Well today is the third day in the a row of our heat wave. We have one more to go before it breaks. The last rain we had was on Thursday and we won't get rain until this coming Thursday. With the temperatures so hot I didn't think the plants could wait that long without it really hurting them. So I watered the whole garden this morning. Yesterday I was afraid the lettuce wouldn't make it so I harvested that. And the peas and the favas and some broccoli. Though I should have picked more of it today. I'll have to check tomorrow morning and probably bring in quite a bit.
My fridge is stuffed.
This morning I went out to pick the chard. I wanted to do it yesterday, but the heat chased me in. I figured the chard can handle the heat anyway. It does it every year. But I was shocked. Two of the plants had bolted. They have never ever done that before. I don't think it is the heat though, I think it was the cold spell we had so late in May. After warm weather maybe they thought they were going through winter. None of the others show signs of bolting. I would hate to lose the plants.
I harvested three bags full of chard. And you saw my fridge. There is no way it was going to fit. I really had to deal with processing some of the excess.
So I blanched and froze 11 servings of chard. They were fairly big servings too, but still something I can eat in a sitting without a problem. I don't need to freeze a lot more chard. A bit more though and I'll be set.
I've also started dealing with the fava beans. I know not everyone does, but I double peel my beans. I've got the first peeling done. Now I need to blanch them and do the second. I think I'll work on that in front of the TV as it gets a bit tedious. I'll freeze most of these for winter. They freeze very well and I'm inundated with food right now. However good they are, they can wait. Though maybe I'll save one serving out to eat. I do love fava beans.
We have the opposite of a heat wave here - some really cold nights (about 8 or 9 C). As regards double-peeling of Broad Beans, I have never felt that the effort is justifiable. I suppose it might be if you had old tough, shop-bought beans, but surely it's not necessary with good home-grown ones?
ReplyDeleteI bought some fava beans but never got around to planting them, partially because I didn't know what to expect. Do you find that they hold up to the heat pretty well?
ReplyDeleteThey hate heat. They are very much like peas in what they like.
DeleteWe have been in the middle of a heat wave but thankfully, the next few days will be a bit better - it's really the humidity that drives us inside, more than anything. That's so funny about the Swiss chard - I always consider it one of those crops that you plant once & it just keeps going through the summer.
ReplyDeleteOnly my Dragon Tongue mustard started bolting but being away for a week, I had a huge amount of greens that wouldn't fit in the fridge. The house isn't air conditioned so firing up a pot of boiling water took huge will power. I did get everything processed and frozen. Hard to appreciate now but this winter I will enjoy a bit of summer from the garden.
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