Balancing the Box Weights

The heavy veggies are starting to ripen. Eggplants love growing in the greenhouse. They love heat. Pollination still takes some time, but I think we'll have quite a few more eggplants in the coming months.

I love record-keeping. It helps me understand what vegetables grow well and if they are worth growing. Last year, we were already sending tomatoes to Fare Share food bank two weeks ago. Today's haul of 148 tomatoes helped this year to catch up to last year.

Because there were going to be some heavy weights today, we decided to fill the bottoms of all 8 crates with heavy vegetables and top them with lighter ones. So, there was a tomato/bean combo....

..... and a tomato/perpetual spinach combo. Fare Share folks now send food out most days, so there is less worry about vegetables wilting if we come on a day other than when neighbours are shopping. We still hedge our bets by wrapping all herbs and flowers and some vegetables in wet paper towels in a plastic bag.

It's been a good year for tomatoes here. Zucchini and cucumbers not so much. We were wondering if our well was keeping up to the vegetable watering in this droughty summer. Last week, Ted measured the depth and it was higher than it was in 2021, a much rainier year. I water only the vegetables with a sprinkler a few x/week. I hand-water anything that has been transplanted. The perennial flowers are on their own. No watering for them.

A tomato/basil crate.

When I bagged up the cherry tomatoes, I put a few basil leaves in each one. Oh the meals that one could make with those two ingredients added!

We will be seeing grandkids tomorrow so a picking of blueberries was needed.

Oh, and Laura? Where is Laura? Can you spot her picking blueberries? She really is in the image below.

Here is a clearer image.

There still were 2 1/4 quarts of blueberries this morning.

And, finally, our bouquets had a cool colour look to them today. Spirea leaves make a nice addition at this time of the year with their reddish stems.

What did our gardens give today? 148 lbs.

• 8 zucchini

• 23 cucumbers

• 6 eggplants

• 148 tomatoes

• 12 bunches of perpetual spinach

• 3 bunches of Swiss Chard

• 4 bags of green and yellow beans

• 6 bunches of kale

• 4 bunches of parsley

• 4 bunches of mint

• 6 bunches of oregano

• 4 bunches of thyme

• 10 bunches of basil

• 10 beets

• 15 bouquets of flowers

• 4 bunches of chives

• 9 bags of cherry tomatoes with basil

When we dropped everything off at Fare Share, the folks there said that neighbours in villages like Bewdley and Colborne really appreciate vegetables being brought to them as many of their gardens are suffering in the drought. Check their poster below for Mobile Markets year you.