Well , here it is late August , and the garden is starting to slow
production . Sometime this week I'll get the burner finished so I can can
the jalapeno peppers , since I don't want to freeze them . We have several
gallon size freezer bags full of whole frozen tomatoes , and about
30-something bags of shredded zucchini - 2 cups per bag , since that's how
much she uses for 2 loaves of Z-bread which is delicious , got a loaf
sittin' right here .
I wish I knew more about potatoes , mine never blossomed and I have no
idea if there are taters down there or not - top growth wasn't all that
prolific either . Radishes turned out to be a waste of time , as did the
green beans . Acorn squashes did OK , but not stellar , and the cants are
just now starting to ripen .
Lettuce is going to get another chance in a couple more weeks , as soon as
it cools off a little more . Oh , and garlic , we love it and I seem to
recall it does best if planted in the fall ... gotta prep a place for it
soon if we're going to plant some . My wife says next year we're going to
have a bigger bean patch so she can can some . Might do a row of corn and
freeze it in single-serving size since she's allergic .
All told , I'm simply astounded by what we grew here , I've never had a
garden produce this well . And surprisingly few depradations by insects and
other pests . We lost a few tomatoes to some kind of boring bug , but it
wasn't really a loss - the chickens LOVE tomatoes and consider the bugs a
bonus ! Only change I plant to make is to move the lower edge of the garden
down a few more feet and let the top edge nearest the woods go back to
nature since nothing did very well up there . I'll be increasing the size
too . I think next year I'll mulch more with hay/straw to keep weeds down
and enrich the soil more . My only concern there is that the grass hay will
contribute to the grasses growing in the garden , and grass hay is all we
get here.
Oh yeah , and bees , we're gonna have bees next year too , since we're
here to care for them until they get established . There are lots of native
pollinators , but I haven't seen a single honey bee . And we really like
honey ...
--
Snag
Hillbilly Farmer