why it's worth the work
I spent a bit of time in the garden today, pulling and cutting down weeds. I haven't done much up there in the last week or so and it was starting to show. Today I made up for it.
I'm pleased I did. And, I had some unexpected help today, too. June came over and we worked on the garden for a couple of hours together.
We've planted and watered. We've weeded, too. And today, we started to reap the benefits of the hard work. June took a couple of sacks of goodies from the garden. She likes swiss chard, turnip greens, and spinach. Not all together (at least I think not) but she harvested a couple of sacks of greens. I accidentally dug up two red potatoes and gave them to her. We dug up one of our yukon gold plants and she took a handful of potatoes to add to the two red ones. She picked two nice sized anaheim chile peppers, too.
My onions are deciding they want to be done much earlier than they should be. I have two onions drying on top of the grass. They should be done tomorrow, given how hot it is. Drying them out helps them to keep better. There isn't much size to these onions; really they're more like shallots. But they'll be good eating.
I picked four zucchini this week and took them to church to share. There is one that will be ready tomorrow and green ones probably later in the week. I'm not worried about having zukes.
Our acorn squash are doing rather well. The butternuts are setting small fruits and my pumpkins are starting to flower. I think they need more water so I'm going to make a point of watering them twice a day. Squash like heat and lots of water. I'm still waiting for my banana squash to set fruit. I'll be enjoying a crookneck squash for dinner in a day or two.
We're gonna have a mess of tomatoes to can and to share. Same thing with green beans. My green beans are setting pods now. By the end of the week, I'd be willing to bet we'll have our first batch to can. I'm watering the heck out of them, too. Also growing well are beets, but not a lot of them. I helped them find the sun today by weeding them. Our corn is starting to set silks today, too. It wont' be long before we have a lot of fresh corn to freeze. And I'm already looking forward to next year's garden.
I learned a lot this year. The biggest thing I learned is that I didn't plant enough. I think beets and carrots should have been planted way earlier when the ground is moister. I think that helps the seeds germinate. Why cucumbers wouldn't grow this year, I don't know. I planted a bunch of seeds about a month ago and finally three of them germinated. I might get a cuke or two but I'm not holding my breath.
We picked our first two red tomatoes today. Both were smallish and to tops kind of rotted on them. I'm thinking that sometime by the end of the week, we'll be enjoying stuffed peppers with freshly grown bell peppers from our garden.
So far, I've enjoyed a scramble of zucchini, an anaheim chile, and a few new potatoes all fried together with olive oil from the garden. I made jam with the few apricots we had. June will enjoy some new potatoes with her greens and the chiles she picked tonight. I made two loaves of zucchini bread and we had plenty left over to share. I'm sure we'll have plenty of beans to share as well.
This is the fun part of the garden, where all the hard work starts to pay off. Weeding and watering are blessing us with a bountiful harvest of things. My garden has never done this well and I'm thankful for the blessings it's providing.
I'm pleased I did. And, I had some unexpected help today, too. June came over and we worked on the garden for a couple of hours together.
We've planted and watered. We've weeded, too. And today, we started to reap the benefits of the hard work. June took a couple of sacks of goodies from the garden. She likes swiss chard, turnip greens, and spinach. Not all together (at least I think not) but she harvested a couple of sacks of greens. I accidentally dug up two red potatoes and gave them to her. We dug up one of our yukon gold plants and she took a handful of potatoes to add to the two red ones. She picked two nice sized anaheim chile peppers, too.
My onions are deciding they want to be done much earlier than they should be. I have two onions drying on top of the grass. They should be done tomorrow, given how hot it is. Drying them out helps them to keep better. There isn't much size to these onions; really they're more like shallots. But they'll be good eating.
I picked four zucchini this week and took them to church to share. There is one that will be ready tomorrow and green ones probably later in the week. I'm not worried about having zukes.
Our acorn squash are doing rather well. The butternuts are setting small fruits and my pumpkins are starting to flower. I think they need more water so I'm going to make a point of watering them twice a day. Squash like heat and lots of water. I'm still waiting for my banana squash to set fruit. I'll be enjoying a crookneck squash for dinner in a day or two.
We're gonna have a mess of tomatoes to can and to share. Same thing with green beans. My green beans are setting pods now. By the end of the week, I'd be willing to bet we'll have our first batch to can. I'm watering the heck out of them, too. Also growing well are beets, but not a lot of them. I helped them find the sun today by weeding them. Our corn is starting to set silks today, too. It wont' be long before we have a lot of fresh corn to freeze. And I'm already looking forward to next year's garden.
I learned a lot this year. The biggest thing I learned is that I didn't plant enough. I think beets and carrots should have been planted way earlier when the ground is moister. I think that helps the seeds germinate. Why cucumbers wouldn't grow this year, I don't know. I planted a bunch of seeds about a month ago and finally three of them germinated. I might get a cuke or two but I'm not holding my breath.
We picked our first two red tomatoes today. Both were smallish and to tops kind of rotted on them. I'm thinking that sometime by the end of the week, we'll be enjoying stuffed peppers with freshly grown bell peppers from our garden.
So far, I've enjoyed a scramble of zucchini, an anaheim chile, and a few new potatoes all fried together with olive oil from the garden. I made jam with the few apricots we had. June will enjoy some new potatoes with her greens and the chiles she picked tonight. I made two loaves of zucchini bread and we had plenty left over to share. I'm sure we'll have plenty of beans to share as well.
This is the fun part of the garden, where all the hard work starts to pay off. Weeding and watering are blessing us with a bountiful harvest of things. My garden has never done this well and I'm thankful for the blessings it's providing.
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