And today, I had a harvest day...

Some of the Okinawa and Mahon sweet potatoes, these were planted in June, next week I will harvest some more. The purple ones are so big, I will start slips of these 2 varieties for spring for me and those interested.

More beans

Papayas are so good, I am making juices, salads and drying them. Tomatoes are starting to ripen very fast! More eggplants besides the ones that I already gave away.

I am getting wasaby arugula, lettuce, chinese cabbage and radishes

I planted a mini variety of garden peas that is producing full size peas for my dog Tiny, the bucket is easy for him to see and he will leave the tall varieties for me (I hope)

{{gwi:46966}}

Thank you Amberroses, Indigo tomatoes that you sent me are ripening nicely...

Silvia

Great photos- thanks for sharing! And great looking harvest you've got there. What kind of papayas are you growing?

Hi Sylvia

I love the photos of your yard, plants and harvestings! Especially now that I've seen your place in person.

When I left the party last Sat I went to visit my parents and your beautiful home and fabulous garden were all I could talk about. I am truly impressed by all your hard work.

So when you said you had a busy weekend, I laughed since I know you must have busy weekends every day!

Thanks so much for all you do (on the forum and at your parties!) I really learn alot from you.

Susie

WOW is all I can say! I so want a garden like that. I am scared as I can be if big bugs, though, and am worried I will attract them to my yard here in FL. So I am starting small and starting in winter. Your harvest is enviable!

Hi irun5k - Thank you, I am growing Known You papayas and they are on their second year. I don't think I ever had so many and good tasting papayas. People walking on the trail are always looking at them and they even come to knock the door and asked me for some. I recently gave some to a man and he said he like them green and fried. For next season I have seedlings of red queen and red royale...

Hi Susie - Remember the party? it was so busy! I didn't even see you when you came. That is why I asked the guests to try to come on time so we all have the chance to meet and talk...I understand the ones that travel from far, sometimes is not possible. You are very welcome to come to our next party and you can bring your parents if you want.
And yes, you are right! the garden keeps me very busy keeping it up, especially the harvest. Sometimes can wait and some others cannot. Sweet potatoes will be good for a long time...but I had to work right away on the cucumbers, squash. Beans last for a little bit in the fridge and I made oven roasted tomatoes to go in jars with olive oil in the fridge, that way they last a very long time. Same with the papaya salad that I am making today while there are more papayas drying in the dehydrator.
And today is cold! after the sun comes up, I will harvest more Okinawa sweet potatoes.
I will be planting peas and cold crops now that it got cold.
And I love the garden, the harvest, cooking and parties and is a lot of fun to learn together and when I meet the garden friends is even more fun!
Thank you Susie and look forward to see you again in our next garden party!
In the meantime feel free to ask me any question about your veggie gardening so you can start harvesting too...

Hi Wildatheart - Thank you, today is the day you should start! it is cold already. Don't be afraid of the bugs, we are bigger than them,lol
We are coming to my favorite season where we have less bugs and I grow a lot of greens and cold crops that we enjoyed eating at my house.
Where are you located? this info is important to advice you correctly according to your zone...

Silvia

I'm happy to see the Indigo Rose tomatoes growing so well for you Silvia. I planted mine next to the seeds from Italy that you sent me, but they aren't as far along as yours yet. Nice harvest you have there :) Looks like the cooler temperature brought out the people to Epcot.

Hi Amber - It is always fun at Disney, you know that.:) There was so many people that in the Florida grown booth, they run out of things. I ordered and paid for a sangria and a shrimp ceviche that was was supposed to have roasted vegetables and plantains. Well they didn't have sangria so I got 2 wines instead. And they only gave me a tiny dish with ceviche and I complained so they gave me the other dish that came with corn and something else and after a while they brought some plantains from somewhere,lol.
And it got cold and windy! but there was a man standing in the cranberries giving a lecture.:)

From the dishes that I tried, I liked the South Africa spinach and paneer, but after 6 hours of sampling I didn't want to try anything anymore...

China pork pot stickers and Mongolian beef in a sticky bun were good

Silvia

Hi Silvia,
I believe you replied to my post, but if not I'll tell you here: I am in zone 8--extreme northern part of the panhandle. I know what you mean about the bugs. Lol. I can handle spiders, snakes, mice, reptiles of any kind, but for some reason the big bugs get me. ((shiver))

Hi Wildatheart - Yes, I saw that when I replied on the other thread, you must be colder than us this morning.
I am okay with any bug, I use paper towels soaked in alcohol and gloves to kill them. But show me a snake or a mouse and I will scream! lol But if you want to garden you have to take the good and the bad, the good is in greater amount anyway and you get to enjoy your harvest...keep gardening and asking questions, that is the best way to learn.:)

Silvia

More Okinawa purple sweet potatoes I harvested today, they are so good! that they are sinful.:)

Harry, this is how they look after I cut them...

