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Wednesday, July 25, 2018

As I was saying...

before I was so rudely interrupted by my life...


I had mentioned my garden.  Well, here it is, warts/weeds and all.  I planted a very abbreviated garden this year, banking on my neighbor's huge and ultra-productive garden and my work-for-vege arrangement with Marianne.  Has it been worth it?  Yes and no.  Yes, in that there was less to plant, water and weed.  No, as in Marianne disclosed she had not planted cherry tomatoes because she doesn't like picking them.  WTH?  I have to say that a summer without cherry tomatoes is not summer.  It is a pale and lacking rendition.  My neighbor did plant cherry tomatoes but his garden is not organic.  This is the guy with the 'scorched earth' policy when it comes to weed whacking.  I tend to be more selective when it comes to helping myself to his garden's bounty.


Here are some photographs of this year's garden - snapped on the fly because... it started to rain!


The sad, sad strawberry bed. 

Dahlias (and ragweed!) and
the garlic bed

More dahlias, puny jalapenos and
four tomato plants in rear

Cukes, volunteer sunflower,
fall crop beans (hidden behind the cukes)
 and out-of-control lemon balm

Always a winner - kale and collards!

Herb bed, comfrey behind

Self-seeding calendula and more
damn ragweed

Cukes!
The strawberry bed is going to be completely pulled, mulched and sat fallow until spring.  I am just not able to keep up with the weeds, chipmunks and squirrels.  I am thinking of an entire bed of zinnias.  Or some vertical melons.  Or....check with me after the seed catalogs arrive.
Els - do you remember this hat?  One
of my fondest memories of you and the Netherlands
was the tea shop with the hat store
upstairs.
Dropped off by my neighbor - peas,
blueberries and raspberries.
We are in for a day and a half of heavy rain - bring it on!  Of course, with our ground so parched, we run the risk of flooding.  Still, we need rain badly, so I hope the majority soaks into the ground.  This coming Saturday is the annual Blueberry Picking Extravaganza - I will be trying to rein myself in this year, as I am going to be downsizing from a large and small freezer to a small freezer.  Any extras will be juiced and canned.  I am also hoping to get my first tomatoes this weekend - then I will be officially ready for autumn.

31 comments:

Michelle said...

I'm picking my first big tomatoes this morning; we've had two large cherry tomatoes so far. Downsizing freezer space???

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I appreciate you showing your garden - weeds and all. The only people I know who have weed free gardens are the Amish in our area, and they have about seven barefooted children with hoes in their hands out controlling their gardens. We finally got some rain and boy, things are exploding now. I hope you get lots of good, steady rain and find a supplier of cherry tomatoes! -Jenn

Theresa said...

I was ready for fall June 15th. I'm not even showing pics of my garden this year, it's that bad! We've had yummy tomatoes for a few weeks now, and berries galore. Please, grab a couple of lobsters, some blueberries and fresh corn on the cob and have a kings feast in my honor. I sure do miss the bounty of August in New England and I miss those chicken lobsters year round. Good thing the B-Pat has flippers and not claws! ;-)

Susan said...

Yes - oddly enough, since I am transitioning from a meat-based to plant-based diet, I won't need the big freezer. I also need the space in my house, so having one organized (!) and well-filled freezer that takes up half the space in my laundry room will be a real bonus.

Susan said...

Me, too, Jenn. And I showed it AFTER spending two hours weeding! Good golly, the only thing flourishing this year is anything in the weed family.

Susan said...

The B-Pat has talons! He is completely a lunatic when it comes to nail-trimming, so I have been clipping the very ends - two at a time - every other evening. Such drama. Such high maintenance. I am going to do a lobster boil (or grill) complete with ripe tomatoes and corn on the cob when my sister and BF come in August. I will leave out the parts with butter running down to my elbows in deference to your sensitive nature... :) xo

ellen abbott said...

I wish we would get some real rain. I've pulled everything out of the garden except the jalapeno which is covered with red and green fruit (and why I didn't pull it is beyond me since I haven't picked a single pepper) and the bell pepper because it had 3 fairly good sized fruits on it. which reminds me, if I'm not going to pull those out I should at least go over and water them. and strawberries...I wish we could grow them. I've tried, many people have tried but they just simply don't do well here.

Susan said...

I have grown strawberries well in the past BUT, if you let the weeds get even a little ahead of you, you're done. They grow in the middle of the plants and it's hell to pull them. I'm throwing in the trowel.

Theresa said...

