Squash Blossoms and Green Tomatoes

After a full week of sun, the plants in our borrowed garden space are flourishing.

We have bright yellow blossoms on summer and winter squash vines. When I look into the flowers, I often see two three or types of bees loading up on pollen.

This squash flower has a tiny blue hubbard fruit attached.

We also have dozens of green tomatoes that are rapidly growing.

And sungolds that are starting to ripen. I can hardly wait for the cooler temperatures and red tomatoes of the fall.

Out of the Apartment

I have been spending a lot of time away from the apartment lately, so I have not been posting as frequently as usual.

I have been gardening at the Turner House, where there is no shortage of greens to eat.

Along with tomatoes, I planted a row of squashes and melons. I had mixed results with squash last year, so it will be interesting to see this year's outcome.

The garden is surrounded by a large green fence that protects our plants from the hungry neighbors.

The Oregon strawberry season is finally underway. We picked 16 pounds of Shuksas in Helvatia last week. We froze three quarters of the batch and ate the rest fresh, which took several days.

Goldfinches are also in full bloom. American and lessers are making their way through many ounces of thistle seeds each week.

Spring Gardening

Now that is mid-spring, rhododendrons and other woody shrubs are in full bloom and it is time to get our gardens in order.

At one end of our raised bed, the winter lettuce is salad-ready and the snap peas are flowering.

We tilled the other end, pulled out the bolting arugula, and planted a few tomato starts. We are also trying to grow a few different veggies from seed this year such as beets, carrots, and dill.

To save room for other plants in the bed, we planted two more tomato starts in containers.

Harvest Time

During the last few weeks, we have been getting great shipments of produce from our CSA farm. Judging from the eggplants, purple tomatillos, purple pole beans, purple majesty potatoes, and purple bell peppers, our farmer Steve seems to have an inordinate fondness for a certain color, but we'll take any whatever vegetables he's offering.


This weekend, we attended the annual harvest party at the farm, which involved a huge potluck feast, fresh-pressed apple cider, a scavenger hunt, and a square dance.

These goats were thrilled to have so many people around to feed them green beans.

There is only a month of farm pickups left, but there appears to be enough tomatoes and other crops to last the rest of the year.


These peppers and marigolds complement each other well.

I've been busy revising a paper (awful work) so I had not been to our borrowed garden for some time.

This morning I found tomatoes such as these Belle Starrs pulling their vines down to the ground.


While others are climbing for the sky.


I picked a good load of tomatoes, beans, tomatillos, and my first-ever winter squash (top left). I dont know if I should eat it or display it as art.

This week, we will be making more tomato and tomatillo sauce for winter storage. At least our freezer economy is in good shape.

Food Prep Season

With our garden and CSA farm both producing great yields, I have been busy preparing much the food for storage.


Apart from occasionally eating out, I hope we can survive solely on what we put up during our extended Oregon harvest.

We never know how much we will get of each item from week to week, so it can be a struggle to preserve the produce that arrives in abundance.


We have no shortage of basil, which I have been grinding with olive oil and freezing for future pasta dishes.


Now that tomatoes are growing and ripening faster than we can eat them all, I have also started cooking them down to tomato sauce.


Last night, I made a pot of beautiful orange-colored sauce that I froze for future pizzas.

We still have a fridge full of pole beans and summer squash. Way too much for us to eat now, so I am planning to blanch, puree, and freeze like crazy while watching college football tomorrow.

If you have not noticed, I am keeping tally of the records of my three teams throughout the season. In addition to Oklahoma, my graduate school, I follow the University of Oregon (Sarah's undergraduate school) and the University of Montana (my undergrad school). Since the three teams will not be playing each other this season, there should be no conflicts of interest.


I hope all three teams remain undefeated when the time comes to eat this winter squash.

Garden Workings

Yesterday, I pulled several bucketfuls of weeds and helped Fred construct a cucumber fence in the garden. As the cucumber vines grow and attempt to take over the other plants, he will string them between the wires to train them to grow upwards instead of outwards.

While in the garden, I noticed the first ripe tomatoes of the season! An early ripening variety from Europe. We ate them with lunch, ushering in the short time of the year when fresh tomatoes have flavor.


Our dinosaur kale plants are approaching the size of small dinosaurs. I have been harvesting shopping bag-full amounts of leaves, which I bring home to blanch, chop, and freeze for winter soups and pasta. At this rate, we will not need to buy our favorite leafy green at the grocery store for the rest of the year.

Summer Garden Update

During the last two days, I alternated computer and garden work at the Turners' house.


My Grandpa-in law Fred's garden is really a small-scale tomato farm with a few more crops thrown in for good measure. Fred, Sarah, and I have planted 58 tomato plants and Fred has constructed a wooden frame system to support the plants. I can hardly wait til September.

Our raised bed has flourished in the recent high temperatures.


I thinned the dinosaur kale and arugula, resulting in several bags full o' greens.


It looks like we will be celebrating Independence Day with feasts of large salads and stir fries.

Andie enjoyed some garden time, as did her cousin Clark the cat.


Looking ahead to late fall, Fred started a small pumpkin patch and I noticed that our winter squash seed have sprouted.


Now we wait for our treasures to grow and find time to weed and water whenever we can.

Gardening 101

Today I needed a break from my computers, so I brought some papers for reading and editing to My grandparents in law's house. While there, Andie and I spent time preparing a raised bed that Fred is loaning us in his garden.


With a little instruction, I tilled the bed while Andie grazed nearby. We think she is part cattle dog, after all.


Fred has one bed stocked with raspberries, lettuce, and onions.


The rest of the garden will be tilled with a heavy-duty rig in preparation for dozens of tomato starts.


Fred assures us that we can plant our own tomatoes in any unused space. Fred grew up on a tomato farm in the Okanagan Valley, so I could not ask for a better garden mentor. I can't wait until we have boxes of tomatoes to preserve and garnish every meal.


When Sarah finished work, we planted some starts that had been sitting on our deck during the past two weeks.


Now that they are in the ground, we are thinking about what seeds and starts to plant in the remaining space.

Deck Garden Maintenance

This weekend, I performed some overdue maintenance on my deck garden/bird feeding station. We live on the third floor and face the northwest, so the deck does not receive much sun or rain at any time of the year. I therefore try to grow forest understory plants and herbs and veggies that I found, through trial and error, can survive on the deck.


My containers were in disarray, filled with remnants from the last growing season and weeds that took hold. The surviving plants needed pruning and watering to improve their appearance and help them make it to the next summer. So far, the only native survivors are my beloved Indian plum, a vine maple, and two bunches of purple wood sorrel. Among the herbs, a purple sage, an English lavender, an Italian parsley, and some dormant Hood strawberries remain.


The indian plum now has four inflorescences emerging from their buds.


I cut down the remnants of last year’s cherry tomatoes, the only types that grow well under our poor sunlight conditions. I leave the twine loosely attached to the frames for the house finches to use as nest material.


I sprinkle seed into the large pots for ground foraging birds such as mourning doves and juncos.


The finished product! Ready for this spring’s planting...