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?

The End

Well, let's see, compared to other years' gardens, this one was quite a success. The rains came, so the plot wasn't dependent on my random watering patterns. And we got some very nice tomatoes. Our [unfortunately] hybrid cherry tomato plant was especially a favorite with Precious and Bubby. But, for a couple of weeks there, we were pulling in enough tomatoes to have a nice batch of homemade spaghetti sauce each week.

The corn got tall, and we saw the starts of some ears. But, then, it got brown. This happened at a point that most of the farmers market corn had already passed. I'm thinking I got the seed in the ground too late. Any other thoughts? Um, maybe I should have weeded the bed? I'm sure the corn wasn't too happy about having to compete with 3-foot-tall centipede grass.

The four okra plants that survived went on to produce very woody okra. Truthfully, I had no idea they were even producing, until I spotted a huge pod coming out of the stalk. By that time, they were just a little too fibrous for teeth. So, I bought two huge batches of okra from the local farmers market, chopped it, and froze it. Checkmark for okra.

My herbs started out well enough. That was, until my lavender was mistaken for a weed and eaten by a weedeater. And the local rabbits devoured my mint, and then was eaten by the weedeater. It's actually coming back! Then, my basil was sacrificed for pesto, and never revived. So, I went out and bought some rosemary and more basil. They are now sitting happily on my deck, soaking in the fall rains. Precious loves to chew on fresh rosemary, and we love it on baked salmon. I'm still thinking of a nice, rocky spot for a hardy perennial.

And that was the summer garden for this year. I'm still contemplating kale for the winter... or not. We'll see.

Tassels!

Well, I've been eyeing everybody else's gardens as I drive around, and it looks like we might not be the last ones to start getting tassels on our corn, but we're definitely not the first. When I came back from our various vacations, though, I was pleased to see them!

Our little plot never was entirely weed-free, and I tried cardboard boxes for a while. Well, they have failed miserably, and a squash plant was the first victim. It did give us two nice squashes before it withered.

The other problem I've been coming across is the thicket that we didn't get to burn before the burn restriction started. It houses a family of rabbits. Rabbits like chives, basil, and mint. My chives died, and my mint has no leaves at all. The only solution to the rabbits so far is to shoot at them with a kids' bb gun whenever we see them. It scares them, but that's about it. I am starting to sympathize with Mr. McGregor a little...

Tomatoes

Man! Where have I been for almost the last month? Hmmm... not really in my garden. My small tomato plants had scarcely survived The Turnover Move from Bubby, and then the lack of rain and sudden heat over the weekend took care of most of the rest of them. I was playing violin for a wedding, and I didn't even think about those poor plants! I know, I'm a bad mommy.

Aunt Mo alerted me to the fact that the end of this week is good for planting. So, I ran to Lowe's yesterday and bought more tomato plants. Got them in the ground this morning-- and afternoon. In the beautiful, drizzly rain. I used to think my mother was a caricature of the crazy gardener who had to get those plants in the ground, in the rain, of all things! But now, I've realized that gardening is actually a lot more pleasant in the rain.

At 1:00, we came in hungry, tired, and well-exercised. The kids took it upon themselves to start a bath. After I got Bubby's shirt unbuttoned, things went a little more smoothly (haha!). My babies really are growing up. I prepared lunch while they splashed around. After I dried them off, they found their own clothes and got dressed by themselves. They're all taking sweet naps right now; I think the gardening and rain wore them out, too.

The count:
2 German Queen (heirloom)
6 Better Boy (hybrid, I know, but all the old-timers love this variety)
1 cherry tomato (100-something variety?)

Now, here's the rub. I planted these babies right in the middle of a fire ant bed. Amdro, methinks? Or will the ants figure it out? Ug.

(ideas, anyone?)