I have been happily watching my little veggies grow. With the zucchini and eggplant, I don't know how big they are supposed to be before harvest. I found information about the Ichiban eggplant pretty quickly (~10 inches) so this eggplant is almost ready for harvest.
The zucchini is a different story. The package says that this variety is called "Summer Squash Burpee's Bounty Hybrid" and it has zucchini on the top too. I found that zucchini is a type of summer squash. I know this is very basic information to most people, but I didn't know there were so many varieties of zucchinis. Here is the package:
The zucchini I'm growing looks nothing like the ones in the picture...So I am confused - do they change color as they grow, or what?
I tried looking for info on this specific variety but can't find anything. I did read that you shouldn't wait too long before harvesting since zucchinis can get bitter - and I've eaten bitter zucchini and it is nasty. I figured I'll harvest the biggest one, just to see if they are good.
The peas looked ready too.
I really wanted to wait to share this with the boyfriend but frankly I couldn't wait. I tested one.
DE*LI*CIOUS!!!
Since the mesclun green was looking bushy, so I decided today was the day to harvest. Here is my
FIRST REAL HARVEST from the balcony container garden. All of these I grew from seeds!!! WOW, I am really proud of myself.
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| zucchini/summer squash, sugar snap peas, mescluns/basil/arugula |
Here is what the zucchini looks like sliced.
The harvest as dinner!
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| Zucchini sauteed & raw, steamed peas, salad (flower as decoration) |
Zucchini/summer squash was DE*LI*CIOUS! It was good raw too (very sweet)! I sauteed it with olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Simple yet delicious. The peas were steamed a little (unfortunately some raw fruits and vegetables make my throat itch) which brought out their sweetness. I'm not sure I like the mescluns too much. They taste a little...well, green. It was good when mixed with some basil and arugula...and the dressing.
All done! Can you tell I am super excited? Gardening rocks!
You are doing so great! That eggplant looks ready to harvest too! I used to do a whole lot of vege gardening in years past. But I switched to succulents. I do have a couple of cherry tomatoes planted in a bag of soil. Growing like crazy! Sometime zucchini look like that with young plants. Maybe as your plant ages they will be greener. As long as they are good though, who cares!
ReplyDeleteThat eggplant is beautiful. I am glad you found much fun growing plants from seeds. Your first harvest is beautiful. You will be getting more and more and glutton of it. Don't forget to preserve some for winter.
ReplyDeleteThings are growing really well in your garden! If this is the first eggplant and there's more flowers or other fruit forming, I would go ahead and harvest your eggplant now. I like them on the smaller side because they're more tender. Also if you keep picking them small, your plant with continue producing.
ReplyDeleteCandy, I'm just glad the zucchini/summer squash tastes so good!
ReplyDeleteMKG - I'd be happy to have too much zucchini! It is so good. I do hope I will have enough to store!
Holly - I think I will pick it when it is smaller. There are couple more flowers so I hope that I will get some more eggplants.
I've grown the Burpee's Bounty zucchini as well. As you mentioned, it looks nothing like the picture on the package. I actually emailed Burpee about this. They refunded my purchase price, but I haven't gotten an explanation as to why the picture is inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteAnon - in some way I'm happy they made this mistake. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up. They are tasty, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I probably would not have purchased them if they had an accurate picture also. I was happy with the zucchini I got; it just wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't really need a refund, but I thought it would be a good idea for Burpee to have an accurate photo on the package if they plan to sell the variety in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. It makes me wonder if all the other vegetables will turn out to be something other than what is on the package. I guess time will tell. They should have more information on this variety of summer squash!
ReplyDeleteLovely Balcony garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks sarada!
ReplyDeleteThese websites are really needed, you can learn a lot. balcony tomatoes
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