We Need Harvesters

The CLC garden bounty is in need of harvesting this week. If you can donate a couple of hours to picking and donating, send Liisa May a text or call her at 631.806.9087. It helps to know who is willing, so that volunteers can be coordinated. (See the How To Harvest list below.)

Ready for donating this week are eggplant, ripening cherry tomatoes, more celery and more peppers to take to the Ecumenical Lay Council pantry in Northport. Do what you can. I am monitoring the garden every other day. Text me if you are around and can be on call.

Please weigh and record the weight in the greenhouse. This tally is important and can help with getting donations, grants and seeds for next year’s garden.

Comedy Update. The comically large rogue squash plant has revealed itself. It’s a yellow summer squash. The new squashes look prehistoric.

The ELC pantry in Northport is open between 10 a.m. and noon, Monday through Thursday. The pantry is at 330 Main St. in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church Northport.

HOW TO HARVEST EGGPLANT

Take a clean sharp knife or clipper. Eggplant is ready when its skin is taut, dark, and glossy. Touch the skin gently and watch for a dimple that will rebound. Hold the fruit in one hand and snip off the fruit stem near the main stem of the plant. Don’t pull or twist, this can damage the plant. The tiny eggplants are an Asian variety. Harvest them in the same way. Home and Garden magazine recommends picking eggplant when it is slightly immature to avoid the bitterness that can affect the flavor. CLC’s are ready.

HOW TO HARVEST CHERRY TOMATOES

This is easy. Just grab one or a small bunch and gently pull. All of the tomatoes ripening in the CLC garden are on rogue plants from last year, but very edible. Please pluck any you see that are starting to ripen, especially if they are on the ground. There was an issue with critters feasting on the low-hanging fruit last year, and we are trying to avoid that. Tomatoes that have started ripening can finish in a paper bag.

HOW TO HARVEST CELERY

Start with the larger outer stalks and pull gently with a little twist. If they don’t come off, cut with a clean sharp knife, leaving about an inch of the stalk. Leave the celery heart, that is what becomes more celery. I put them into bread bags and newspaper bags with a little water to transport them. Rather than overwhelm the pantry, I harvest about five bread bags of stalks at a time.

HOW TO HARVEST PEPPERS

We have green hot peppers and banana peppers. The banana peppers can be hard to spot. Pick the ones you spot and then, using your arm, gently push the plants aside examining the underside for peppers. They are sneaky. I aim for peppers 4 inches and longer.

HARVEST TOTALS.

July so far. On July 20, about 10 pounds of basil, and a half pound each of cherry tomatoes and peppers. (Thank you Bob and Susanne Edel.) On July 13, about 5 pounds of celery and 3 pounds of peppers. On July 10, about 3 pounds of peppers. On July 8, about 6 pounds of celery and 1 pound of peppers. (Thank you Doreen Viola.) On July 1, about 10 pounds of collards with stems. (Thank you Linda and Ray Mast.)

June. About 5 pounds of collards on June 15; About 8 pounds of collards and 5 pounds of lettuce on June 8; about 14 pounds of collards on June 2. Total so far 43 pounds