I know you’ve all been wondering did the bear eat the pears again or did we get to?
Chalk one up for me and the MR. We’ve been enjoying sweet juicy pears for the last few months. We also had a great batch of blueberries. Our freezer is full of them.
We’ve done well in the cabbage and maybe in the brussels sprouts departments. We’ve enjoyed one head of cabbage so far, and we’ve got some large ones just waiting to be picked. The brussels sprouts are new to me. I’m not sure when exactly to harvest. I’ve been waiting for a freeze to sweeten them up and give them a chance to get a little bigger. Currently, they’re pretty small, but I have hope.
I’ve been pretty haphazard in the garden this year, but I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to enjoy.
Oh and by the by, lemon cucumbers look like lemons but taste just like regular cucumbers–live and learn. I was hoping for a little of that lemony tang.
It’s always fun to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
We tried the tomatoes in a few different places this year. Both were more sheltered but with less sun. The tomatoes like the sun, but the MR doesn’t like when plants get overwatered on the deck. I have a habit of deeply watering them a touch too much, and worm castings make the water streaming across the deck a dark, murky color.
We will see where they land next year. I think we both missed easy access to snack on the cherry tomatoes while we enjoy the afternoon on the deck.
This year we were tidier albeit less productive. I do have a few full-size tomatoes ripening on the counter and may make some pasta sauce. If I want the smoky tomato jam, I’m going to have to pick up tomatoes at the farm store. I do love what I like to call “grown-up ketchup.” And this year, I used some of our pears to make Salted Caramel Pear Butter https://www.freshpreserving.com/blog?cid=salted-caramel-pear-butter which tastes amazing on waffles.
What are you doing with your harvest? Any favorite recipes to share?
I sent the MR out to the orchard to pick the last of the yellow plums—those I couldn’t reach on tippy toe. And then I went down to the garden to see what was ready.
I was excited to see cabbage and Brussels sprouts doing well and picked a handful of yellow bush beans. Checking my three squash plants, I discovered a few lemon cucumbers. I can’t wait to try them.
I picked one apple; our trees didn’t do well this year. And the MR found a single purple plum that didn’t get the memo about wearing yellow. He’s propped up the limbs on the Rescue Pear. It’s loaded with fruit. And I’m hoping we will be enjoying them this fall rather than the wildlife as in years past.
We’re enjoying a day of rain after more than 50 days without.
Once upon a time me and the MR got married. We had two special girls and time marched on. Sweet Miss married the Fella. Baby Girl graduated from college in the middle of Covid and decided it was time for grad school abroad.
So in January BG headed off to Belfast. Yes it was a long time, yes we would miss her, but we had plans. We would all visit in the middle of summer.
Covid has its own plans. The UK is closed to Americans. But BG is doing well. We have August and September wide open. We still have time to visit before classes start up again.
And since I’m home, I’ve been able to pick blueberries, and currants, and plums. The peas are going great guns, and I’ve harvested shallots and lettuce.
I’ve volunteered at our church’s VBS and met great people—young and old (over 4-years-old).
I have blueberries to pick and jam to make.
Every disappointment comes with its silver lining. BG finishes up in December, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to visit before then. I don’t want to ever go a year without seeing my girls.
Back in March, I was all excited about my garden and starting seeds. I thought my over-wintered cole crops might produce an early spring harvest. Everything was going to be sunshine and rainbows.
Ok, so it’s western Washington, I knew sunshine was iffy. What about the rest you ask? It’s been a mixed bag. While I had a healthy supply of broccoli for about a month, I did finally pull out the storm-ravaged plants that had stopped producing. As for the brussel sprouts and cabbage, when they started bolting, I cut them off at the base, too. But before I tossed them in the compost pile, I decided to nibble on a leaf to see if it passed muster. They tasted great, so I wound up with some for coleslaw and a bag for smoothies. I’ll admit, I did really want a beautiful round head of cabbage.
All may not be lost. I’ve put in a few transplants I picked up, and remember how I cut off my failed crops at the base? Well, they’ve started to sprout new growth. You can look at that as a bad thing, since I’ve already planted new vegetables around them, or you can say I’m getting a second chance. I’m just going roll with it for the moment.
