Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
What happened between planting and harvesting...a pictorial
Origian garden plan. Did we stick to it? Not so much.
Week 1
Before anything was planted
Everything is in.
Week 3, still not too many weeds
Wow did everything grow. So much rain. Nearly everyday for 2 months.
Week 5
First of the radishes. They immediately flowered and never got very big.
Not very fond of this lettuce. Bitter
First of the cucumbers. Must remember to pull more plants.
This crop produced too many cucumbers. I gave away many.
Week 5, first real haul from the garden.
Basil, zucchini, squash, radish tops, and lettuce.
Week 6
Week 8
First buds on the sunflowers
please let this be the last of the squash and zucchini
Still week 8
first of the cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes
Week 11, finally pulled some carrots. They were tiny.
first batch of pasta sauce
Week 14
My kitchen helper making roasted tomates
drying the basil and oregano
my current stocks
experiement: frozen carrots
finished product - roasted tomatoes
dried oregano and basil
drying the sunflower seeds.
Monday, September 7, 2015
The 2015 Plan
May 9 2015
Total garden space - 12.5 x 12.5
We started with a list of the following: Garlic, basil, green beans, sunflowers, cilantro, tomato, carrots, squash and zucchini, lettuce and cucumbers (for pickles) and potatoes.
May 23 - 24 2015 We had to narrow the list down a bit - lettuce, radish, carrots, tomatoes 4- varieties, green beans, sunflowers, swiss chard, cucumbers (2 varieties), summer squash, zucchini, basil (2 varieties).
(ADD FINAL PLAN IMAGE HERE)
We planted most everything this weekend. With the cool temps and rain nearly everyday, it was difficult to get anything in any earlier.
Initially, I used a fertilizer to when I planted, but quickly learned that the product I was using, although label organic, was not fertilized. Since the soil was in such good condition, and I mulched with grass clippings, I really had no need to feed my plants the rest of the summer.
Total garden space - 12.5 x 12.5
We started with a list of the following: Garlic, basil, green beans, sunflowers, cilantro, tomato, carrots, squash and zucchini, lettuce and cucumbers (for pickles) and potatoes.
May 23 - 24 2015 We had to narrow the list down a bit - lettuce, radish, carrots, tomatoes 4- varieties, green beans, sunflowers, swiss chard, cucumbers (2 varieties), summer squash, zucchini, basil (2 varieties).
(ADD FINAL PLAN IMAGE HERE)
We planted most everything this weekend. With the cool temps and rain nearly everyday, it was difficult to get anything in any earlier.
Initially, I used a fertilizer to when I planted, but quickly learned that the product I was using, although label organic, was not fertilized. Since the soil was in such good condition, and I mulched with grass clippings, I really had no need to feed my plants the rest of the summer.
September 6 2015
I think we might be close to done with our summer veggies from the garden. Yesterday we picked what appears to be the last of the green beans, cucumbers and peppers. There are only a few blo
oms on the peppers and tomatoes. I still have swiss chard, which I will keep through November.
The sunflowers still have lots of blooms on them. I picked several stalks and Laurel and I prepared them to dry. But I forgot them outside and we had a storm last night. I hope they will still dry as we hoped. My plan is to feed the seeds to the birds this winter. We'll see.
Since I had so few tomatoes from my garden that we meant for preserving, I purchased the "uglies" from Chad. I spent today making tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes and prepping the remaining for either salsa or more of the same. My family would really like me to make some salsa, but I need to do some research on this subject. When I've canned homemade salsa in the past, I did not care for the taste after it had been canned in the pressure cooker. Perhaps freezing would prevent the change in flavor? More info needed.
Today I made 3 quarts of Tomato Sauce, and 2 quart bags to freeze of roasted tomatoes. And just 1 quart of green beans.
Today I also prepared to freeze 4 bags of carrots. While the carrots did not grow as I expected - these seemed small - the flavor was not too bad. I found no information on the google about freezing carrots. So this too is another experiment. Bryan really likes carrots and roast beef. That will be the test of how we did. Maybe the'll survive the freeze for a carrot cake?
The green beans really looked terrible. Not only were they completely bitten by bugs, they were also very woody and dry. Perhaps if I had watered more during the hot dry days of August, this would have been helpful (oops - we were out of town). I canned this lonely quart anyway. We'll see how appealing this turns out.
Today I crushed some dried basil and oregano and mixed it together in a jar for keeping in the cupboard. I've also harvest some more of each to add to this mix.
oms on the peppers and tomatoes. I still have swiss chard, which I will keep through November.
The sunflowers still have lots of blooms on them. I picked several stalks and Laurel and I prepared them to dry. But I forgot them outside and we had a storm last night. I hope they will still dry as we hoped. My plan is to feed the seeds to the birds this winter. We'll see.
Since I had so few tomatoes from my garden that we meant for preserving, I purchased the "uglies" from Chad. I spent today making tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes and prepping the remaining for either salsa or more of the same. My family would really like me to make some salsa, but I need to do some research on this subject. When I've canned homemade salsa in the past, I did not care for the taste after it had been canned in the pressure cooker. Perhaps freezing would prevent the change in flavor? More info needed.
Today I made 3 quarts of Tomato Sauce, and 2 quart bags to freeze of roasted tomatoes. And just 1 quart of green beans.
Today I also prepared to freeze 4 bags of carrots. While the carrots did not grow as I expected - these seemed small - the flavor was not too bad. I found no information on the google about freezing carrots. So this too is another experiment. Bryan really likes carrots and roast beef. That will be the test of how we did. Maybe the'll survive the freeze for a carrot cake?
The green beans really looked terrible. Not only were they completely bitten by bugs, they were also very woody and dry. Perhaps if I had watered more during the hot dry days of August, this would have been helpful (oops - we were out of town). I canned this lonely quart anyway. We'll see how appealing this turns out.
Today I crushed some dried basil and oregano and mixed it together in a jar for keeping in the cupboard. I've also harvest some more of each to add to this mix.
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