Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Salsa, Ears and Strawberry Stress

Hello again

Well, the garden is really cookin' (HA!). Apparently it was the hottest June Oklahoma has had since 1911. The heat has been pretty good for the tomatoes, great for the corn and super bad for the poor poor strawberry plants.

Salsa!


I have been making fresh salsa since I first started gardening. It's just fun and easy!


I use:
-a handful of fresh cilantro
-fresh squeezed lemon juice
-home grown garlic & onions
-Anaheim peppers
-salt & pepper
-and a whole bunch of home grown tomatoes
(cherry & standard sized).




Someday I hope to get it all from my garden, but this year I grew peppers that are MUCH too hot for me, my cilantro bolted in early june and well I don't know how to grow lemons here. (I guess I could get a dwarf variety and grow it in doors...
maybe next year...

not sure what this die off is about. The rest of this tomato plant is great though




YUM!!!!




And now The Strawberries!

This how most of my strawberry plants looked after forgetting to water them for ONE DAY!!!

It's just not fair. 

So, I moved them to the shady side of the house (the front) and I hope they will survive this super summer out there.

Another factor that seemed to play a roll was the type of container. All of the plants in plastic pots were much less stressed.
I may have to re-evaluate keeping them in terracotta pots... or not.

*** update: Terra Cotta Pot Sealer. I'm not sure how toxic it is, but it may be worth looking into.***





AND the EARS!!!

I have Corn Corn Corn!! And I did not have to grow it in a block! TAKE THAT CONVENTION!

Oh and there is more where that came from! 
The 2nd crop just started pushing it's tassels out. 


Here are 2 bonus pictures

#1
I love this Bell Pepper (Golden Bell) I haven't let them turn yellow though.
 I always pick them when they're light green.

#2

Brussels Sprouts! I hope they turn out because I really love to eat them.

5 comments:

  1. Looks yummy. Really like your yellow pepper even if you pick it green. I tried having a yellow one last year. The green house apparently game me two green bells instead. Maybe this year!

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  2. BEST salsa I've ever had! Seriously.
    My strawberry plant died because I went to Dallas for 5 dies. Darn. Are terra cotta pots not good for plants???

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  3. RaeChill, the clay pots are porous and water evaporates quickly. I like the look of clay, too, (and the cost)so when we get into the dead of summer, I place the clay pot inside a bigger plastic pot and water the clay pot there. The plastic pot will hold the water and the clay will suck it up as needed. You can also sink them into the ground if you have an area of nasty weeds where nothing will grow. The heat's a pain in the butt, I know. But there are ways around it.

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  4. I think I've heard of a Sealer for the clay pots. I may have imagined it though. I'll go look it up (because yeah I like how they look too)

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  5. and Thank you Kaytee!!! I just picked a bunch more tomatoes so salsa is eminent!

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