Harvest

At the beginning of September, I already had to harvest my carrots, because they were HUGE:



I got a shopping bag full. I eventually put a bunch of them in a bin filled with sand in the garage, but now they're sprouting new stems. That can't be good, but I don't know what to do about it.

I got hardly any tomatoes this year. Maybe it was too cold, maybe it was something else. I should say that tomatoes did grow in my garden, but almost all of them had blossom rot and were spoiled. The night I picked the carrots, I found my first sound tomato:



Remember when the potato beetles ate my potato plants? Well, we had tried to save just a few plants, but they did die. But when I went to pull up the dead plants, I found some good-sized Yukon Golds:



That was a fun find.

My yellow onions did alright. I've never had success with onions before, since the rabbits at our old house would eat them (weird rabbits). But these grew nice and big. My husband built me a little screen-topped table quickly out of some scraps so that the onions could dry properly:



My garden really wasn't very successful this year, and I was a poor gardener. I need to get in the habit of getting out there regularly. Once I get in the garden, I see all kinds of things I want to take care of, and I actually enjoy the work, for the most part. But I tend to put off going out to work in it, and things got out of hand on many fronts this year. Next year, there's always next year... Maybe next year the weather will be better for growing things. But this summer sure was beautiful.

The Pleasures of Sweet Corn

I adore corn on the cob. I have never yet eaten enough of it that I've felt ready to be done with it when September comes.



This year I think the cool, dry weather did a number on how the corn matured. The first corn was ready a little bit late, and then we got some rain and hot weather and practically all of it was ripe at once.

We planted two varieties and we spaced the plantings more than two weeks apart. And then, boom, so much of my corn was suddenly overripe. I was disgusted with myself for having to throw out so many ears because I didn't expect them to be ready yet. At least the chickens ate a bunch, so it wasn't completely wasted. But I could have eaten it!



I did eventually get on the stick and freeze some. I've never done that before because I've never had extra. I got advice from my sister-in-law who does a beautiful job freezing sweet corn. It tastes like August when you eat it in December. I did do some parts of the process differently than she does, so I'm crossing my fingers that it will still taste as good.

She says: Cook it for 5 minutes, then cool it quickly in ice water. Cut it off the cobs and pack it in small freezer bags.

I did some smaller batches that way. But I don't have an ice maker currently, and we don't eat as much corn in one meal as we should.

So when I did a bigger batch, I cooled it with running water. We have a well, so the water gets very cold.



Then I spread it out on a broiler pan lined with wax paper and froze it. Then I broke it up a bit and put it in freezer bags, so that I can pour out as much as I need.



Someday I need to grow more sweet corn and be good about picking it on time.

By the way, our two varieties were from Gurney's. "Gotta Have It" was disappointing: tough and not sweet. "Northern Bicolor Xtra Sweet" was excellent eating but didn't germinate well.

Anticipation

We will have sweet corn soon!



The ears are gettting filled out, but the kernels don't spray yet when you pierce them. So tonight we are watering with the soaker hose again. It's been so very dry here.

I have some volunteer Roma tomato plants in my garden this year. The plants are doing beautifully.



Tomatoes have been slow to get going here, because the weather has been so cool. But there are small green tomatoes in my garden now.

My dill is huge.



Now... don't look at those... weeds. Yes, I need to weed my garden.

So, my dill. I planted cucumbers in hopes of getting a bunch of baby ones to make into pickles. But something ate all but the center of my cucumber plants earlier this summer - probably deer. So those plants basically had to start over. I don't think my cucumbers will coincide with my dill, if the cucumbers ever do well. So unless I buy some tiny cucumbers at a farmer's market soon, I don't think I'm going to use that dill. I do love homemade dill pickles.

Perennials

My flower garden is moving along through its seasons. The lilies I posted a picture of earlier this summer, when they were just starting to bloom, bloomed big and beautifully - but I forgot to take a picture then.

The yellow flowers bloomed well, too, and still look great:


The thistle-like perennial I got from a neighbor has purple flowers on it now:



And these poker-like flowers have been blooming a long while, too:


I really need to get my flower book out and try to remember what these plants were! These were all shared by generous gardeners, so I've promptly forgotten what they said they were giving me.

