Putting the Beds to Bed

All Tucked in for a Long Winter's Nap

Okay, so I didn't exactly get everyone tucked in today. I did complete the rose bed as you see here. It took a lot of work just to clean it out from both tomato plants and weeds. Then I planted two bulbs of garlic around the front border of both beds. I have no idea what variety it is, but it was free so I'll take it. It is a softneck variety, and it seems to be mild with decent sized cloves. I can't wait to see the little shoots poke up in spring. After planting the garlic, I covered the bed with leaves to build up the soil over winter.

A garlic clove snuggles into its winter bed.

I was able to build up the compost pile quite a bit as well. It's twice as big as it was before. I still have a lot of raking to go as well as porch containers to put away and garden beds to clean up. I'm only planning on putting leaves on the bed that had the brassicas and sweet potatoes this year. That bed will be home to my root vegies next spring. The old bed I'm just going to dig out completely and buy landscape mix to restart it. The newest bed should have had a cover crop this fall, but it will at least get a good dose of compost in the spring.

Fall Update

Actually having a job has taken a toll on my garden, and moreso my blogs. We were able to get quite a bit of corn and okra this summer. If I had kept up with it, we would have had okra coming out our ears. After the middle of August however, everything was pretty much left to its own.

A few weeks ago, I went out to look at the damage. I was very surprised to harvest a few carrots, peppers, and lots of tomatoes. I also dug up the sweet potatoes and got a good basketful. We've been really enjoying those. The chard is still going strong and there is one carrot, one leek, and a few parsnips ready to harvest at any time. I was also surprised to see that the lemon balm came back. Other pots still doing well are the spearmint, parsley, kale, scallions, and chives.

If I can find time this Sunday, I would really like to clean out the beds, plant the garlic my uncle gave me, and at least rake enough leaves to put on top of the bed that will be home to the root vegies next year. I'm probably too late at this point to plant a cover crop on the other beds.

Then I will be somewhat set to start out properly next year at winter break. We'll see...

Corn & Okra

No, this isn't corn or okra, but aren't they pretty?

Okra Blossom

You know it's really summertime when the corn and okra are coming in. We picked two ears of corn yesterday and put them on the grill. They were a little green yet, but it's so hard to wait! David says some okra was ready to pick too, so we'll probably have fried okra for supper this weekend sometime. Yummy!

I hope to have a thorough pictorial account on Sunday.

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