Another incredible 84ยบ day out there, dry and breezy, and I'm missing it again! BUT... this is the reason I have a garden, right? More canning today! Since it took a week to amass the tomatoes I needed this time to warrant canning, it's obvious that the season is winding down out there. Yet another sign that summer is ending...
Butternut Squash!
I'm starting to get a lot of grape tomatoes off the plants I put in after the Amish Paste succumbed to blight, I'm thinking I'll dry these since they are wonderful added to hummus during the winter. The second planting of beans are starting to produce now. At least those and the bell peppers above are easy to take care of:
Although if I'm ever arrested for a crime, it will probably involve the heist of a semi-truck carrying FoodSaver bags, they sure are expensive. I start to get nervous when the roll starts emptying!
The week's batch of Brandywines were turned into crushed tomatoes with basil. I also decided to strain and pressure can the juice separately as well today. It can't hurt to have some of that on hand to add to stews or chili this winter, although I'm sure hubby will have a different idea for that - probably involving added jalapenos, a celery stick and a little something extra :)
Just for fun and information -
I have some ornamental gourds growing on the fence, and I noticed one that had little holes drilled all over it. Hmmm "what now?" I ask myself. I'm not too torn up about this since they aren't for eating anyways, but I couldn't resist finding out what new-to-my-garden pest have I encountered?
I already had a bowl of water/bleach mixture to dip my squash in before storing, so I decided to be a little demented and throw the little gourd in just to see who's living in there...
See it? Little green worm on the left side being flooded out of his comfy home! I put it on the counter to dry off, thinking the bleach surely would have killed him when I came back. Nope, 10 minutes later he was inching across the counter towards safety. Needless to say, he went down the drain a second later, but what the heck worm lives through a bleach bath and keeps on truckin'?... a Pickleworm! Apparently they prefer the squash family and are easily distinguished by those little drillbit looking holes bored into the fruit. So now we have that to look forward to, since I assume it won't be happy with inedible ornamental gourds and will surely move on to become my nemesis in some other fruit next year. If you want to read more about the Pickleworm, click here, and if you prefer to remain in the dark about new pests, I can't blame you! Anytime we start googling things like "un-killable green worm drilling holes in gourds", do we really expect good news?!
holly cow-I need a a pair of magnifying glasses,I must have stared at that squash for 30 seconds--lol
ReplyDeleteYou are not going to believe this but I had a post on auto publish for tomorrow talking about this same stinking worm. I will need to go amend that to include your link. I hate it! I have had my quota of bugs and blight this year. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteJudy, LOL... that worm blends in to the stripes on the gourd!
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Jane, Dirty Rotten Worms! I think they are networking us... they probably have a wormy Facebook page where they tell each other where to go... :)
hey you 2 ,I'm running out of chairs to fall off of--Jane and Erin
ReplyDeleteI feel ashamed. My harvest is piddly in comparison. Lovin' the butternut!!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, here's some shame for you... would you believe I've never even tried one? I'm not a squash fan, but I think it's because I've never really HAD it before.. just chunks of crookneck in my mixed veggies at a restaurant! I figured it was time to conquer another veggie in the garden.
ReplyDeleteYet another pest! Lovely. I stared at the picture, too, trying to find the little beast. Glad you sent him down the drain. I hope you ran the disposal, just to make sure. That would take all possibility of a worm facebook page away.
ReplyDelete~~Lori
Any bug that lives through a bleach bath...well, I don't know, but that's just amazing. And to see now in the comments that Jane dealt with the same thing? Cripes. Maybe they are taking over!
ReplyDeleteOh for pete's sake! Both of you have them?
ReplyDeleteHell with it all. Just let me be stupid, would ya???
Yikes, what next? I must say, it's a cute name for a worm.
ReplyDeleteWow you have more pests in the garden than I've ever seen. Must be the warm moist climate that's good for bugs and plants. Here the cold winters kill lots of bugs including fleas. So there is something to be said for having a cold winter.
ReplyDeleteNow if my tomatoes would just get ripe I may actually be able to can or freeze some of them.
Perhaps you are the Queen of Bugs? What is it with you and bugs down there???? And no, I'm NOT looking up info on that. Blech!
ReplyDeleteThe picklworms are the biggest problem in gardens down here.
ReplyDeletePickleworms??! I've never even heard of pickleworms. And I'm with Sue playing Queen of DeNial. I don't have time to look up more about the pickleworm, and I don't think I'm strong enough to do so right now. :o( Would we complain about a cold, severe winter coming up if we knew it would knock out some of these insects??
ReplyDeleteLori, I would have but I don't have a disposal LOL! I made sure he was good & gone though!
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Sparkless & Sue, the bugs have been killer here this summer, even bugs I recognize but have never had a problem with, like grasshoppers - are invading! We are now on to our 2nd generation of Squash Vine Borers, too. Down here we can have several generations in one season of some pests so you have to stay on your toes!
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Dani, looks like our climate is definitely headed your direction in years to come.
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Mama Pea, isn't is crazy? I don't even know what to speculate on for this coming winter, I think investing in a Ponzi scheme is less risky at this point!
I suppose I'm lucky that my biggest insect pest eats all my herbs and not my veggies. I'm envious of your tomato harvest! Mine has been bigger this year, but (thanks to you) I'm growing more varieties than I have in the past, and am discovering New and Interesting Tomato Problems, like cracking and green shoulders. More lessons learned for next year!
ReplyDeleteGood lord! Another pest identified? Will there ever be and end to this? I can hardly wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. Geez.
ReplyDeleteJust saying hello from the Amish settlement of Lebanon,Pa. Richard from Amish Stories.
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