And now, let’s talk about those seeds I started. Well, the idea of mixing seed starter soil and worm castings may seem smart in theory. You have better moisture retention and more biological matter. But I know my worms, I should have seen this one coming. They have a hard time digesting tomato and squash seeds. My tray of lettuce seedlings was filled with some unnamed squash. It could have been cucumber or watermelon, but my bet was on butternut squash–knowing our eating habits. The thing is, squash has a notoriously wandering eye and will cross-pollinate with anything. That being said, I decided not to give these seedlings a premium spot in my walled garden and planted them along the driveway.
I don’t know if it was lack of water or simply animals, but I don’t think any of them have made it.
I did learn something recently, potato leaves are poisonous. That’s probably why they do so well in the garden annex. I have a few starts from last year pushing up along with some blue and red potatoes I picked up at the hardware store. When I was there, I saw some shallots and thought I’d give growing them a try. Shallots tend to be pricey, and experts always recommend growing expensive vegetables to save money in the long run. I was expecting an onion-like sprout, but these are so much more fun. I do like fun surprises.
On a happy note, two of my kiwi vines are growing like crazy. Me and the MR thought the third one had died, but I’ve seen new growth in the last few weeks. When I thought it was dead, I took a close look at the tag and saw that it was a female. That’s especially good news, since I know I bought two females and a male, so I’m hoping for fruit this year. I know, I know, I’ve said the same thing for the last two years. I’m hanging onto hope.
We’re also looking forward to some good crops in the orchard. Trees were blooming at the right time, and no late storms or frosts. The strawberries, currants, and pears were covered in blooms, I’m crossing my fingers.
I’ve got my pea trellises up and have a spot for the bean towers. I saved a few bean seeds from last year to try. Apparently, seeds from a particular spot will grow even better in that microclimate. I know what my dad meant when he said farming’s a gamble.
Our local farmer’s market opens this week, it’s probably a good thing we don’t have to rely on my garden and orchard to provide. I ran across a few containers of our blueberries in the freezer this week. It does make me smile; there’s something to be said about the pride of growing your own food. When company visits, I’m planning on apple pie from our orchard.
How are things in your garden? Direct seed? Transplants? Grow your own? Enquiring minds want to know.
This has been a good year for the garden and orchard. When you’re sheltering in place, there’s not a lot else to do. Finally, they’re getting the attention they deserve. First lets talk apples–it’s been a banner year. We have applesauce, apple butter, blueberry-apple jam, and frozen apple pies to prove it. We’ve processed over 40 pounds of apples and still have more in the fridge waiting to be cut up for snacks or made into cobbler and other treats.
The tomatoes have also been doing well. We have pasta sauce, jam, and stewed tomatoes. We had an early fall storm with heavy rains for several days last week, so I sent baby girl to pick all of the tomatoes with even a hint of color. Those have ripened on the counter, and if my circuit of the garden is right, we’re going to have a lot more tomatoes to deal with. Some of them have split, but many look really healthy. In the orchard, we were super excited to see that we were going to have a few pears this year–not a ton, maybe 10–but after eight years of waiting this was good news.
Sadly, the MR headed down to the orchard this morning and found trouble. Remember that buffalo fence I was bragging about earlier this summer? (Check out Bring on the Buffalo for details.) Well, apparently bears are more persistent than buffaloes when it comes tearing down fences and eating pears and grapes. We saw a bear checking it out a few months ago, and we figure he came back or told his friends about it. The fence was down and our fruit was gone. At least the trees appeared to be undamaged. I guess we’ll wait till next year for homegrown pears. The MR was able to fix the fence without too much trouble.
Remember all those tomatoes I was talking about? I prepared 10 pounds of stewed tomatoes this morning. One jar broke almost immediately after going into the canner and another popped as soon as I took it out of the water bath. It’s one of those years where it feels like you take 2 steps forward and one step back. The broken jar is a loss, I’m not willing to tempt having glass in my food, but the jar that popped will go into dinner later this week.
We’re currently enjoying lots of broccoli from the garden, and I’ve got cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots, and onions planted for fall. I still have a few heads of lettuce, but even with Sluggo, I can’t seem to keep ahead of the slugs. Looking at my pantry, I feel like Laura Ingalls getting ready for the long winter. It does feel good knowing where my food comes from. Of course, I have the grocery store, local farm stands, and Amazon to help round things out.
