Discoveries

Look what I found!

Today I enjoyed a lazy Sunday, so I only got about half of my list accomplished. I picked four more roma tomatoes and two cucumbers. I sprayed the bell pepper real good, pulled up all but one broccoli plant, planted a section of broccoli seeds, and checked on/tied/weeded the tomato bed with the roses. It looks like I'll be able to make and can some salsa tomorrow. Yum!

Today was a day of discoveries however. My corn is doing well, and while I was checking on it a hummingbird flew up to me, said hello and hovered for a good 30 seconds and then flew off. It was an awesome experience. Now I need to be more vigilant refilling my hummingbird feeder. I noticed a small roma tomato growing in the rose bed. And....I discovered that there actually is a cantaloupe growing in the office bed. It's about half the size of the cantaloupe we bought and cut open today, but it's coming! I hope we get more than one, but I'm sure happy to see it.

Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to:

1. Rake grass clippings.
2. Plant mustard and more lettuce.
3. Can salsa.
   

The Harvest has Begun

I've been picking a couple of cucumbers, tomatoes, & peppers just about every day that I go out to the garden. (really about twice a week) Friday, I made sweet relish and canned 3 1/2 pints as well as 1 pint of kosher dill slices with leftover brine from last week. I was so proud that everything in the relish was from my garden, including the onions.

However, that's all the onions from this year. I still consider it an improvement since I didn't really get any onions to bulb last year. This year they got dug up by dogs several times, but persevered. Most of them did bulb, but not a huge amount. Next year I will try to plant two whole bunches /and/ hope that they don't get dug up.

I noticed that I'm starting to get an eggplant, and my Carmen peppers are starting to turn red. My romas are coming in nicely, but I don't think I'll get another round after this one. For some reason the plant is looking very sad. I think it might be a late blight. On a more happy note, I noticed two tiny green Goliath tomatoes. I have about 4 growing watermelons, but I can't figure out why I have no cantaloupes. Must do some research on that.

It's been so nice to really just eat out of the garden every day. I've been harvesting my romaine lettuce and we've had some nice salads. The chard is going strong and we're even getting some broccoli shoots still. I also picked the first few brussel sprouts. There were only three so hopefully they will still be good in the crisper as others become ready.

Sunday's To Do List:

1. Mow & rake grass clippings for mulch/compost.
2. Spray pepper & chammomile for aphids.
3. Plant mustard.
4. Tie up roma tomato by the house.
5. Weed tomato bed.
6. Pull up some broccoli and plant seeds.
7. Work on garden paths.
8. Start layers for berry bushes. (I doubt I'll get to this though.)

Adventures in Canning: Pickles

Friday I tried out a new art to add to my homesteading skills: Canning! I had enough cucumbers from my garden to make 6 pints of kosher dill spears. Yum!

I used a premade seasoning mix because my dill wasn't ready yet, and I wanted to make the canning process easy on my first try. I found a great website: PickYourOwn.org which had easy step-by-step directions, with pictures.

Step 1: Sterilize your jars and lids. You can sterilize the jars in the dishwasher, and I also discovered when I needed one more jar, that you can also do this in the microwave with the jar full of water for 5 minutes. The lids should be in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Wash the cucumbers. Trim the ends. Cut into spears or slices.

Step 3: Make up the pickle brine. With the packaged seasoning you just follow the directions on the package of how much vinegar and water to add. Dissolve the seasoning, and warm on the stove to a slow boil on medium heat.

Step 4: Pack the cucumbers in the jars well, and pour the brine in. Make sure you leave a half inch of space at the top of the jar. You should use a funnel, but I didn't have one...

Step 5: Clean off the tops of the jars. Seat the lids well. Tighten the rings on.

Step 6: Place in the canner on top of the canning rack. Fill enough water to have an inch of water above the jars.

Step 7: Bring to a good boil. Leave boiling for 5 minutes.

Step 8: Carefully lift the jars out of the water. Place them gently on a dishtowel, and don't touch them until they've cooled down. You will hear the lids pop as they seal down.

If you just can't wait, you can eat them in 24 hours, however it says for the seasonings to really soak in well you should wait a week. Can't wait to try them next week!

Today's Observations

My carrots have actually come up! (as have more leeks)

The early corn is starting to form ears. (I can't wait!)

All the tomatoes in the rose bed have lots of flowers. (And I'm actually starting to like tomatoes.)

The onions aren't too far from harvest.

The spinach is suddenly being eaten by something. I couldn't find the culprit though.

Turkey, tomato, and basil make a yummy sandwich.

Tomorrow's goals:

1. fertilize cantaloupe and squash
   
2. spray peppers for aphids
3. loosely tape around the forming corn ears so the squirrels can't harvest it this year
4. continue working on sawdust paths around beds
5. attempt making pickles and canning them for the first time

Rain is Wonderful

The Pumpkin in the Compost

I have been worried at our lack of rain this year. The drought last year combined with the crazy high heatwave was just awful. This year is starting to seem the same way, minus the heat, at least so far. I was super excited this week that we had some nice storms. Finally, I don't have to pay to water my plants for a few days.

Since I promised to share a pic of my compost growing pumpkin, here it is! I haven't done anything to this guy, and David even accidentally weed whacked it a couple of weeks ago. It's still doing pretty good though. Very interesting to watch.

Today I planted lettuce again, both a little bit of romaine and green ice, and thoroughly sprayed the roma, eggplant, and bell pepper for aphids. I also harvested three more cucumbers and a bell pepper, as well as snacking off my cherry tomato. I should be able to start picking roma tomatoes on Sunday. I'm going to have to get a canner pretty soon, since I'm well on my way to having enough cucumbers to making a good batch of pickles.

I also noticed that my eggplant is starting to flower and my kale has sprouted. Yay! It's a happy time to be in the garden, even if it is hot and muggy.

July's Visual Report

Rearranging

After rereading about herb companions, I moved some of my herbs around to /hopefully/ help influence the bugs to move elsewhere. The kale regrew, but then I found it covered in cabbage worms and almost completely eaten away. So, I pulled it up and replanted and planted collards putting sage in between the two. I took the container of spearmint and put it between my roma tomato plant and eggplant to hopefully dissuade the aphids. I had just about won the battle over the eggplant, so everyone just moved over to the tomato plant. Around the broccoli and brussel sprouts, I placed the lemon balm and rosemary. Both of those are also supposed to help with cabbage worms. I'm sure it's too late, and I'm still somewhat skeptical anyway, but we'll see what happens. I'm thinking now that some of the broccoli heads are yellow because of the worms. I discovered a lot of them when I picked broccoli yesterday.

Sunday, I also added fertilizer to my two other tomato plants that I hadn't worked on earlier, and then I mulched all four with grass clippings. I pulled off the mulch around the strawberries to fertilize them for the year too, and then put the mulch back of course.

I was saddened that my mom's watermelon plants have 3 fist sized melons and mine just has one or two dime sized ones. I actually had baby melons first, but they rotted. I read on gardenweb that that happens if it doesn't get pollinated, and I'm sure that's a problem with my plants being in a corner of the porch.

Otherwise, I did pick 3 cucumbers today, and I'm noticing that other stuff is getting close. I will try to have my monthly pictures up by the end of this week.