Lucky you! The butter doesn't do it for me, I like lemon myself, but man I haven't been to a proper lobster boil in years....
Thankfully, I on't have a drama queen. We have one that growls and bites, he goes to the vet and Mandy who's think nails make it easier to dremel. The techs do her mani/pedi and she is good about it.

Susan said...

And lucky you! B-Pat has to be muzzled and held by one tech, while the other braves the clippers. I've tried the Dremel with him, but he strongly resists.

Michelle said...

We need two freezers because we ARE vegetarians!

Susan said...

If I was feeding more than one, I'd hang onto it!

Michelle said...

Oh yeah, there's that. I'm feeding three – and the teenager eats for two!

Mama Pea said...

Weeds or not, you've got a lot of good things going there, lady! And you have cukes already? Mine are the size of peanuts in the shell. Small peanuts in the shell. My cherry tomatoes (the only ones I try to grow) have a gazillion blossoms and maybe five green marbles. Will I get any harvest from them before Jack Frost arrives? Gosh, I hope so. Have a great blueberry picking day coming up.

Ed said...

A weedy out of control garden is still better than no garden!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Too bad about the cherry tomatoes.

Susan said...

Yes, but you have no weeds! The way things are going, I think you will have plenty of time for buckets full of tomatoes! I am looking forward to Saturday - there is nothing quite like being outside with birdsong and your sister!

Susan said...

Marginally true, Ed. Marginally true.

Susan said...

It sure as shooting is. They are first on the seed order form this winter.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i feel your pain. my garden didn't do much this summer. i got a decent amount of cukes, some peppers and lots of cherry tomatoes(sorry!). i was thinking the same thing for next year...just plant a ton of zinnias! they have been very successful this year. yum...lobster boil! i just won't buy lobsters here. holding them in tanks with doubtful ph causes them to release hormones and they never taste the same. i need to get my butt back to new england!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Oh my gosh, that gift basket from the neighbor is such a delight. I hear on on the weeds.

Nancy In Boise said...

Not looking too bad! Our hens do a good job in the protected areas in the garden, but your is much larger. It's been hot here, triple digits, lots of watering. We're just getting our first cukes and a tomatoes, peaches almost ripe! Our small/medium chest freezer is great for 2 with tons of peaches, applesauce and misc veggies to freeze. I can but freezing is so much faster now that I worked year round. Loving that cute hat!!!

tpals said...

I always plant cherry tomatoes because they do so much better for me than regular ones. This year the orange cherries are starting to pick up the pace, but the red, pear-shaped ones are just sitting there, solid green.

The person I got my strawberry plants from said if I can keep ahead of the weeds for three years the plants will be thick enough to crowd the weeds out. This is year two so keeping my fingers crossed.

Joy said...

Oh, Susan, I feel the same about my Wisconsin garden. I didn’t gather enough fallen leaves last year to mulch the whole thing over winter, and I ended up actually MOWING a weed-covered center section and then covering it with old carpet. (Your strawberry bed plan sounds like a good one.)Then the thirteen-lined groundsquirrel family tunneled up into several beds and ate every carrot seedling I’d carefully fenced off, along with sunflowers and a few other things. Oh, and they’re eating tomatoes as they begin to ripen. The bright spot is they eat red tomatoes, not yellow or orange. My Sunsugar cherry tomatoes are safe. Here’s wishing you an improving garden picture as we head into late summer.

Susan said...

You do, indeed! And you must stop on your way...

Susan said...

Isn't it beautiful? Looks like our weeds are equally as vicious this year. I've never really seen such aggressive growth with such a variety of awful weeds, as I have this year.

Susan said...

I'd love to let my girls out front but they would finish the garden off! I love to see your cute girls making their way around yours - such pretty hens! I tend to like frozen fruit better, but with power outages, at least you don't have to worry about waste. That hat has to be 25 years old!

Susan said...

My fingers are crossed for you, too! I am going to grow my own cherry tomatoes next year. I have my eye on a couple of unusual heritage tomatoes - might as well have fun!

Susan said...

Good heavens, Joy! It sounds as if you are under siege! Is there anything you can do about the ground squirrels? I have millions (only slight exaggeration) of vole holes throughout my garden, which is why I do not grow root vegetables. I can never get to them before the rodents. I'm about to weed whack the rest of the beds this weekend.

Florida Farm Girl said...

Oh, my, those peas are to die for. They're available here for only a very short time because of the heat. Hey, sometimes life gets in the way of lots of things. Your garden just took the hit this time but that's okay.

Leigh said...

Considering how busy you are, I have to say that your garden looks pretty good! And your greens bed! I can only dream about something like that this time of year! Hopefully I'll have a nice one too about October.