How did your garden do this year? Is it all put to bed for winter or still going strong?
The other day, the morning started with a phone call from my aunt. She lives halfway cross the country, and it’s been ages since I heard from her.
She was calling to thank me for a cowl I sent. I made it for the shop, and when my boss returned it I immediately thought of her. With vibrant oranges and violets, it matches both her bubbly personality and her hair. It’s always fun when a gift is well-received.
One nice thing about staying home is getting a chance to catch up on all those projects that get put aside. I came across the cowl for my aunt when I was cleaning out the sewing room. I don’t care if it’s hotter than hot in Kansas in July—I sent her a chunky wool winter garment before it got lost again.
The sunny weather in April and May gave me plenty of time to put in my garden. Rainy days, new dirt, and lots of slugs have given me mixed success. My spinach stagnated until a few sunny days sent it bolting. The carrots have been spotty at best, but the lettuce has finally (with the aid of Sluggo) outpaced the slugs and started to produce.
On a super-positive note, the tomato starts I got from a local farm and the FFA are doing great. They’ve been enjoying a pampered life in their walls-of-water for the last few months, and I finally released them and staked them out. I have two in the fenced garden area and one in the overflow. I thought the one outside the walls would be fine, since tomato leaves are poisonous, right? Wrong, something bit it off down to the plastic. With some extra netting, I hope it’ll be safe.
In the orchard, it’s a mixed bag as well. We replaced the area where the currant bush died last year with some strawberry plants from a friend. We haven’t had tons of strawberries, but they are incredibly sweet. I hope these are everybearing so we get another crop.
The other two current bushes are doing pretty well. One has some black branches like the one that died, but the other is healthy and green. We are coming to the end of that season just in time for the blueberries to really get going. We have three different plants, three different kinds that all harvest at a slightly different rate. I picked a quart of each this afternoon and am looking forward to some currant/raspberry popsicles this week.
Freshly picked berries
Our new strawberry patch
Currants are so pretty
Along with berries, we’ve been enjoying peas and herbs in our meals lately.
The two apple trees and the yellow plum are both loaded with fruit, and we have a few pears coming on for the first time. The pears look awful. I may have to let the MR have his way and tear them out. I keep thinking this will be the year they start producing. A few cracked and scaly-looking fruit wasn’t what I had in mind.
While my projects here and there are pretty much the same as every other spring, the MR has been busy with something amazing. I’ve talked about paths for years. My January posts predicting what was going to happen would mention paths…
I’m finally done talking. The MR did it in an amazing way.
First we have stairs down from the garage to end of the house by the well-room. I tried to get Cocoa to show you how great they are, but I guess if you have four-legs, you don’t need stairs. I need stairs. I may have bounced off people more than once trying to negotiate that hill.
But that’s not all. Now, we have stairs from the bottom of the deck up to the well room and down toward the garden. Me and the MR have both fallen on that slope down to the meadow after a bit of rain or on a dewy morning. While I’m a fan of using a hoe in the garden, it also comes in really handy as a walking stick. And in the middle of winter when there’s a problem with the well, or there’s a problem with the boiler, and believe me there’s always some problem, it’ll be nice to have an easy step up to the well room.
I’ve been trying to wait till he had them all done, but he ran out of materials and good weather. He doesn’t like to work in the rain, but he also doesn’t want to be out when it’s 80-plus. New brick arrived today, and pavers are on back order. Soon I’ll be heading down to the garden in style.
An easy path to the well.
Curving down to the field.
Those stairs are so pretty.
I love this view from the lower deck.
The goal is to get from here to there safely.
What kind of projects have you been working on while sheltering in place? Caught up with any of your favorite people lately?
The MR has his work cut out for him. It’s going to be wonderful when it’s all done.
So what do you do when your home for weeks on end? When all your travel plans disappear? When your weekly outings are cancelled?
The MR ordered new fencing and piles of dirt and bark. HaveI mentioned that new tractor he bought back in January? Well, he’s been putting it to good use.
Cocoa rather than wildlife has been racing through the gardens.
