We've been enjoying home-grown beans for a little over a week now, and there's nothing like it. I bought some (bush) beans at the farmer's market, but they were nothing like the pole beans I've grown right in my own back yard. I love going out there every day and finding more to pick. This was what we had for dinner last night. (Yeah, I know--it's a lot for two people, but I could make a meal on just these beans.)
Wouldn't you know, I got a stomach bug in early July, and since then, anything with acid (think spaghetti sauce, anything with vinegar) has given me heartburn. So I'm wondering if I'll be able to eat any of our tomatoes, and we're going to have a bumper crop this year. I lost count in the 40s (don't count your tomatoes until they've ripened?) There's nothing like the smell of a fresh-picked tomato. It will break my heart if I don't get to eat these beauties. (We're picking this one later today.)
Our broccoli didn't do well. From five plants, we got enough for one meal before it started going to seed. The Brussels sprouts are just starting to form and the plants are getting huge. Hard to believe they were plants with only two or three leaves when we planted them. One of my parsley plants didn't make it, but the other has been fantastic and we've eaten a lot of parsley potatoes this summer. Of the four pepper plants, only three have one pepper each. One of them is HUGE, the other two are tiny. I'm thinking of trying jalapeno peppers next year -- maybe from seed, as the pepper plants I've bought for the last couple of years have not done well.
And how does your garden grow?
My garden doesn't compare, unfortunately, due to cold MN temps most of the summer. However, raspberries are doing great and jam is now on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteApparently the gardening beings are taking pity on the unenlightened this year. All of my veggies - tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, butternut, sugar pumpkins, leaf lettuces, slicing and pickling cukes are all thriving in spite of copious rain (12 inches in July alone) and a clueless person in charge, kind of. That's knd of in charge, there's no doubt about the clueless part. Why did I plant 6 pickling cuke plants when there won't be enough at one time to make a decent batch of pickles? LOL. Next year it's to the farmer's market for pickling cukes! I love your pictures.
ReplyDeleteFrom a Massachusetts gardener: in spite of the wet weather, the flowers are doing great and the veggies not bad. We ate beans this week, too, and beets soon. Herbs were great, and tomatoes so-so, but maybe will end up o.k. I have some sweet hummingbirds who visit the garden and butterflies, too--sometimes a tiny frog. Gardening is the most relaxing, rewarding thing a writer can do in the summer.
ReplyDeleteHi! I was pointed here by a friend who enjoys your blog, and wow -- gardening and cats. Right up my alley! I write (have a novel published by a small press), I garden, and I have four cats.
ReplyDeleteYou asked how does my garden grow. Well, this year is the first year that hubby and I have gardened, and we have had wonderful luck. The weather cooperated (we got plenty of rain) and most of our crops did really well. Lots of corn, potatoes (we're still digging those up), tomatoes (oh, the tomatoes -- the gallons of salsa and sauce I have made, the tomato casseroles and stir fries!), green and banana peppers, heaps of green beans (yummy!), squash and zucchini, onions, cabbage, cucumber, and watermelon and cantaloupe to boot. The only thing we planted that didn't do well was our cauliflower. It was pathetic. It pretty much rotted as it grew and we had to pull it up and throw it away. I post pictures of our garden on my blog fairly frequently. Oh, we planted sunflowers, too, and they're huge now. :)
Gardening is wonderful. Relaxing, rewarding, and oh, the delicious and healthy food! We will be doing it every year from now on.
Happy writing and gardening, and I'm glad to meet you! :)
Hi, Thomma Lyn, thanks for stopping by. I'm going to "harvest" my potatoes later today. I'll probably put a picture up tomorrow or Wednesday. (Don't laugh!) Glad you found the blog!
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