Sunday, June 23, 2019

June 23, 2019

Rain, mud, and cold has been our portion this spring. Last week we had nearly 3" of rain which hinders our weeding efforts. Today was another cold day with our high being 60 degrees. We are expecting hot weather next week which should cause all green things to grow...well like weeds.

I went visiting last week at collected rhubarb at a friends and my folks.  I chopped it all up and pout 5 qts. in the freezer and made a crisp, which I took to the guys at work.  It was one of the rainy days and everyone appreciated a little yumminess on a cold, wet day.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

May 19, 2019

Yesterday Jim finished planting the garden.  More corn, plus beans, okra, butternut squash, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash and carrots.  I'm disappointed the spinach isn't all coming up, and one row of potatoes is stubbornly refusing to appear.
Jim planted some more tomatoes, Better boy and Rutgers.
Jim also planted a cherry tomato plant in a pot on the deck.
We got a bunch of Roma tomatoes from a friend that has a green house to start her own.  They look a lot better than the pitiful specimens we tried to grow in our not so sunny house.

I've made it around to all the flower garden, weeding and getting rid of last winter's trash.  Now, to start again. I've been doing 45 minutes to an hour outside and it really wears me out.  I'm going to have to remember again that I don't have the strength and energy I used to whether I like the idea or not!

We are done eating our asparagus.  We ate our last mess today.  We've really enjoyed having it.  It is so much nicer than any from the store. Now we'll let it grow into fronds and wait until next year.
It was chilly the end of this week after having two days in the 80s in the middle.

Thursday, May 9, 2019

May 9, 2019

Here we are starting a new year of gardening.  I managed to get what I've been wanting to do for years and spent a couple of weeks in the last of March weeding and taking care of trash in the flowers gardens.  The weather was sunny and warm.  And then April came and there were a few days, but so many cold and cloudy ones followed, Jim and I got sick and now that May is here it is still cold and wet and I'm sure the weeds are growing apace, unless they are being stunted by cold weather.

Jim got the early plants planted mid-April, potatoes, peas, onion, spinach, lettuce, and beets. Later he planted the three tomatoes we nursed along from seed and some of our peppers, ditto. They are covered with milk jugs.  We had a cherry tomato, Jim wants to have as a patio plant and some more lunch box peppers to plant.  We started those from seeds from last years peppers. We had light rain two days ago and heavier rain all day yesterday.  I also planted some dwarf zinnas by the mail box and some dwarf cosmos by the pond.  At least the wet days should help them get started.

Jim has also planted 4 rows of sweet corn in spite of his planter deciding to be particular in rough soil. 

We are off to a good start and with the sun peeking out as I write, I think the next few days are expected to be better.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

August 23, 2018

I sure haven't done a very good job of keeping close track of the garden and it's produce this summer.  I'm running out of canning jars and I'm done with pickles for the year, because I have loads left over that last year. We've put gallons of apples in the freezer from both trees, some for applesauce, some sliced and ready for pies and crisps.  The red apples we've done over the last three weeks, (the yellow ones last month,) but they are too ripe now, and are falling and will have to be picked up, unfit for any to use except for the chickens to eat.  I have about 30 quarts of sauce on the shelves and two pies in the freezer.

I've put four gallons of beans in the freezer and more may be coming. The okra is going great guns, and we're eating them and freezing them and pickling them.  I've put up more peaches.  I got a box of 25 pounds for $22 dollars.  They were beautiful peaches and I wish I could have had more, but surgery intervened. 

Our final count on the corn was 112 quarts.  It's too many just for us, but we will share with the family. 

The tomatoes are just starting up. We've had so much rain this summer.  I think we've had a decent amount every week, enough so we've done no watering since we planted the garden.  Every plant has grown over-sized and over-amounts.  We can hardly get through the tomato plants to pick them.  We are eating the yellow ones and freezing the red ones for soup or juice later.

We are eating our potatoes, carrots and onions. 
Our cantaloupe failed, we can't seem to get that right and we are waiting on winter squash.  The summer squash died early on and I didn't get enough to use or freeze as much as I wanted.


First batch of red apples, we did another batch this size. 
We wouldn't have been able without a very nice peeler/slicer.  

 First results from the apples

Our pullets are laying. So are the older hens, too, of course.  

Saturday, July 21, 2018

July 21, 2018

We did our first batch of corn to freeze.  We did 11 1/2 dozen ears and got 23 qts. 

Jim got our first big picking of beans, 2 gallons.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

July 14, 2018

My reminder about getting my gardening, especially my flower gardens, didn't help me get on the ball in the blogging area. 

Our spring was late and cold, and then it rained and rained and rained.  We had snow, enough to mess up a lot more of life than gardening on April 14th.  We got all the usual things planted, onions, pea (which came up poorly), potatoes, beets, okra, corn, lettuce, summer squash, tomaotes and winter squash.  There is a pumpkin plant growing from a free pumpkin we got at the National Arbor Day Foundation place last fall.  I'm putting away squash, I made 7 pints of relish today, we've eaten lots, and last night I made enough flour, egg, cracker covered baked yellow slices to eat for supper and some for the freezer.  We are eating cucumbers and I made 2 quarts of Caddie pickles and 1 quart of dills.  Our beets are in 11 quarts of pickles, and we put a couple gallons of apples in the freezer to make into sauce later, a couple of quarts ready for pies.  I made a pie to eat for Sunday. 

We are starting to get beans.

I planted a gorgeous type of lettuce that made lovely big heads like the green leaf stuff you buy at the store.  However, we don't eat much lettuce so those beautiful heads turned into enormous, leggy, bolting plants.  I save a little to eat this week and the rest went to the chickens.

I paid 89 cents a pound for some peaches, that weren't terribly good, but I hope they make good canned peaches since I got 12 quarts out of them. 



Thursday, March 15, 2018

March 15, 2018

I want to start the gardening season early.  This is a reminder to start getting the henbit (purple flowers) and creeping charlie (blue flowers) out early so they don't reseed.