First tomato...July 19th

I've been away for the last few weeks. Went to Michigan to catch up with the parents and my sister's family who was in town from Florida. I'm so glad that I was able to leave plot #10 in good hands. I'm so lucky to have Kelly! Not only is she cat sitter extraordinaire, but she also took care of plot #10... including picking tomatoes and processing them into a slurry that will be delicious through the winter months.

The pictures below are those that were taken the evening before I left town.
It was on that night that I was able to enjoy the first cherry (super sweet) tomato from my very own garden!

ready set....bite!

delicious!

P O L L I N A T I O N

These photos are not from plot #10, but still at Davis Park Community Garden. I enjoyed seeing the bees and managed to capture a few good pictures of them. With any luck I'll be able to use some of them as I teach my students science next year.

Click on the photo to enlarge them. They look best (I think) when larger!

July 13th Update

Apologies to those who are anxious to know how plot#10 is these days. Had a few days of a slow internet connection where it became frustrating when attempting to blog. Since this is not supposed to be a stress inducing activity, it was put on hold!

But now, here we are.... First a few pictures from the balcony. Remember, we have a few containers growing and a Topsy Turvy, really all due to the fact that we had too many plants in plot #10 and needed to spread them out. I've enjoyed watching the containers make their progress since I can do it while enjoying a morning cup of coffee or as I read a book.
Topsy Turvy on balcony. It's amazing how it grows upside down! A few flowers are present (along with my beach/bath towels) and I'm confident that the tomatoes will be seen soon.

The taller or "jen" container on the balcony. Waiting to see the first tomatoes show up on this plant. Although I don't have a picture of the other container, the shorter or "tera" container, it's the one that has a few tomatoes! I was complaining this weekend how I didn't have any tomatoes on the balcony. I went out there to water today (they need constant water since it's been so hot) and I was shocked to see 2 small tomatoes hanging out!!

Tuulikki - enjoys the balcony in the summer. She's hiding in the beach sheet. Suppose she's feeling a little camera shy?!

Small Cucumber and another Squash. The Cucumber went into a small salad on Sunday morning to accompany our vegetable frittata, but I'm not sure what I'll do with the squash. Better decide soon! Especially since there will be more to harvest before the end of the week.

"Peek a Boo" Tomatillo. Making slow, steady progress.
Super Sweet Tomatoes

The next photo is from a week ago to show the growth in these two tomatoes from July 3 to July 10.
July 3 (then) July 10th (now)

A look at Plot #10. Our tomatillos are growing! They'll soon be taller than the Rainbow Spiral Supports we have for them.

July 3rd Update

The tomatillo wrappers are forming and there are small tomatillos growing inside of them. There will be plenty of tomatillos in plot #10 soon....and with that that means that we'll be making salsa verde! Can't wait! It's been decided that more cilantro should be planted so that we have cilantro ready when the tomatillos are ready!

Other tomatoes are growing. Can't remember which is which at this point, but as they turn red identifying them should be a bit easier. We'll also be able to tell if those that had the "red" ladders to climb are more red compared to the others.

I'm hiding behind the tomatillos... showing off the rainbow spirals that are taming the tomatillos. Gardener's Supply Company could use me for a product model! ;-) Just kidding of course!

Other things that are still growing in plot#10 - squash, cucumber, peppers, mint, oregano, sage, basil, thai basil, and a variety of onions. Oh and how could I forget... We should have sunflowers opening soon too!

Fresh Summer Pasta

So, I'm not sure if it's against the name of this blog to dedicate a post to "post plot#10" but I'm doing it anyway!

I didn't make it to plot#10 today, in fact I didn't make it anywhere farther than the trash/recycling bins on the street today! But before I digress to what I did do for the day, let's just skip to the moment where I decided that I needed dinner.

As you know we've had several yellow squash come out of plot #10. I've decided that a new recipe or something different should be done with these vegetables as they come out of plot#10 to have a good variety of meals this summer.

Meal 1 with yellow squash was a few weeks ago... sauteed squash, eggplant, onions, and peppers served over rice. (Delicious)

Meal 2 with yellow squash really wasn't a meal, but a snack. Yellow squash chips, which I referenced in my last post. (Still delicious)

Meal 3 (that's tonight's meal!) is what I'm calling FRESH Summer Pasta! I should give credit to the recipe that started my meal...though I didn't actually follow it. So I'll just tell you what I did and then give you the picture run down!

What you'll need: 1 yellow squash (thickly sliced), 2-3 gloves of garlic chopped, 1 medium onion chopped, 2-3 Tbsp EVOO, salt/pepper to taste, 5 fresh mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh oregano, 2 fresh tomatoes chopped, angel hair pasta, a few pinches of shredded mozzarella.

