Finally Harvested Some Tomatoes

Finally was able to harvest some cucumbers from the garden.As you can see, I have a lot of green yellow pear tomatoes that I brought in from the garden because they were taking to long to change colors. So, in order to feel like I've accomplished something  with my tomato plants this year, and to also help my plants along with production (tomatoes  haven't done very well, this year),I decided to pick my maters and let them bask in the sunlight on my windowsill.

This hasn't been a very productive tomato season for me.  Usually, I begin getting tomatoes in mid June,but this year we had an unusually cooler and wet spring, and  the potential move to Miami we were facing (became busy researching homes,schools,making a budget for a new city) I believe all of this played a hand in the lack of  production this year.

I'm seriously grateful for the harvest that I got, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get a harvest out of the other tomato plants in the garden.

Hmmm....let me send some good vibes to my Gypsy tomato plants and those delectable Cherokee Purple plants to grow and produce some amazing tomatoes for us.

Are you growing tomatoes and are you harvesting  anything yet?

Air Drying Lemon Balm

Clipped a little bit of lemon balm the other day. My plant has gotten really huge and I'm in need of more dried lemon balm for tea making.

Yes, of course tea can be made from fresh leaves, and I love tea made from fresh leaves,but I also love storing away the garden's goodness for later use.

To air dry lemon balm:

1. After you have your clippings....Wash the plant to get rid of dirt and any tiny bugs away.

2. Then place your washed plants(single layer only) on paper towels. The plants stay there until all water is gone.

3. After the plants have finished drying, I gather a few stems and tie string around them, so they'll be able to air dry overnight or until they feel real crunchy.

4. Now, that your plant is fully dry,it's time to strip dried leaves from stems. I prefer to crush my leaves because I love the intense smell of lemon I get from crushing.  However, whole herbs hold their flavor longer than crushed herbs, so you make the call on this.

5. Last but not least, store your herbs away. Store them in a cool, dry place. Don't forget to label and date.

This is just one way to dry lemon balm....you can use a dehydrator, the oven, and I've even read somewhere that some people use a dehumidifier.

Do you dry fresh herbs at home, and if so, what's your method for drying?

* Shelly

Keep Growing

P.S. Sorry I didn't give you step by step photos, and I didn't have the fan blowing to dry the plants. It was a good place to hang the plants, so they could air dry.

Time to Harvest the Garlic

This garlic was really overdue for harvesting, I meant to pull these up at least three weeks ago.....can you notice the lean the plants have....that's how I know they're ready. Some people dig their garlic up when most of the bottom leaves turn brown, and I think that's cool, but I like that extra satisfaction of the lean because the plant is saying, "Hey, I'm ready!" I like using the lean method for harvesting my garlic, do you have a particular method that you like to use?