Look what we're bringing in!

We got home from vacation last week. Yesterday, Precious and I picked twenty ripe tomatoes, that didn't include the ten green ones that I had bagged with apples to ripen before we left. And that's not to mention all of the yellow squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash and green beans we've been getting. My CSA is my garden this year, and it's wonderful.

Time to can some spaghetti sauce!

The mystery squash demystified

I mentioned a huge, volunteer squash right in the middle of the garden. I went to check on it and noticed a 10-inch long squash growing on the ground. Thinking it was already too large to enjoy, I picked it.

I took it inside and sliced it open. It looked a little like it had long strands, but I wasn't sure. I baked it for an hour. After an hour, it wasn't quite tender, so I put it in for another thirty minutes. Finally, we were able to eat it. As I scooped the flesh out, I realized that my suspicion was correct. We have a volunteer spaghetti squash! And even though it was a little immature, it was still delicious tossed with butter, salt and pepper.

I'll let the other one that's started on the plant fully mature before we pick it. We absolutely love to make spaghetti with spaghetti squash, so this discovery is pretty exciting!

Harvesting already!

I am so pleased with our garden this year! I just harvested our second "mess" of radishes. Now I know why we planted so much; we love them! I braise them in butter, using Mark Bittman's recipe on p. 601 of HTCE.

The corn isn't coming up as vigorously as I'm used to. I think I should have planted the seeds deeper. Squashes are thriving. I'm cutting kale tomorrow. I had to check my blog's planting list to make sure that actually was what we'd planted in that spot that was doing so well.

The main thing that I need to do is to hoe weeds and cover the rest of the soil with weed fabric. I also need to get supports around the tomatoes very soon.

Get "er" done planting

Well, after last night's planting, we were "invigorated." After tonight's planting, which mostly took place in the dark, I was "pooped." I lay on the couch for about twenty minutes, maybe dozed, while New Daddy read to the kids and got them to bed. Finally, I got some water. Then, I slowly stood up. And then, I was able to finish my kitchen work. And now, I am able to blog, heheh.

Since it was dark, we used clip-on LEDs attached to our baseball caps. And, by the light of those, we planted-- scratch head... okay, here it is:

9 Marglobe tomato plants (heirloom)

8 Better Boy tomatoes (hybrid, of course)

2 cherry tomato plants (hybrid)

9 watermelon plants

And that was it! It only took about thirty minutes, but most of my time was spent with the trowel in my poorly-exercised right hand. And some of tonight's dirt wasn't nearly as well-tilled as last night's dirt. New Daddy wanted to wait until tomorrow, but I knew if we let the flats sit, the likelihood of the plants never getting planted was pretty large. Plus that, tomorrow is not a good planting day, according to the moon. So, we pressed through and got it done.

I also meant to mention that we have a few compost-volunteers that look like winter squash of some sort. They popped up at the back of the garden, in between the sweet potatoes and the newly-planted watermelons. It will be fun to see what those turn into!

Since Precious and Bubby were outside with us, they got to put a few watermelon plants into the ground. Precious also helped out with her flashlight. They really enjoyed having a part in the planting.

And this not-so-garden-ish gal is off to bed.

Planting II

I was out of squash seeds when we last planted, so we couldn't completely carry out the "three sisters" method of corn-beans-squash. But, New Daddy went out and bought two containers of straight-necked squash, and tonight, we put them in between the rows of corn. I'm finding a lot of rotten corn kernels, and I'm wondering if we didn't plant them deeply enough.

New Daddy also bought a container of sweet potatoes and a couple of grape plants. We put in the sweet potatoes at the back of the garden, near the tomato plants that New Daddy is going to buy tomorrow. It will be the last good planting day for a while, and we're going to use it. New Daddy will till later for the grapes. We're going to put them in between the blueberry bushes at the back of our property and the garden plot, which is pretty close to the back.

It was amazing, yet again, at how much more quickly the planting went with me digging holes in a well-tilled garden, and with New Daddy putting the plants in behind me. I really, really enjoy working in the garden with him. We both came in feeling invigorated by the cool air, passing storms, and the beautiful sunset. Yay for yardwork! I think I can do this, as long as I can work alongside New Daddy.

Oh, wow

One night this week, our next door neighbor, a Great Procurer and Disperser of goods, loaned New Daddy an older model Ford tractor that someone loaned him. New Daddy used this tractor to furrow our planting area. Thus, our planting area is twice-- well, almost three times as big as last year's.

Then, this morning he bought a used tiller that he found on Craigslist. A self-propelled, rear-tine tiller that doesn't realign his back. After a visit with family, he then came home and proceeded to till the area. Just as the sun was starting to dip below the trees, I ordered pizza to be delivered, and we started planting.

We finished four hours later, with the help of our halogen work lamp and the ladder that held it. (That would have been 11:15 PM.)

New Daddy now has a much greater appreciation for the meager gardens that I have attempted in previous years. Plus that, we enjoyed doing something together outside. It was almost like a date, a garden date. There, doesn't that sound nice?

Here's what we stuck in the ground. After looking at the kale and carrot seeds, miniscule thingies that they are, I don't see how an aetheist could stand a chance. Only the Almighty God could make those dots grow into food-giving plants.

Corn- 4 looooong rows Howling Mob and Country Gentleman
Beans- rattlesnake pole beans, sewn in the corn so that it can climb the stalks
(We were going to try the "Three Sisters" method of corn + beans + squash, but my squash seeds disappeared before we started planting. I finally found them when I came inside for the evening, and I'll start them when I put my tomato plants in, in about two more weeks.)
Borage- interspersed between rows
Radishes- not sure what we were thinking when we planted 2 loooooong rows of this.
Carrots- 126 Danvers (variety, not number of plants)
Kale- 2 rows Siberian
Spinach- Tyee

If some of these varieties look familiar, as in, what I planted last year, that would be correct. I had so many seeds in the freezer, I just opened the door and planted what I had. I did throw away two empty seed envelopes when we were finished.

And... for Easter, I'll be sporting my "dirt" manicure. An earthy look, yes?