My lunch today, fried purple sweet potatoes, leftover roasted pork with red lime juice, tomatoes from the garden

The taste of the Okinawa sp is far superior than any other sp that I tried. They are more savory and starchy but totally different than a purple regular potato. I still have to try the Mahon and compare them with the Amish bush Porto Rico.
I will be growing a lot of slips from the Okinawa for those garden friends that are coming to the April garden party.

Silvia

Hi Silvia. Is this the first year That you have grown the pretty purple SW? Are they as sweet as your porto rico and do the vines get very long. If your fried SW for lunch was as good as the regular SW that are fried you have a winner for sure.
I'm looking forward to growing them next year. I just came in with a gallon and a half of dry BJBBs to shell tonite.They have really produced a bumper crop this year.
Harry

Silvia--gorgeous lunch! A feast for the eyes!
You are one brave lady to kill bugs with gloved hands. I think I feel faint just thinking of it. Lol.
Yes, we've already dipped into the 30s in the mornings (haven't stayed there long). I LOVE it!

Hi Harry!

I wish that you live closer, I would invite you for lunch today.:)
This is the first time that I am growing the Okinawa sweet potato, I really have a small garden so I planted them around the blackberries and sugarcane. I kept cutting the vines so they wouldn't run over other places. You can keep the vines as small as the bush ones cutting them. Next warm season I am going to plant them in the raised beds. I will double the amount, let's say if I am growing 6 slips of the bush porto rico, I will grow 12 of the Okinawa. The color keeps a deep purple even after cooking, I suppose after some curing they will taste better. They are excellent now!
You must be busy shelling all those BJBB,lol. I am very busy too making papaya chips in the dehydrator, they taste good with salt like french fries but better for you...

Thank you Wildatheart - You should try to do a lot of gardening now since you like the cold, me on the other hand likes the heat, after living in Arizona for 10 years I put gloves for anything. This morning when I went to walk my dog on the trail, I was thinking that is time to take out the leather gloves to walk and I had scarf too.lol.

Silvia

Hello Sylvia! Your posts are a joy to read and your garden is the reason for my revamping of my garden. This will be the first time I go to the raised beds instead of in ground planting. Life has gotten in the way and I am late but as my Mama says...just experiment! A question for you about tomatoes....can you plant different varieties next to each other and not get cross pollination? I have the kellogg and others but have been wondering about close proximity and keeping my heirloom varieties heirloom varieties! LOL Thanks!
Marla

Marla - Thank you and I am glad to hear that you are gardening, we all experiment at one time or another, that is how we learn.:)

About the tomatoes, I never had problem cross pollinating. Each time that I saved the seed it comes true. Of course I am not in the business of selling seeds where I would have to bag the blossoms to keep them pure.

Tomatoes this season are very productive! I will be busy today making recipes with the harvest.

Silvia

Everything looks so great Silvia. Those Indigo Blues sure look a lot like the previous Ohio Blues, any idea what they are crossed with?

Tom

Tom, they are probably about the same crosses like the seeds that you gave me, but they are probably more stable now. I will save some seeds and see what happens next spring.

Carrots are so sweet this time, I will make breads and jams to sample for the spring...

The indigo tomatoes look very purple with the cooler weather and they are next to your favorite purple podded beans, in fact all the row of beans are purple and blue, I like it! and is next to the double pea vine that some garden friends liked it when they saw it.

Silvia

Silvia ~ Everything looks great! Those dark sweet potatoes look like they could be cooked beets. I would love to have some slips in the spring if you could spare some. Thanks.

Christine

Silvia - I forgot to ask about your papaya chips. Are you using green or ripe papaya for the chips?

Christine, thank you. When cooked the Okinawa purple for sure don't taste like beets, they have their own flavor that I really like. Yesterday I had a dinner party for friends and I showed them one of the big purple sp and told them that I was going to cook for them the next time...
I hope to have plenty of slips next spring.
I only use ripe papaya, the green ones I give them away to anybody that asks.

And for all of you garden friends here are some foods that I made yesterday

roasted tomato soup was the bomb!lol

also made charred tomato salsa

sweet potatoes with red rice

meyer lemon pie

Tuscan cookies with rosemary and a jam from my garden

Everyone enjoyed the food!

Silvia