July 25, 2013

We have been eating sweet corn for a couple of days.  It is very nice to find out that I can gnaw sweet corn off a cob, chew and swallow without having a coughing fit more than once.  My folks came today to help put up the first batch, which was a good thing, since yesterday I spent looking after my three grandsons, while my daughter had a class, and I was tired.  Jim picked, Mom and Jim shucked, silked and cut out bad spots, buggy spots, and worms. I boiled, Jim cut, Mom scraped cobs and bagged.  I cleaned up, served supper from the crockpot (into which I had with the meat, potatoes, onions and zucchini from the garden), our company cleaned up, and I collapsed.

11 dozen ears, 44 pints in the freezer.  A good day.

July 23, 2013

Yesterday, I canned two and a half quarts of beet pickles. Too bad I spilled boiling water on my foot.  I put ice cold rags on the burn, then triple antibiotic and it isn't hurting anymore.  It is doing really well.
We are eating our onions and potatoes now, and we ate our first sweet corn two days ago.  Tonight we had our first sauteed summer squash, but I let it get too brown while I was juggling the rest of supper.
I brought it five stalks of gladioli (that's correct for plurality I believe), put them in a vase that is rapidly becoming antique and they are beautiful.

July 4. 2013

We didn't plant a great variety or much of anything.  I picked the first spinach a week ago and chopped it into my soup.  This was my harvest today.  The peas and peppers went into stirfry, some of the pepper and the swiss chard went into soup.  The beets are for tomorrow.  The beets are past ready, and I need to plant more swiss chard and spinach, they are bolting, but I think I'll wait until it gets cooler.

Since today is Independence Day, Fireworks Day, Remember the Patriots Day, and Remember our Freedom Day, we are going to watch the country club fireworks from the deck tonight.  Probably under a blanket.  Not so much from the cold, but from bugs.  There aren't mosquitoes, it's been too dry, but the gnats are a pain.

Oops, I'm using onions, too, forgot them for the stirfry. 

July 2, 2013

We are slow gardeners this year.  We have picked a few peas, I made soup from the spinach, Jim is weeding, all a little bit at a time.  

We are making stabs at the flower garden, which is way out of control, and we found this little guy just hanging out while we worked.  An hour only gets us a square yard.

And to prove why this season is as slow as we are.  This is May 1st.