Attack of the Beetles

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this breaking news. Colorado potato beetles have invaded Betsy's garden. Here is a picture of the culprits:


Photo: University of MN Dept. of Entomology

They have appeared in large numbers and defoliated the majority of Besty's potato plants. Betsy and her husband decided to cut their losses and dispose of most of the plants. They harvested half a grocery bag of new potatoes. They left 3 or 4 of the best-looking potato plants and picked the beetles and eggs off as best they could.

Besty and her daughters had the following to say: "Eeew!"

A close watch will be kept on the tomato plants, as they are at risk of infestation as well.

More Flowers

Some flowers in my perennial garden are blooming. Take a look at the lilies my sister-in-law gave me as transplants last fall!



These ones were transplants from a neighbor. I'm not quite sure what they are anymore!



And I planted some parsley seeds in there for good measure, and they're coming up, too.



I never did get annuals planted in my flower garden, but if I just put down more mulch, it will look alright. And it will help keep the weeds down.

Tulips

My tulips are blooming!





I adore tulips, so I'm thrilled.

I actually put my flower garden over the septic tank, to try to beautify that part of the yard and cover up all those little white posts. The benefit of it is that some of my plants came up and bloomed early from the warmth underneath! My other tulips are in a colder spot within the same garden, and they're not close to blooming yet.

I weeded that whole garden yesterday, removed the dead stems from last fall, planted herb and flower seeds, and spread mulch. I'll need a little more mulch, but it looks much better.



All of the other perennials are coming up now. I'm sorry to say that I don't even remember what some of them are!

Gardening Fashion

Dear reader, I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in so long. I've been busy, and unfortunately it hasn't been with gardening. But tonight I planted my broccoli, lettuce, peas and onions. I also watered the strawberry plants I planted on Thursday evening.

This is me, all set to go:



I have the cutest tool belt ever; it's really a gardening apron that my mom gave me:



And I think Jennifer from Jennifer's Junky Life would like my Wellingtons. I got them from Target last year when my new driveway was horrible in the spring and I had to walk down to the road for the school bus. Now I find out that Wellies are fashionable - who knew?



My daughter actually took some pictures of me planting tonight:

The Beginnings of an Orchard

We decided on a different spot for our orchard. Instead of being in a grassy area that had dead trees, it's going on a slope that was an alfalfa field. It was at the suggestion of the person who hays that field, so it was an acceptable section to take. It will make the trees very visible to our house, which will be lovely when they flower. It will also soften the look of our house and yard to have a collection of small trees on a side of the house that was bare. And it was a spot we could get to work on right now.

My husband spent a muscle-punishing day digging large holes in hard, dry clay. I helped him plant the trees in the holes and fill the holes with rich, loose black dirt mixed with well-rotted cow manure. We got our first batch of trees so early that we couldn't plant them at first (darn Gurney's). Then we heeled them in to try to keep them alive until we had our site prepared. Now we hold our breath until we see if they survived. At least our apple trees haven't arrived yet, so they'll have better odds.

This one is a cherry tree:



Some of them look like sticks (I think this is a pear):



But we planted bare-root sticks before at our old house, and they did grow:




Even the largest tree you see in that last picture was a tiny, limbless stick when we got it, just like the pear tree above.

Clean Up

I just spent the evening cleaning out my vegetable garden. And I am so tired. But the weather is gorgeous, and I've recovered enough from a bout of a stomach virus to have some strength again. So I worked hard to get it done.

I didn't get everything cleaned out of it last fall. It was my... erosion control plan? Okay, it was no plan at all. It was just because I was trying to get too many things done in November while the weather was unseasonably warm. Then the bottom dropped out and it was suddenly winter. I never saw my pumpkin vines all winter, because we always had snow. But now it's time to get ready to plant.

My wee one helped me at first.



But it was many wheelbarrows-full, so she joined her sister to play in the dirt.



And she made a sign spelled out with tiny rocks.



I got it done, as done as I think I need to before it gets some kind of digger run through it.


Then I looked in the woods just a bit. Leaves on some of the bushes are just opening up. And something, I don't know what it is, looks like it's about to flower!