It was pretty simple; in a large skillet add EVOO, garlic, and onions - cook on Med-High heat for 3 minutes. Start the water that you'll be boiling the pasta in in a medium pot (that way everything gets done at the same time!) Add the yellow squash slices to the skillet. Put them in in a single layer. Cover and let them steam/cook for about 10-12 minutes. I flipped mine a few times in that span of time. Add oregano/basil, mushrooms at about the 7 minute mark. (Hopefully your water is boiling and pasta has been added - al dente 6 minutes.) Add the tomatoes at the very end- the last 2 minutes. They don't really cook, but rather just get warm. Turn off heat on pot and skillet. Drain pasta. Plate it! Add cheese if desired.

If I do say so myself, this was tasty, and easy to make! And ... I know that I've shocked my mother in making a dinner by choice with tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms!!

EVOO, onions, and garlic

thick slices of yellow squash

oregano, mushrooms, basil

the not-so-fresh ingredients

in the skillet

drained pasta (ha!)

plate it up!

add a bit of cheese - ENJOY!

Ho-Hu-Ha!

That's Rhode Island speak for the weather these days. Hot, Humid, and Hazy!

It's been a good start to the summer. The temperatures have been warmer this June than others that I can remember in my time here. And that means that it's making for good progress in the plot#10.

Here are tomatoes!

The cucumbers are doing well! (in plot#10)

The cucumber plant that's trying to survive up on the hill.

Another squash flower. We've had 3 full grown, ready to eat straight neck yellow squash out of plot#10 so far. This weekend we made squash chips with a few of them. They were pretty good, but took way longer to get crispy than the recipe said.

And... the surprise of the morning -- this pepper.
Yes, we've planted peppers but we have not grown peppers. This was found laying in the front of plot#10 near the sunflower. How strange. Is this some sort of "good-luck-green-thumb-token" that's to be passed around from garden plot to garden plot?

It's a jungle in there!

Saturday - June, 19th

It sure does appear that plot#10 is out of control. I've decided that I can't really complain though. I could be the first time "community gardener" with a dead looking plot and be ready to give up on it already. It's just the opposite! The garden is growing like crazy.

Today we spent time at the garden moving more things out of plot#10 and up to the hillside bed. Since no one has taken action on the hillside beds we're going to use the last one. We moved some of the sunflowers to the hillside bed along with one more squash plant and two cucumber plants. We're hoping that they survive the move- gave them plenty of water before we left tonight and will be back tomorrow to make sure that they aren't too thirsty!

Today was Pride Fest 2010 in Providence. Didn't make it down there but we did manage to get our rainbow spirals in plot#10 to support the tomatillos. (Who knew that those suckers grow up to 6 feet tall!) The spirals are going to be good for the tomatillos and the big bonus is that they don't take up a lot of space!

Holy Squash! Wow! We've got real squash. :-)

Some of our tomato plants are going to be growing with red tomato ladders while a few others have the regular silver cages. I suppose you can call it an experiment of sorts. Supposedly the red tomato ladders are supposed to help the tomatoes be RED! These are also space savers!

Just one more day of school-- which means then there will be more posts and more photos from plot#10. Stay tuned!

Monday, June 14th - Squash are making a Move!

Before I get started on the real post for today...Below are the new pots I got for my birthday from Tammy, Joel, Hanalei, and Heliana! I'm not sure what's going in them but they are just my style!

Monday, June 14th

Boy, did I get myself into it at garden plot #10 today. I've managed to get approval to use some of the hillside space for the yellow squash that's been growing out of control in plot #10. In a matter of minutes though I decided to take the bull by the horns and do the work that I not in the mood to do!

I went and went to the shed, got the wheelbarrow and shovel and got to work. Note to self: One should not wear flip flops while trying to shovel. With all my might I pushed that wheelbarrow full of dirt up the hill (only losing my balance and falling to my knees once) to the hillside bed that needed to be filled in. I don't want to be greedy of space up there, so I just filled in about a third of that bed. I then headed down to plot #10 to prepare the transplant the 2 squash plants up to the hillside bed. I tried my best to do what Terawould have done... I carefully dug up the plants, soaked them in the water bucket for a few minutes and then took them up to their new home. I dug them their own little hole, filled it in with dirt and gave them plenty of water. It's going to be a hot, steamy week for them up there, but I'm hoping that they survive thetransplant!

I spent a little more time getting some water on the plot, even though we had plenty of rain this weekend. I then cut some spinach (so it doesn't go to seed), swiss chard, and cilantro to bring home. I'm hoping to cook the spinach and chard tomorrow for a snack when I get home from school.

Keep your fingers crossed for the squash! :-)

Left side of plot#10 - l to r: oregano, cucumbers, squash

Front 1/2 of Right side of plot #10 - l to r: tomatoes (rear), spinach and swiss chard

Back 1/2 of Right side of plot #10 - l to r: sunflowers, tomatillos, sunflowers

There's other stuff hiding in there -behind the tall tomatillos!

The cool flower is from the tomatillos

Plot #10 when I got there this afternoon.

The hillside bed, getting ready for some dirt!

The squash plants that I moved.

The squash plants looking good!