Here’s a look at the garden as we come to the end of September.
We’ve been inspired to try a’new’ veggie this fall. I used those quotes because this veggie isn’t really new – we just didn’t know we could / should eat it. It’s sweet potato greens! Who knew the leaves were not just edible, but really quite tasty! They have a mild flavor that will go well in any dish that might otherwise call for spinach.
NutritionData.com shows that sweet potato greens are a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Niacin and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganese.”
We braised ours tonight with a little onion and bacon – just as I might have used spinach or collard greens – and cooked an egg on top. Loved it!
Here’s another good sounding recipe for a salad from the Phillipines using Talbos ng Camote (Sweet Potato tops.)
We won’t be digging our sweet potato tubers for a few weeks yet – but the tops are beautiful!
The summer garden is closing out – but not quite gone. This week I picked a few tomatoes, a couple of cantaloupe and likely the last watermelon of the year. The Red Ripper peas are finishing their season and this week, with the cooler weather, I don’t see any new blooms. The summer peas that are already set will be the last. If any of those show up in your CSA box, it’ll be a random, special treat.
A new row of okra is just starting to produce – and it should keep producing until the weather turns cold. We’ll pick Purple Pod beans for the first time this week. About the time they are finished producing, the French Beans should be ready. Only a few winter squash are setting (darn those root knot nematodes!) so that will be a very limited harvest, sadly.
Other greens are beautiful and growing even better as the weather cools. We’ll have sweet basil, endive, kale, mizuna, mustard, and arugula this weekend at the market. Japanese Eggplant are still producing and the pepper plants are loaded. I see a lot of stuffed peppers going into our freezer for last-minute meals this winter.
Hope you enjoyed the slide show – and hope to see you at market this First Monday weekend!
