The garden is getting very full of plants and blooms. I’ve been busy picking veggies and flowers, preserving, and making plans to renew it for my fall crops.
I canned my first green beans of the season. It took me two days even though there weren’t that many because Jake was at our house…..need I say more? Rob and I just swapped off duties and we got the job done. Now there are 20 pints and 6 quarts to add to my canning cupboard.
Almost every day now, I pick another 2 or 3 Glacier Ultra Early tomatoes. They are small sized and more of an orange-red than some other varieties, but they sure have good flavor. I am also getting a handful of Sungold Cherry tomatoes every couple of days. They disappear off the counter almost as soon as I put them down there!
I’m still getting raspberries from the June-bearing variety. I’ve been delighted with the yield from my fairly-short row. I’ve frozen lots of them. I’ve also been freezing blueberries. My mom has sent some my direction from her bushes, and we had a few from ours. Most of ours are disappearing right down the hatches of the family!
I got some beets from my mixed beet packet I planted. Alissa chose it from the Pinetree seed catalog, but later informed me she didn’t care for beets, they were all for us:). I roasted these with olive oil and salt. They shrunk when I roasted them, but they tasted good and are hands-down the prettiest beets I’ve ever grown.
I’ve been picking broccoli every couple of days. I froze 6 more quart-sized baggies, we ate a head fresh and there are several more still growing. This is the Hybrid Broccoli Blend from Territorial Seed Company. It gives a staggered harvest. I’ve grown it for years and love all the kinds that grow. I will have lots of side shoots after I pick the main heads.
Two and a half weeks ago, I bought 3 zucchini. Then mine started to get ripe! Since then, we have eaten it several times, and I have given it away to my sisters and a friend. My fridge has several in it, and there are more ready to pick. All in ONE and ONE HALF weeks! It’s going to be a good zucchini year, for sure:)
We have plans to get some fall crops going. The green beans will be pulled shortly, after one more good picking. There is lettuce that will be pulled. So, some areas will be opening up soon.
Rob picked up some bags of steer manure at the farm store. I will dump a bag on an open area once I pull the spent plants, till with the tiny little tiller we have, and replant for fall. I will plant more lettuce, possible a new zucchini for when these succumb to mildew, maybe some additional pickling cucumbers since I’m not sure I have enough, maybe spinach, boc choi, snow peas, Swiss chard, more green beans for fall eating, and what ever else I can squeeze in. It’s getting to the point where some things may not mature before frost, but if I get going on it right now, I will be able to get veggies far into the month of October. Some crops will take a light frost, like cabbage, broccoli, chard, and snow peas. It’s a fun project!
You’re an inspiration! I’m enjoying my little garden, but am in awe of you and yours. Sending our love…
Thanks, Laura. I love gardening, so that helps me stay interested even when the weeds grow and grow and grow….. Sending our love right back at you guys:)
I am so glad your garden is doing so well. It is great that you are storing so much for the winter. We have been enjoying lots of peas, kale, lettuce and raspberries this week. My herbs are doing great and I have been drying lots for the winter, I should be getting my first zucchini this week. Can’t wait. Peppers are huge, I just need them to change colors. Tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers still have a ways to go.
I wish I could share zucchini with each and every reader! I went out and picked 5 or 6 more this morning! I will share with my sister tomorrow at family Sunday dinner, Rob’s eating a ton of them, and then…..zucchini cake sounds good:)
I have zucchini envy now…if only I could grow it.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
You are not the only one I’ve heard of that it just won’t grow well for. It must be a Pacific Northwest speciality. There are things that won’t grow for me–but zucchini is not one of them! One year, that’s all that grew at first in my garden and we ate it for literally breakfast, lunch and dinner in zucchini bread and muffins, casseroles, stir-fries, and so on. We kind of got tired of it that year, and I was much more diligent in growing other things earlier the next year:)
No, it is just me and my yard. Neighbors can grow zucchini by the truckloads like you. It is the squash vine borers that I can’t get rid of. I have tried rotating crops, skipping planting any zucchinis or yellow squash at all (last year), but they still find them and kill my plants. I do have one yellow squash that has been under a cover and is blooming now. The cover is removed and maybe I can get a few squashes.
I really just feel better if I whine.
Whine all you like:). Once I had a yard where zucchini would not grow…it was such a disappointment. Everyone else could grow it…
My old roommate at BYU used to grate zucchini, let it drain, add grated cheese and eggs and pop in oven until done. 350 degrees. Usually about 20 minutes but depends on oven…. It was so simple and so good! I do it with summer squash here. Zucchini is not really a thing here, for some reason, but summer squash is real popular.
That sounds great! Today, my sister made some baked zucchini with a few bread crumbs, grated cheese, and some bruschetta topping…not sure which topping, but boy was that good. I could have eaten the whole tray!
Those are some pretty beets! And wow on the zucchini! Someone gave us an eight ball zucchini this week, which I’d never heard of. I stuffed it with basil, lambs quarter (for spinach), bread crumbs, cheese… , along with some of our yellow and zucchini squash. It was good. Thank you for posting the lentil taco recipe. I look forward to making it.
I’ve grown those round zucchini before–they came in a mixed packet of summer squash. I wanted to stuff them like you did, but was so busy with so many kids at home at that time I never did! Instead, they got bigger and bigger until they were more like big balls instead of pool-sized balls, and I just grated them up and made zucchini bread:). I hope you like the lentils. I’ve been surprised at how well they have been received here.
Truly amazing and beautiful! So happy for you that you are restocking your canning shelves too!
Thank you. I got 6 more quarts of green beans canned early this morning. They are coming in bits and pieces this year, so I’m delighted I got that many again!
That’s wonderful! I just had to tell you – I BOUGHT a zucchini today because I had to have some grilled. It was $1.17 for ONE zucchini!!!! Consider yourself blessed!
Even here, in zucchini heaven, the ones I bought a few weeks ago were 75c/each. But, I just reminded myself of what the farmer had to do to get it to ripen so early, and paid the price:)
I also told myself that about blueberry prices after picking a gallon on Saturday and probably losing 10 pounds from sweating so much!!! Worth every penny!!!
That sounds like a yummy way to lose 10 lbs:). lOL!
Wow! Your garden is doing great.
Remember the unknown seeds that went through the washing machine because I left them in my pants pocket? They have formed tiny squash, about the size of a round cucumber, and I decided to try one last night. I was going to rip up the plant because the fruit is so small but discovered they are tiny spaghetti squashes. They are delicious and taste nothing like regular spaghetti squash, more like a buttery yellow squash. The plant will get to live another day!
I can’t believe it is time to begin planning the fall garden.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
That’s amazing that you got something edible from those seeds! I didn’t have room to leave my strange looking squashed this year, because I needed every inch for beans…we ate so many last year.
Change of plans. I ate a few more and they were mostly seeds and hard skin. It took 5 squashes to make one side meal for only one person. The plant has been ripped up. It was too much work for the amount of food I received. I am hard on my plants – please me or it is the compost pile!
Sometimes, it’s just not worth it! I totally agree:).