatic gardens. This is a park in Anacostia that is not well known but well worth the visit, specially in July, when the Lotus flowers are blooming. And what a spectacle! We got there early enough to beat the crowds and had a blast taking pictures of everything, including the bugs. For more photos, here is the link to the picasa album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/CristinaBories/KenilworthAquaticGardens#

The flowers…

and my favorite bug…

I hate crows! Ate all the corn and are starting on the tomatoes

Cristina Bories — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:49:47 +0000

I had been watching the first two tomatoes ripen. They were looking fine. But I waited one day too long and a bloody crow pecked one of them inside out. They took care of all of the corn as well, which was only 5 ears in 4 plants, but I still resented it deeply.
Last year the crows did some damage during the planting season by disturbing emerging little plants. I then put a network of strings criss-crossing the garden from the top of the posts. That worked fine and I stupidly thought that they would not be needed this year after the seedlings were left undisturbed at the beginning of the season. What was I thinking, me fool!
Today I left my son Julio and his friend Michael tasked with recreating the string trellis. According to Will, they ran out of string so on my way back from work, I’ll pick some more in Lowe’s. Secretly, I am considering Julio’s tongue in cheek observation that he would solve the problem with a pellet gun. But Will …
And the results of the crow protection strategy…

More of everything

Cristina Bories — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:34:24 +0000

Party time: cooking and eating bush beans with Chilean friends

Cristina Bories — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:12:28 +0000

Llegaron los porotos granados caserita!!
As promised to Ana Maria and Ella, last Saturday we got together at my house to cook the bush beans in the Chilean style soup called ‘porotos granados’. I think that I started the vegetable garden just for this particular kind of produce that does not seem to be available in the USA. Seems that here you either eat the green bean or the dry bean. Oh boy, are people missing on something by not eating the fresh bean.
I also harvested the biggest of the winter squash and it was fine: the flesh was firm and orange. The soup is very simple. You sautee some chopped onions, cubed winter squash and garlic (of course!). Then drop the beans, some fresh basil leaves and water (or chicken stock). Let it boil gently for about 30 minutes and then throw some cooked corn kernels (preferably fresh not frozen). Serve with more fresh basil chopped on top and have some cubed tomatoes with olive oil for topping. It came out great! I’ve got nothing to envy my mother.
This is really comfort food for us Chilenas! Gringo husbands and boyfriends enjoyed it as well.
We did miss Margaret (recovering from knee surgery) and of course, beloved Sra. Olga; her 96 year old mother.