The fenced in kitchen garden was totally topped off, and the outside garden has been filled for the first time. He was also kind enough to order weed barrier. My paths are covered along with the areas waiting for beans, tomatoes, and squash–heat-lovers that can’t withstand our cool springs.
While I usually plant seeds, there’s something totally fulfilling when you transplant a few peas and onions and have an instant garden. I’ve also planted parsley, beets, broccoli, four kinds of lettuce, and potatoes. You’ll just have to trust me; there’s no proof at the moment.
And now I know you’re wondering what all that talk about buffalo was. Well, the orchard has been fenced in almost from the get-go due to predators. You may call them deer, I know they’re evil incarnate. They’ve torn down more than one fruit tree and eaten all my harvest.
After some heavy snowstorms, our orchard fencing was looking pretty rough. The fence posts were bent, the netting was torn and haggard. So the MR ordered some heavy-duty posts and some new fencing. The fencing has pictures of buffalo on it, so maybe we’ll be able to keep out deer and bears. I know there are elk near here, but I don’t think we have any buffalo.
The old system worked until deer knocked down the trees, and the snow bent the posts and tore the netting.
This was last spring after a few years of heavy snows.
This is our new buffalo-worthy fortress–I mean orchard.
Along with the new fencing, the MR ordered two gates. Can I you see how glorious they are? I used to pull up some netting held down with an old board to get from the tree to the berry side of the orchard. This is amazing. He also stole a foot or two from the tree side, and added a foot on the perimeter to make more room for our berry bushes.
Now we just have to be patient and wait for seeds to do what seeds are supposed to do in the garden. I have faith. The tomato seeds I planted a month ago are finally starting to grow. Faith is a good thing.
We have lots of beautiful blossoms in the orchard, and this fall we’re hoping for luscious fruit.
So in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, what does this picture say to you?
Disappear for a few weeks at the end of summer, and your garden and orchard will go wild. The bean tower fell over, the broccoli and lettuce bolted, something ate the grapes and the last of the blueberries, the netting around the orchard was shredded, and the weeds went wild.
Ah, but all was not lost. Sometimes it pays to be bitter or buried. The Swiss chard, the carrots, and the beets all grew well in our absence.
While Swiss chard and beets aren’t the MR’s favorites, I’m certain he will help me with the carrots. I did manage to salvage a few stems of broccoli, so chicken and broccoli with black bean sauce is on the menu for tomorrow night. And I think I’ll have a beet smoothie for breakfast.
We’ve had a wetter than normal September and have already had snow in the mountains, so it may be a hard winter around here. Glad even in my absence we get to enjoy a little from the garden.
How was your harvest? Have you put your garden to bed for the winter? Any over winter crops in the works?
Me and the MR just got back from an amazing trip to Africa. We came back with pictures, and stories, and wonderful memories. And we came home to an excited Cocoa, a welcoming Baby Girl, and an overgrown mess of a garden.
Baby Gurl assured us she’d eaten a ton of plums—our “beauty” tree had just started producing when we left. And she’d picked some lettuce, but I hadn’t asked for much more.
It gets overwhelming when all you see is weeds.
But with a little effort here and a little time there, it’s starting to resemble a garden again. I even found some tidy rows of carrots that I was certain never came up.
While I haven’t gotten all the weeds under control, our lettuce, Swiss chard, and beets are thriving. Something has been eating our romaine, so I made a party for the slugs and set out some plastic containers of beer.
The MR bought some really nice bean towers this spring, but I’m not sure they will support our wild profusion of stalks.
While we’ve struggled to grow broccoli the last few years, this year it’s thriving. I’m always happy to celebrate success. While many have begun to flower while we were gone, I was able to cut them back and enjoy some vigorous side shoots.
By the by, the broccoli starts I’d bought this spring didn’t all survive. When I was wondering what to do, I noticed a bunch of volunteer broccoli plants around the garden. Now the MR had classified last year’s broccoli as “weird”, but I took my chances and filled out the bed with the random starts. They’ve grown bigger and produced more broccoli than the seedlings I bought, and they seem perfectly normal.
We’ve been eating plums, broccoli, Swiss chard, lettuce, blueberries, and beets from the garden and orchard.
I’m anxious for the beans to start. They’re currently flowering, so it won’t be long.
Crocheting with Kim 