Garden Walk

Posted from 09/01

Let's take a little trip around the garden today, shall we?

I'm proud to say I managed for the very first time to grow gladiolus. I tried growing them last year but they never bloomed.
The name of this variety I believe is “Mi Amour”. I'll be trying to save the bulbs this year. We won't find out until next summer if it worked! I did my first cutting of them and gave them to my mother as a thank you for all of her continued help.

 

We also had some beauties that have been developing in the garden. Most of the garden is now left for the winter but there are a few plants still producing. My Roma tomato I let go for the year. There were a few casualties but nothing to cry over. I plan on planting more roma plants next year to up the amount of tomato sauce I can process. I may or may not be shooting for canning next year.

We had a huge problem with deer nipping off the blooms of the burgundy beans last year so the crop was small. We hadn't anticipated that they would bloom on 3 separate occasions unhindered by hungry deer. We caught the first 2 harvests of them but were oblivious to the 3^rd and only discovered them now that they're too far gone for eating. I was thinking of leaving them on the plant and harvesting the dried beans to save for next year. We'll see how much gumption I have for that.

I managed to grow a few carrots this year, but to be frank, I didn't much care. My first year with my garden boxes, I grew so many carrots I was giving away bundles. I even managed a homemade carrot soup! I used more of the space this year for my beans and my sugar snap peas. I still enjoy a few carrots though and snagged a few out a little early. I like to plant a kaleidoscope heirloom variety. Tony thinks they're more flavorful than what we buy at the grocery store and I can't really disagree. I think we're biased though because everything tastes better when you grow it yourself.

We have some up and coming zucchinis that I plan to hand over to my mother. This year, she'll be teaching me how to make zucchini into those sinfully delicious cakes I love so much. Our zucchinis are one of the plants we did not start from seed this year. I love starting from seed but I decided this year would be a year for doing a lot of soil conditioning and I work slowly - far too slowly for seeds to be planted on time. We planted zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant from a started plant. It felt dirty at first, like I was betraying myself but the production and size really can't be denied. I still prefer seeds, but I will never knock anyone again for starting their garden with plants.

The thing that Tony and I have been so excited about though? Our peppers. I myself loathe peppers. I can't handle the heat, even of a green bell pepper. Tony LOVES anything with spice and heat so those are for him to eat. He's started fantasizing about what he'll make with them in his wok. He likes to adventure in the kitchen himself from time to time and I'm all for it. My excitement comes from the color. If you hadn't figured that out yet, my garden is COLOR COLOR COLOR. 

Orange Blaze

Merlot

I love how much we got from our garden this year. The thing is, we didn't really try either. Tony and I put in the effort of weeding them clear and then tilling in better soil. After planting we mostly just let them go. I only really had one good day of weeding and that was the day I dug out my purple potatoes. It feels so wonderful to go out with my canvas bag and go shopping in my own garden. I get to see what's “on special”. I'm not receiving any payment for this, but this is my favorite tote to bring out in the garden.

I bought this tote from Earthbound Trading Co. located in the Bay Park Square Mall in Green Bay Wisconsin. I don't believe this particular print is available anymore but they have an amazing and unique selection of reusable totes,purses, and bags including this mushroom print reusable tote for $6.95 that anyone can feel free to pick up for me!

 

I can't express how excited I am this time of year. So many of my favorite flowers are coming into bloom and vegetables are just about ripe. My sunflowers are getting lots of attention from our insect population including those wonderful bees we want to keep around.

The apples are starting to redden (even if the ones in our tree aren't really edible) and the staghorn sumac is ready for making tea. The air smells fresher, feels cooler, and makes me feel better. I'm so over the oppressive sticky heat of summer. I'm watching the leaves start to hint at fall and I couldn't be happier about it. 

 

So there's our super amateur little garden. To find out more about how actual farming gets done on a large scale, slide over to the blog Caffeine and Diesel for an insight on large scale commercial planting and harvesting and some really great pictures from our own beautiful country.

Home grown love, friends,
Amanda