Well, yesterday I went into town and had lunch at Roses a locally owned restaurant that serves Café Vita, yummy.  I ate the Coho gravlox on rye bread with cream cheese and a side salad which had tomatoes, capers, onions and cucumbers. After, my delicious meal I strolled around town and ventured into Darvill’s bookstore where I found a great new book called Tomatoland. This book by Barry Estrabrook discusses the industrial destruction of our tomatoes. I find this to be a must read as I have been growing and tending to tomatoes all season at Ship Bay.  After, my lovely venture in town and the sun still shining I took a drive out to Deer harbor and Doe bay. The homes and views of the ocean are just beautiful.  I find there is so much to see and explore on this beautiful island which holds a special place in my heart along with the people.

                Ok, I got side tracked there now back to garden talk. So, I was working in the garden the other day and the sun was shining bright.  I found some little zucchini to harvest then pulled out some more tomatoes to make room for the lettuce.  I also need to get some mustard in the ground because it is essential to make a complete salad. In addition to some maintenance of the main garden I ventured to the herb garden which is close to the kitchen.  I had to pull out the basil plants and trim back the sage, wisteria and ligularia przewalskii . As I was tending to this garden I noticed a beautiful cyclamen in the corner of the garden by the maple.  I feel I am inspired by this garden everyday because new plants grab my attention along with insects and diseases which ignites my curiosity in the world of plants all over again. 

Kale

Yummy kale

Swiss chard

Arugala, and lettuce

Houses off Terrill Beach Rd.

Borage

Zucchini that got powdery mildew and produced only a few.

Akebia, pods

Cyclamen which I found in the herb garden

The beautiful artichoke

Scarlett runner beans pods

Scarlett runner beans

Nasturtuim flowers we use as a decoration on plants

The eggplant is still growing strong

Gardening into October, Yippie

Just, when I thought fall was here the sun pops out and the temperature reaches a little above 60. I am so happy because the green tomatoes are turning red as I write this. The tomatillos are starting to size up as well. I planted some lettuce seed in the greenhouse, fizzy women head and buttercrunch. I decided to go with these varieties because I have not had much success with germination. Then, I did two flats of mottistone and loma. I am so glad the gardening season is still keep me busy.

Tomatillos, sizing up

I just wanted to show this eggplant.

The seed flats full of some yummy lettuce

Fall has officially arrived

Well, I awoke today to cloudy skies and a warm 55 degrees. So, I have to dress warm as I am a wimp when it comes to cool weather. Due to the cooler days and nights we have been leaving the greenhouse closed. The tomatoes are ripening at a slower pace due to the temperature drop, so I have been pulling them out slowly. Also, I am getting ready to sow some mustard, lettuce, endive and arugula which will all go in the greenhouse once the tomatoes are gone.
Yet, I can see that the apples are ripening and sizing up which means picking time is coming.

Starting to clear out some plants

The tomatoes are still good size

Parsley and tomato are good companions and it shows

Another parsley and tomato friendship

Seeds that are going to be used in the greenhouse

Wow, look at all the tomato debris

Look at the size of these brandywines

Apples, yummy

Beautiful view of ship bay

Another, beautiful view on Orcas Island

Plums have all been picked for the season, I believe we got 6 to 7 crates full.

One of my summer highlights

Well, I wanted to share one of my summer highlights on Orcas Island. This event took place on September 4th at Moran State Park. It was the annual Steve Braun Triathlon and the course was .4 mi of swimming, 17 mi bike ride, and a 3.5 mi run. The team members were all from Ship Bay, Molly swimmer, Walter biker, and Melissa runner. This was my very first race and I loved every minute of it.

The race started at 9 am going in order swimmer, biker, runner. We were all feeling good before and after the race where we celebrated at Molly's with a brunch. There were other people from the race which was fun to mingle. As we later found out we came in second which was so exciting. Here are some pics of the champions Haha

Race announcements, Molly in Purple, Me in yellow shirt, Walter in long sleeve

Cascade Lake the begining of the race, swimmers

Everyone is waiting for the horn.

Go Molly

Molly and I after her swim.

I am stretching with fathers support haha

I am off as Walter tags me.

Woho finishing the race.

Catching up on time past in the garden

It is officially fall with the crisp morning air, calm ocean and serene quiet surrounds a sign of slowing down on Orcas Island. I have found this to be refreshing because while working in the garden it is peaceful and therapeutic. I can also hear the buzzing of bees along with the yellow jackets that are loving the plums and apples.

As for the garden there are still many green tomatoes, eggplants, Swiss chard and tomatillos. Yet, I am finding that the plants are slowing as well with cooler nights and less sunshine. But, there are still seeds to sow that enjoy this cooler weather. We are planting lots of lettuce, and mustard which will replace the tomatoes in the greenhouse when they are done. Here are some of the varieties we grow and use in the restaurant:
Loma, Mottistone, Heirloom blend, Nevada, Mizuna, Arugala, little gem (does germinate well), endive, etc.

The amazing eggplant we have harvested 15, wow!

My firstt time growing eggplant and I am so proud of this plant.

Heirloom blend

Borage, I had to add this because I love this plant along with the bees.

One of the heirloom apple trees.

They are ripening and I cant wait to try them.

Tomato time, yeah

I have been slacking in blogging but I am back. Since, my last post we have seen a spike in the tomatoes with some days collecting up to 20 lbs. This has also created a new appetizer in the restaurant, heirloom tomato salad. We pick tomatoes everyday except on Sunday, Monday due to restaurant being closed. I have also collected about three bradywine tomatoes and 10 sungolds from the potted plants I am growing. We are also sowing lots of lettuce seed, arugula, mustard, kale and radishes.

Well, a couple weeks ago I planted some radishes in between lettuce which I later found out the wrong radishes that were spicy, hard and unfavorable. However, I continued to tend to them and we recently harvested some that were pretty good size but I had to do a taste test before sending them into the kitchen. These kind of radishes are called red meat which you need to peel off the outer skin because it is hard an inedible I think. Well, I peeled and bit thinking I would have to spite it out but the radish was delicious still a touch spicy but tender. I thought wow what is so different about these compared to the first round. So, I did some reading and found in the book Carrots love Tomatoes that radish plated next to lettuce makes them more tender. As a gardener you learn new things everyday and that is why I love what I do.

Some of the tomatoes

Brandywine big red ones, zebra strip and persimmon

Persimmons, I am gonna pick tomorrow

Brandywine, I think these are the most delicious tomato we grow

I just wanted to share how much the tomatoes have grown since we planted them  three months ago.

The gigantic eggplant in the greenhouse.

I am so excited we have a total of 8 to 20 eggplants and counting, yippie

Sorry, I am so proud this is my first time growing eggplant.