August 9th

Thursday, August 9th, 2018

Every spring when I start my garden, my seedlings look so puny; it’s hard to imagine my garden filling out, especially coming out of winter when I’m hungry for more color outside.

Then August hits and my garden feels like a straight up jungle, and I’m half cursing myself for planting so much. It’s always amazing how much one seed, one plant, can produce.

You all may think I’m exaggerating, but I think Paul and I have picked over 300 cherry tomatoes from 5-6 plants out of our garden so far – AND THEY’RE ALL STILL PRODUCING.

Paul was very enthusiastic about them when they started to ripen, and now he’s dead sick of them. I’ve been saving our strawberry and extra large Sam’s Club blueberry plastic containers, filling them up with tomatoes, and pawning them off on people.

So on that note, if you want some cherry tomatoes, please do NOT be shy. Let me know!

July 25th

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

I may be the only person in the world who got disproportionately excited when they discovered there was a rabbit in their garden.

There really isn’t much to follow that up with, I’m not sure what else to say.

Is it wrong if I say that I hope it comes back?

Even if it is, I hope he comes back. Bunny fixes can be had with wild buns too.

July 15th

Sunday, July 15th, 2018

First harvest out of our garden this year – Cherry Tomatoes!

The kicker is that they weren’t supposed to even be in my garden.

I start all my plants from seeds. This spring I started jalapeños, beefsteak tomatoes, and bell peppers. Everything else, like the corn, cucumbers, potatoes, and onions I direct sowed.

But I repeat, I did not start any cherry tomatoes.

But they started growing instead of my jalapeños.

Not too sure what happened there, but my assumption is that I bought a jalapeño seed packet that had the wrong seeds inside.

So this being the first time I’ve grown cherry tomatoes, I’m still figuring out how I want to harvest them. Today I clipped the entire vine, whether all of them were ready or not. Maybe next time I’ll harvest individually the ones that are ripe.

August 29th

Tuesday, August 29th, 2017

I love fall, but I’m not sure I’m ready to say goodbye to summer.

I’ve harvested all of my cucumbers from the garden, my tomato plants are beginning to fade, and our pumpkins are beginning to turn orange.

My sunflowers, although cheery, always symbolize the end of summer for me. It takes all summer to grow them, and they’ll bloom for a week or so, and then be gone. The one pictured is a new variety for me – it’s more of a “bush” variety and only gets to be about two feet tall. My mammoths (currently standing at eight feet tall!) are on the verge of blooming.

The birds love the mammoths, and it’s always fun to see the different species that come to feast. We’ll see if they make an appearance on the blog!

August 27th

Sunday, August 27th, 2017

I picked over thirty tomatoes off our our plants this morning!

Thats not including the 40 already sitting on my counter, and the other 40 peeled and ready to go in my freezer. Let’s not even talk about all of those cucumbers that still need to be pickled.

This may sound like a lot (ok, you’re right, it is) but I need 20 pounds of tomatoes for my pasta sauce recipe – and that only gets me six pint size jars worth!

With today being dreary and rain, I took some time this morning to skin my ripe tomatoes. I peeled the entire pile pictured, and that brought my weight total up to 6.5 pounds. I still have a ways to go, but I think I’ll make it!

For those of you who don’t know, peeling tomatoes is actually very simple. Bring a pot of water to a boil, slice an “x” through the skin at either end of the tomato, and boil for one minute. Once boiled, plunge into cold water and the skin will slide right off. Viola!

August 11th

Friday, August 11th, 2017

You put up with my pickling, now you’ll have to endure tomato canning.

These guys aren’t ready yet, but they smell so good! Checking for ripe tomatoes has become part of my daily routine. I’m only finding one here and there, but once they start turning I think I’ll have an abundance!

August 10th

Thursday, August 10th, 2017

When I planted my garden this spring, I sorely underestimated the yield it would have.

I suppose that’s an ok problem to have. More veggies to can, pickle, and ultimately eat. But at this exact moment, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. 12 jars of pickles just today – I still have five in the fridge from pickling last week, and my garden still has about 24 more jars worth on the vine!

So if you want pickles, don’t be shy.

Pickles aren’t so bad to do, especially on a rainy day. I set up my assembly line of ingredients and got to work while the first football game of the (pre)season played. The Vikes actually won! 17-10. I couldn’t believe it.

I’m thinking that next week my tomatoes will be ready. I’m excited for those – salsa, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, homemade ketchup. I won’t lie though, the boiling, having correct temperatures, and the sealing of the jars are a bit intimidating. If any of you can, I’d love any tips you’d be willing to share!

July 11th

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

First harvest out of the garden!