This is Pay Day

Here we are in mid- August; the time when all that hard work really starts to pay off.  We're entering the tomato glut for the year.  This year, however, we've got to add tomatillos to the count.  I can't believe how productive tomatillos are.  We've got some good-sized bell peppers this year, unlike last year where they never got bigger than a quarter.  Last Thursday, I dug 27 pounds of blue potatoes.  I couldn't be happier with the production of our beans this year, either.  We even grew some yard-long beans, and they lived up to the name for sure:

This past weekend, we went to visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania.  We thought we were hardworking over-achievers until we spent the weekend with grandma and grandpa.  They actually wore us out!  Grandma's gardens were beautiful, and she sent me home with some plants.  I got some more multiplier onions, some kind of herb that smells like bubblegum, lemon balm, and fennel.  Plus my mom gave me some daisies and something else I can't recall the name of.  Here's a picture of Grandma's garden:

Cucumbers are winding down, and we have about 20 more ears of corn that we're waiting on.  I planted turnips yesterday, and I've been meaning to start some flats of broccoli, cabbage, and other greens but haven't done it yet. 

The Second Half of July

Oh boy. Looks like I haven't updated in a while... The garden looks like a jungle again, but at least I know in which areas things are, even if they are under the weeds. There are no no-mans-land areas like we had last year. I at least have access to all the rows, even if you wouldn't be able to tell where the row ended and the walkway began without having been in there everyday for the last several months.
Here's the Harvest report:

• 7/16:
• boston pickling cucumbers: 3 lb (11, 2 were munched :/ )
• beans (type unknown): 1 oz (3 pods) - these fell off in the storm and were recovered, not really harvested
• nest egg gourd: 1 WAY too large gourd. picked and given to chickens. 
• 7/17:
• garlic. 
• bp cukes: 10 oz (4)
• 7/20:
• kale: 4.5 oz
• red beet: 1 lb (5)
• kohlrabi: 6.5 oz (1)
• bp cuke: 2 lb 2 oz (8)
• chard: 13 oz
• rat tail radish seed pods: 3 oz (40)
• 7/21: 
• bp cuke: 12 oz (4)
• 7/22:
• green tomatillo: 11 oz (7)
• pickling onion: 2 lb 11 oz (48)
• crookneck summer squash: 1.5 oz (1)
• kale: 3 oz
• kohlrabi: 10 oz (1)
• beans: 5 oz (6) 
• rtr seed pods: 1 oz
• lemon cuke: 1 lb 8.5 oz (7)
• bp cuke: 1 lb 13 oz (9)
• 7/24
• lemon cuke: 6 oz (2)
• bp cuke: 1 lb 13 oz (11)
• tomatillo: 3 oz (1)
• 7/25
• cn squash: 10.4 oz (3)
• bp cuke: 1.4 (1)
• 7/29
• lemon cuke: 1 lb 11 oz (10)
• bp cuke: 6 lb 3 oz (20)
• kale: 4 oz
• cn squash: 1 lb 1 oz (3)
• lazy wife beans: 1 lb 12 oz
• scarlett runner beans: 9 oz
• chard: 10 oz
• beet: 3 lb 10 oz
• kohlrabi: 15 oz (3)
• tomatillo: 1 lb (11)
• strawberries(everbearing?): 2 oz (12)
• 7/30:
• cn squash: 1 oz (1)
• rtr seed pods: 1.75 oz
• lw beans: 7 oz
• tomatillo: 11.5 oz (11)
• beet: 1.75 oz (1)
• red wethersfield onion: 4.5 oz (5)
• yellow onion: 2 ob 1 oz
• 7/31: 
• yellow onion: 1 oz (1)
• beet: 4.5 oz (1)
• 2 strawberries... didn't make it inside. CHOMP
• ground cherry: >1 oz (3)
• bp cuke: 2 lb 9 oz (3) (bigger is not better)
• cn squash: 5 oz (1)
• lemon cuke: 1 lb 4 oz (8)

I love lists. :)
Happy growing! <3

Keep on Scratchin'

I've been working at building my hoophouses, slowly but surely. I got a ton of help from my brother last Saturday with hauling lumber out of the old barn, dragging it all over the place, and doing some crazed cutting. I got all the wood painted while it was still bone dry, before subjecting it to a life out in the elements. I'm gonna reuse the plastic from the old collapsed greenhouse, at least until that falls apart. I wish I got this done a few weeks ago, but better late than never I guess.

On to the more exciting news, I bought MORE SEEDS today! As I said a while back, I'm going to grow some new stuff I've never grown before, and I'm really excited about it. Here's a list, to the best of my knowledge:

Luffa gourd (too cool!)
Calabash gourd (like a little bottle)
Tomatillo (yummmmmmm)
Nasturtium (I went overboard and bought about 7 different varieties)
Poppy (love poppyseeds in breads!)
Bushel basket gourd (they can get bigger than 20"! unique containers!)
Jerusalem Artichokes (I've passed over buying them a few times in the last month. I'll just have to wait until I have my own! I've never tasted them!)
Amaranth- (I just "discovered" amaranth the other day. I'm interested in its "grains")

As warm as it's been, I wish I had some stuff already started. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to plant some peas, fava beans, and runner beans. It's still been pretty cool at night, despite being near or over 70 practically all week now. I really need to get some manure into the garden, and get it turned in, but I can't wait any longer for some of this stuff, so it's gotta happen, and I can put manure later!

I'm especially looking forward to having so many more flowers in the garden this year. It will surely brighten things up and look even more inviting. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for those pesky woodchucks, too. They ought to be popping out any time now. If only they weren't so selfish, but they didn't leave any beans for me at all last year, and just chomped the vines right down to the ground. Perhaps my vigilance will pay off, and I can enjoy more sunflowers, beans, and radishes this year.

I've got to say that I'm happy about daylight savings time. I can spend a little more time outside in the evening in the garden. Soon indoor tasks, like this blog, will be saved for after dark.

By the next post, I hope to have my hoophouses up, so keep an eye out for that!