Vegetable Gardening

[Jolt]

Yep, this is on the agenda for tonight. We will be cutting up plums and tomatoes to freeze for when I have more time for processing, oh and shredding more baseball bat zucchini too.

And I'm a bit scared as the blackberries are ripening already and it looks like another bumper crop. Eeeek!

Sounds good! As for the plums, you could probably can them--cut in half with the pits removed. I'll be doing that with pears pretty soon...

[GLC1968]

congratulation on your bounty.

Thank you!

Sounds good! As for the plums, you could probably can them--cut in half with the pits removed. I'll be doing that with pears pretty soon...

Yep, we'll definitely be doing some canning. I just don't have time at the moment and they need to be picked NOW. Actually, maybe I can do a load or two this weekend?

I knew the end of the summer was going to be harvest-overwhelming, but reality is worse than I imagined! Luckily, goats and chickens love overripe/spoiling fruits and veggies - so nothing truly goes to waste....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I knew the end of the summer was going to be harvest-overwhelming, but reality is worse than I imagined! Luckily, goats and chickens love overripe/spoiling fruits and veggies - so nothing truly goes to waste....

And don't forget the compost pile (gasp!!) But nothing really goes to waste there either.

[Jolt]

Well, the pear canning is going to start sooner than I had anticipated. My roommate and I picked a huge basketful of pears off one of the trees today and there's probably another basket's worth ripening on that tree. Then there's another tree that is also loaded (the ones on that tree aren't ready yet). Looks like there will be some work happening tomorrow! We also just got a bunch of beets and beet greens ready to go in the freezer.

[tulip]

That reminds me of a funny thing. My father has pear trees that are very old (the house was built in 1878, but they aren't that old). The trees produce some decent pears, but my father doesn't do anything to or with them. His dog, however, loves pears and eats all that fall on the ground, which is alot this time of year. The dog also eats the tomatoes off the vine. I've never heard of a dog that does that.

[GLC1968]

That reminds me of a funny thing. My father has pear trees that are very old (the house was built in 1878, but they aren't that old). The trees produce some decent pears, but my father doesn't do anything to or with them. His dog, however, loves pears and eats all that fall on the ground, which is alot this time of year. The dog also eats the tomatoes off the vine. I've never heard of a dog that does that.

Then you haven't met our dogs!

One of ours loves the fallen pears and apples. He also picks blackberries off the vine to eat. The other one would be a menace in the garden if she had free access. When we lived in NC - she would steal the fruits as they ripened. She ate all our strawberries! She'd pick them without disturbing the plant and we had no idea why we weren't getting any fruit until we caught her in the act one day. She also ate all of our watermelons & canteloupe - when they were only about 3-5 inches long... She also loves beans and tomatoes. AND, she LOVES zucchini - but she won't pick those. She just begs me for the ends when I'm prepping them.

Honestly, our dogs would be perfectly happy to be vegetarians as long as they could still have their goats milk. This is also why our dogs are confined to our immediate back yard unless we are with them. They would be more damaging than deer!

[tulip]

I transplanted my leeks today! The first of the Winter Garden is in. I've been growing leeks in pots from seed all summer. They are still skinny, but about a foot tall. They will be happy to be in the garden now, and I expect they will grow thicker pretty quickly.

When I lived in France, I loved that nearly everyone had leeks growing in their gardens in the winter--big, fat leeks. Plus, I love leek soup. I'll post some photos after they fatten up just a little bit.

I did not start my collard and kale seeds in time, so I'll have to buy the plants this year. I am getting a greenhouse this fall, so by next year, I hope to start all my plants from seed.

[OakLeaf]

Oooh, leeks!

I've never had much luck with onions - my soil is clayey even after years of building up more and more organic matter. It will drain enough for most vegetables when I dig out beds - but it drains very poorly if I don't dig beds, and in any case apparently not well enough for onions. Leeks probably do best in sandy soil too, eh?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I transplanted my leeks today! The first of the Winter Garden is in. I've been growing leeks in pots from seed all summer. They are still skinny, but about a foot tall. They will be happy to be in the garden now, and I expect they will grow thicker pretty quickly.

When I lived in France, I loved that nearly everyone had leeks growing in their gardens in the winter--big, fat leeks. Plus, I love leek soup. I'll post some photos after they fatten up just a little bit.

I did not start my collard and kale seeds in time, so I'll have to buy the plants this year. I am getting a greenhouse this fall, so by next year, I hope to start all my plants from seed.

I have leeks growing from seed too in my new garden- but they are still like thin threads and about 3" tall.
I can't wait to hear about your greenhouse soon!

Today I started pulling out the tall bitter bolted lettuce from my old little garden (remember when I planted it?)...clearing some bare ground here and there. Once the tomatoes are done, I can pull those out too, hoe the area again and fertilize it, and plant some new spinach and lettuce seed along the shed wall there where it can be protected from frost with draped clear plastic this fall perhaps. Might as well get another batch of stuff from the spot.