Spring Delicacies

Not for me. For my lovely neighbors, the deer. Oh, they're lovely. I love to see them. I don't love for them to eat my plants, although I know it's bound to happen. How can it not, when there are so few green plants up yet and here come my green sprouts?

They found my tulips, despite the fact that we'd put hair clippings in the garden (supposed to help deter them).




There were dainty little hoof prints leading right to them, so no mystery there.

So my husband put a fence up around them. And then they found some other plants that weren't in the fence. So I sprayed deer and rabbit repellent on what I have left. We'll see what happens. I'll be happy to hear your suggestions.

Peonies!

My peonies are up!



Yes, I mean the teensy red sprout. I have a few of them.

The cold winter didn't kill them. Hallelujah. They were transplanted from my sister-in-law's garden. We had transplanted some of them to our old place years ago and loved them, but left those behind. We're going to be so glad to have some familiar flowers. It will probably take a few years for them to bloom, but I am really glad they survived that first winter.

My chives are also up:


They look a bit anemic because they were entirely covered with mulch. And, wow, I already need to weed!

The tulips are coming along nicely:

Spring Has Sprung!

A batch of my tulips has come up!



Last fall I put in two clusters of tulip bulbs after the ground was partially frozen. I was too busy until then. So I was out there in the cold with a bulb bit on my husband's drill, drilling holes in the ground and dropping in bulbs. That worked pretty well, actually, but it was work. I hoped they'd actually come up and not get eaten over the winter. So far, so good! We'll see if the deer find the green sprouts to be a nice salad, though.

I have two perennials coming up, too.

One was given to me by a neighbor; I think it's geranium/cranesbill. The other was given to me by my sister-in-law; it's butterfly bush or something like that. Both plants were divided from their gardens.

Logs and Ents

My husband and his brother cut down a few dead trees today to prepare a spot for the orchard. I was looking out the window at what they'd accomplished and which trees still need to be cut down. And I noticed that those two trees in the middle look like Ents from the Lord of the Rings: arms, the trunks a little bent near the bottom like knees. They look like they're walking down the hill! Maybe I just have too much imagination.

Hope Springs Eternal

The weather's getting warmer; the snow's going to melt this weekend, at least for the time being. And I'm getting excited to see what my flower garden will do this spring. Right now it looks like dead weeds sticking up out of the snow, because I didn't trim down the transplanted perennials last fall. I hope, I really hope, that I'll have tulips and peonies and lilies and coneflowers and a variety of other flowers (or at least plants) coming up this spring.

Interesting Book

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is getting interesting. I've gotten past the introductory stuff on how they moved and how people nowadays don't understand where food comes from - all fine, but now the story is really beginning. I just finished the chapter on early spring when they began their year of eating locally.

First of all, I related to her when she talked about moving into their house before the doorknobs were put on! They renovated an old farmhouse, whereas we built new, but it's fun to be able to relate to an author's experience. They put in a small garden the first summer, but they were too busy with house-related stuff to really get going on food production. Been there, done that; we had a garden, but this year the fruit trees are going in, we're getting chickens, and we want to expand the garden.

Secondly, I'm enjoying her writing style. When she was saying that they were beginning their year in the early spring because their asparagus was ready to eat, but they were despairing of finding any locally-grown fresh fruit so early as they were heading to the farmer's market, I was thinking, "Rhubarb! She's going to find rhubarb!" I love it when a book makes me feel smart for figuring out a mystery.

She talked about how asparagus is only good the day it is picked. I have never in my life eaten truly fresh asparagus, so that intrigues me. Maybe it's like sweet corn. I wonder if people who don't live in an area where sweet corn grows have any idea how good it is. Sweet corn is not worth bothering with when you get it from the grocery store even the next day after picking, not to mention several days later. I have a vegetable gardening book that says that a developer of sweet corn varieties from the University of Illinois advised boiling your water first, then picking the corn and husking it as you run to the kitchen! I think my dad would agree with him.

Planning the plantings

We've ordered a bunch of plants from Gurney's and Jung catalogs. So far we've gotten the sweet corn seeds. This spring we'll get lots of bareroot fruit trees and plants. I look forward to the years we start getting fruit; it takes some time. One of the new things we're planting is blueberry bushes.