So last weekend, in a fit of frustration, a bunch of plants on deck were yanked and became seeds on deck. The Boothby Blonde cucumber, Black Cherry and Isis Candy tomatoes, and all the beans were ditched (more on that later).
In their place cooler weather crops have been oh-so-optimistically planted. 
Plants on Deck 2.0 features fresh lettuce, Franklin Hybrid Brussels Sprouts (technically the wrong planting season, but they almost worked last year), Javelin Hybrid parsnips, Erbette and Charlotte chard, Romanesco, French Breakfast and Long Scarlet radishes (which have already poked their heads above ground), and Winterbor kale.
Champ is still blooming and Mr. Stripey is showing signs of disease but he’s still largely green, so he gets a pass for now. Aphids continue their iron-fisted reign (and four adult brown marmorated stink bugs were killed yesterday) so next up on the hit list are the besieged True Lemon and the newly-breached Charentais.
Before the Minnesota Midget melon succumbed to aphids, three darlings were collected. And one, two-pound Charentais awaits the knife.
still life with melon
Boothby Blonde, RIP
A few weeks ago, POD’s minder was busy trying not to contract skin cancer on the shores of Delaware’s beaches. A few hours north of those repeated SPF 50 applications, POD’s cucurbits were busy acquiring an impressive collection of aphids.
While the diluted soapy solution and aggressive pruning killed off hundreds of the little you-know-whaters, it was too late. The damage had been done. It doesn’t help that these suckers can produce live offspring without mating.
Aphids 1, Boothy Blonde 0
When aphids take over, their little needle noses suck the life juice right outta’ a plant. When they’re really well-fed, which these were, they produce honeydew, a sweet secretion that ants love. Fun, fun. Here’s hoping that the three ladybugs that have taken up house on the lemon cucumber eat well.
May POD’s Boothby Blonde and Minnesota Midget rest in peace. They’ve been yanked. Fortunately, the Boothby had produced vigorously and three Midgets were rescued before meeting their maker met its end.
Charentais Sling
The mighty charentais finally slipped right off her stem. She had better be delicious.
Glorious Gold Nuggets (and Black Cherries and Isis Candies)! Over two pounds of sweet, sweet cherry tomatoes have made it onto our plates so far this summer. That’s good, not great. But we’ll take what we can get.
The latest crop met its match with the contents of last week’s amazing CSA share from Greensgrow. Delicious spinach pasta from Superior Pasta, POD cucumbers, POD oregano, and Boltonfeta from Hidden Hills Dairy all combined to make a pretty awesome spoof on the traditional Greek salad.
POD’s Greek Salad Pasta:
1 lb fresh spinach pasta, linguine
8 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 tbs. chopped oregano
2 lemon cucumbers, sliced thinly
1 small shallot, very thinly sliced
1/4-1/2 lb feta, crumbled
12-15 calamata olives, pitted and chopped
pepper, to taste
red wine vinegar, (optional) to taste
- In a large bowl, mix the cherry tomatoes and the chopped oregano.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add some salt. Dump in the fresh spinach pasta. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
- While the pasta bubbles, toss the shallots, olives, and feta with the tomatoes. Stir in some pepper and a splash of vinegar.
- Drain the pasta and pour the piping hot pasta over the cheese and tomato mixture. Stir thoroughly.
- Ladle into plates, top with cucumber slices, and season to taste.
Posted in Container Gardening, Dinner's On, Melons & Cucumbers, Tomatoes
Tagged cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, greensgrow farms, greensgrow CSA, greek salad recipe, spinach pasta, Superior Pasta, Hidden Hills Dairy
So, everyone knows that wee fragile seedlings should be carefully staked to defend against the mighty winds that blow across the bow of the little blue deck. Right?
But who knew that the Mystery Melon (which, by the way, isn’t a mystery anymore — hello, charentais! Woo!!) would take on Barbie-like proportions and keel over, taking everything in her path along for the ride.
Looks like the POD juice did the trick:
Aphid Mummies
So last weekend, in a fit of frustration, a bunch of plants on deck were yanked and became seeds on deck. The Boothby Blonde cucumber, Black Cherry and Isis Candy tomatoes, and all the beans were ditched (more on that later).
Plants on Deck 2.0 features fresh lettuce, Franklin Hybrid Brussels Sprouts (technically the wrong planting season, but they almost worked last year), Javelin Hybrid parsnips, Erbette and Charlotte chard, Romanesco, French Breakfast and Long Scarlet radishes (which have already poked their heads above ground), and Winterbor kale.
