It has been another amazing garden year
around here. Early on, I had this great
idea to gain another month of yuminess.
For several weeks in February,
with one inexpensive sheet of painter's plastic,
(I think it was less than $5?)
I covered one bed of the garden, creating a greenhouse.
I uncovered it on any day that was sunny and "warm".
Amazingly, it was only a matter of days before the
thermometer that I slipped inside reached
90'...100'...even higher!
Before long, the soil was
warm enough to plant so, by early to mid-March,
still very much "frost-threat" for our region, we were
munching on fresh salads.
Once things began to grow, my dh rigged up a
pvc tent-like form to keep the plastic from pressing
down on everything. An added bonus was that the
bunnies weren't able to enjoy any nightly snacking.
Another couple of months went by and, with
work and dedication, the other beds were filled up.
We had such a wonderfully wet and cool
late-spring that my work was kept to a minimum...
though we did lose most of the pea crop
and some of the onions to too much rain.
However, you will never hear me
complain about too much rain. Ever.
I always feel so blessed to walk out to
this any given morning of the growing season!
Though we had a warm day or two here and there,
it has really, just this last week or so,
hit those "miserable hot" summer days.
We're done with the cooler crops:
lettuces, kales, spinach, radish, broccoli, peas,
green & purple cabbages and green & purple beans.
This year, I tried growing
Chinese (Napa) cabbage and oh, my goodness!
We enjoyed lots of wonderful stir-fry with that crop!
Definitely planting that from now on.
Definitely planting that from now on.
We also have lots of red and Yukon-gold potatoes.
I've put about 40 cups of diced carrots in the freezer;
still working on dicing/freezing the onions;
about 6 or 7 gallons so far.
That means lots of savory soups in the winter,
with less work in preparing...which means more
time for quilting, of course. And I truly think those
onions keep us very healthy...which also means more
time for quilting.
(I may be spending all my time in the garden, but my mind wanders
into that sewing room all summer long! Actually, I just started on a
quilt last week...but more on that another day.)
Today, I worked on getting the newspaper/straw
weed-barrier/mulch on the fall crops.
(I should come up with an acronym or something there)
In place of all those spring crops are
now the pumpkins and gourds. And so we have
a recent pic...one that I took when I'd completely
fizzled in the heat. I still have a little straw to put
down out there tonight before I can say "done".
If you'll recall pumpkins and gourds are my favorite.
I actually cut back on them this year.
I'm trying...
Oh, this old pic gets me dreaming of cooler days!
We're still harvesting tomatillos, lots of cherry tomatoes
that I cook with all the time, squash and zuchinni,
scallions, shallots and all kinds of peppers.
The strawberries have come back for a second go
at it--an incredibly welcome suprise.
And the blackberries are just starting to diminish.
Crazy Garden Lady, working hard out in the heat!
I think the tie-dye shirt gets me in touch with my inner-hippie.
I've tried so hard not to can anything this year,
though I did make a couple batches of apricot salsa.
But, the tomatoes are doing very well, and so
up next will be canning Italian-style tomatoes
that have become a real staple in this home.
The pic is a little blurry--what can I say? I shake after doing all that work!
I hope you hung in there for all of this long post.
As always, I truly wish I could share the bounty with
you all, but I guess we'll have to make do with
some pictures on a blog!
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