Starting A New Round of Planting-Beets, Chard, and Radishes

Well I had room in half of one of my raised beds for more vegetables. So I planted beets, swiss chard and assorted radish seeds. However, before doing that, I raked in pine fines, organic fertilizer and cow poo.

We shall see how that goes. I need to harvest basil this week and make more pesto to freeze.

Highlights of the Ohio Valley Greenmarket: Event and Lectures

This is what I will be doing on Sunday. Can you believe this is free??? Glenwood Gardens is a fabulous place.It is like having a little piece of heaven on this Earth. Anyone interested in more info can click here. You should check out Jennifer Bartley's website at  . www.americanpotager.com . She will be one of the speakers.
SUNDAY AUG 5 All Day 11a-5p		Meet the Greenmarket community and learn how local businesses are making a sustainable difference. Join us for the day at Glenwood Gardens and enjoy free admission to the Highfield Discovery Garden, then down to the meadow for a children's farmers market, local vendors, cooking and gardening demonstrations, and discussions. Listen to compelling local speakers, including Jennifer Bartley, author of The Kitchen Garden Handbook. Glenwood Gardens will be open for exploration and attendance is free!
		Highlights of the Ohio Valley Greenmarket: Highfield Discovery Garden is FREE August 5! (Save $5/person) Meet and buy from local food producers at the Farmers' Market in the Meadow See the new Ford C-Max Hybrid and Ford Focus Electric cars Bring the kids to shop at the Whole Foods Children's Farmer's Market Meet local producers that supply regional Chipotle restaurants Climb inside Metro's hybrid buses! Taste locally grown and produced Ohio wines Free Stuff!
FREE!
		The Greater Cincinnati Master Gardeners Speakers Tent
		12:00p Todd Shock & Amber GalliharChipotle – Cultivating a Better World 12:30p Steven GeddesHeritage Breed Pigs 1:00p Braden Trauth of This Land Permaculture: The Path into the Next Millennium 1:30p Kathy Charvat of The Greater Cincinnati Master Gardeners Achieving a Big Harvest from Little Plants in Pots  2:00p Brad Rogers of Urban Harvest High-Yield Urban Aquaponics  2:30p Juliann Gardner of One Small GardenGrowing Four Seasons of Veggies in One Small Garden 3:00p Heather Curliss of Greener Stock Holistic Approach to Green Design and Building 3:30p Jennifer Bartley of American Potager Sizzle! Cooking Fresh from the Summer Garden 4:00p Matthew Kennedy of Sustain Brands Local and Sustainable: Working within the Current Business Structure
		Jennifer Bartley is the founder of American Potager, a landscape architecture firm in Columbus Ohio, specializing in seasonal, sustainable, and edible landscapes. She is most recently the author of The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook, exploring the potential to mix traditional ornamental gardens with seasonal and edible plants for the kitchen. The book contains information about gardening tips, garden design advice, and seasonal recipes. www.americanpotager.com

Charentais Melon

Charentais Melon is a French Melon that you will not find in the grocery store. It does not travel well and you may find it in the farmer's market. Otherwise  you will have to grow your own. Growing cucumbers and melons in my garden is a challenge because of beetles and they carry wilt diseases that destroy these plants. We love Charentais Melon and so I decided to try to grow this year. Here is an example of what we have so far. The melons are now the size of a baseball.

It was so humid outside when I took this photo that the photo fogged over. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I continue to battle the beetles with neem and insecticidal soap.

What is Going On in The Garden

Round 2 of the bush beans should have beans ready to pick in a couple of weeks. I planted round 3 of the bush beans last week and they are sprouting. I have swiss chard ready to harvest, along with more tomatoes and basil. Eggplant and zucchini are coming along nicely.

I have melons the size of tennis balls and hopefully wilt will not attack the vines. What I can tell you is that the yellow beetles with black spots are very attracted to the vines. So I with spray them with Neem this weekend.

Plus I plan to plant more basil this week and swiss chard.

Podcast-All About Pie-A Pie For All Regions: Serving Up The American Slice

I n keeping with this week's TWDBWJ Blueberry Nectarine pie post, I thought the pie lovers would enjoy this podcast from NPR. Now I really love their conversation about pie for breakfast. That is living. What pie would you eat for breakfast? I would go for the  berry type of pie.
Click on the podcast below!

A Pie For All Regions: Serving Up The American Slice

Adrienne Kane A Northeastern Bakewell Pie (left) and Western Chocolate Raisin Pie cool on author Adrienne Kane's Connecticut kitchen counter. Photo from the NPR link.

Tuesdays With Dorie: Baking With Julia- Blueberry Nectarine Pie

This Blueberry Nectarine Pie was a piece of cake to make ( pardon the pun).

Close up of baked pie

The pie crust was easy easy to make and so was the filling. I did cut back on the sugar for the filling. I used a scant  3/4 cup. What I mean by that is that I used less than 3/4 of a cup of sugar, but more than 1/2 cup. I made this the day before the 4th of July and that is why I decided to not use a complete top crust.  Instead  I took what would have been the top crust and used my star cutter to cut stars out of the tope layer. I then placed those stars all over the top. It was a great 4th of July treat.

I would  absolutely  make this pie again.

Before pie was baked

Just out of the oven

I forgot to add this info when I first posted, so I revised the post by adding the following.
Thanks to our hosts  – Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake and Hilary of Manchego’s Kitchen.  Check out their blogs to read about their baking experiences as well as for the recipe itself. 

Harvest Monday

Carrots and tomatoes are still being harvested. There is one onion that I decided to try. My onions still need time in the ground obviously. However, for now this is the last of the cabbages. I have replanted beans for a second go round since I have pulled up all the bean plants from this harvest. I have harvested over 6 pounds of cabbage. Plus,  a pound of carrots and over a pound of tomatoes. As far as the beans, I did not write down the amount harvested.