Bugs and Harvests

Well, today I had to perform surgery on my squash and pumpkins. They are being attacked by squash vine borers not to mention cucumber beetles and squash bugs. I don't think I'll be swimming in zucchini or cucumbers this year. I spent about an hour this morning cutting into the stems and pulling out the worms with tweezers. Hopefully at least some of the plants will survive. Next year I think I'll try to prevent the pest attacks a little better with some floating row covers.

The tomatoes are coming in now- 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. Last year I only got a few tomatoes- this year I should have enough to make enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes among other things. I think I'll try stewed tomatoes too. They're like a taste of summer in the cold of winter.

For enchilada sauce I chop onions in the food processor and saute them in some olive oil in a large pot. Add pureed Anaheim chilis, cumin, garlic, and dried oregano. Cook for a few minutes and add pureed peeled tomatoes with their juice (squeeze the seeds out before use). The amounts depend on how much you are making and how spicy you like it. After the spaauce has cooked for about 20 minutes, pour into prepared canning jars with 2 Tbsp lemon juice and process in a water bath canner.

The Yukon gold potatoes that I planted have been harvested. The potatoes didn't do very well again this year. I think next year I won't plant them in the main garden. I might try to set up a garden annex on the west side of the house and put them in there. The garlic is also in- we planted about 100 cloves last fall so hopefully this will last until next summer. Some of the onions and all the shallots are in too. They didn't do all that well either, but the Spanish onions and red and white onions are fine. Next year I will test the soil in each bed so that I can optimize the nutrients for each crop.

Lately I've been making one of my favorite summer salads- Greek salad. I put the juice of 1 lemon in a bowl and add some feta cheese breaking up the cheese into small chunks. Add some diced red onion, sliced cucumber, chunks of sweet pepper and tomatoes and some sliced Kalamata olives. Mix and serve.