This has been an almost catastrophic gardening year for me:
first we had a disastrously cold and wet spring - I think
this is true throughout the whole northeastern USA. We had
a stretch of more than six weeks without a single sunny day.

Then I had what-turned-out-to-be bursitis of the hip. I
couldn't walk without extreme pain for six weeks (it took a
fairly long time to be diagnosed, being something totally
unexpected), and I did not even get out to the garden for
all of June and half of July. (The bursitis is gone now.)

So a lot of things were planted very, very late and
maintenance of the garden was sketchy at best.

My husband did what he could, but isn't knowledgeable -
although he's far more so now than he was earlier this year!
He had his hands full with other things anyway, as I
couldn't cook or clean or do much of anything without pain
for quite a while.

Then we had two hot weeks, and we've had a surplus of rain
most of the rest of the summer. Nevertheless...

FINALLY...abundance! It's lovely.

Today's harvest:

* 8 patty pan squash
* 6 yellow crookneck squash
* 9 zucchinis
* a laundry basket full of (large) tomatoes
* 2 cucumbers
* a 5-gallon pail full of Swiss chard
* a large colander full of cherry tomatoes
* basil
* a large colander full of string beans: half purple and
half yellow
* 1 green pepper


We gave some of the squash and tomatoes to a neighbor, and
are selling some of them: they're already spoken for and
will be picked up tomorrow. Our local supermarket is
charging $1.49/lb for zucchini! In August.
Unbelievable. I can't believe that they're actually selling
much of it at that price.

I'll freeze the chard for winter eating. We'll have some of
the string beans tonight, and I'll freeze the rest of them.
I dried tomatoes yesterday, and will probably dry more later
on this week. I dried shredded zucchini yesterday also - it
can be rehydrated and used in meatloaf, pasta sauce,
zucchini bread, etc.

I am continually amazed at how little work it really takes
to produce so much good food using either raised beds or
container gardening.

Pat
--
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

In article ,
Pat Meadows wrote:

Today's harvest:

* 8 patty pan squash
* 6 yellow crookneck squash
* 9 zucchinis
* a laundry basket full of (large) tomatoes
* 2 cucumbers
* a 5-gallon pail full of Swiss chard
* a large colander full of cherry tomatoes
* basil
* a large colander full of string beans: half purple and
half yellow
* 1 green pepper


How wonderful! Happy gardening

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 23:14:40 -0500, Phaedrine Stonebridge
wrote:


Today's harvest:

* 8 patty pan squash
* 6 yellow crookneck squash
* 9 zucchinis
* a laundry basket full of (large) tomatoes
* 2 cucumbers
* a 5-gallon pail full of Swiss chard
* a large colander full of cherry tomatoes
* basil
* a large colander full of string beans: half purple and
half yellow
* 1 green pepper


How wonderful! Happy gardening

It's really a treat after the very slow start we had, with
constant rain and cold all spring. I had begun to think that
first frost (around October 1 here) would occur before we
got any ripe tomatoes!

Pat
--
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

In article ,
Pat Meadows wrote:

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 23:14:40 -0500, Phaedrine Stonebridge
wrote:


Today's harvest:

* 8 patty pan squash
* 6 yellow crookneck squash
* 9 zucchinis
* a laundry basket full of (large) tomatoes
* 2 cucumbers
* a 5-gallon pail full of Swiss chard
* a large colander full of cherry tomatoes
* basil
* a large colander full of string beans: half purple and
half yellow
* 1 green pepper


How wonderful! Happy gardening

It's really a treat after the very slow start we had, with
constant rain and cold all spring. I had begun to think that
first frost (around October 1 here) would occur before we
got any ripe tomatoes!


We are having a terrible hot spell (mid to high nineties) here in
Missouri Z5b. Our garden has crawled almost to a stop despite our
watering. I am guessing it is the weather. The tomatoes are loaded
with green tomatoes that are just not ripening. About the only thing
that is producing well are the black-eyed peas.

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 13:51:41 -0400,since it's all about me
Pat Meadows professed:


This has been an almost catastrophic gardening year for me:
first we had a disastrously cold and wet spring - I think
this is true throughout the whole northeastern USA.

You misspelled "eastern" USA.

I'm about 800 miles south of you, and the animals were
lining up two by two around here this spring and the
early part of the summer.

We had
a stretch of more than six weeks without a single sunny day.

I don't know the numbers for no sunshine, but I do know we
went 8 weeks in a row with rainy weekends, which is when
I have to get most of my gardening done.

Temperature wise it's been a cool summer for us. I don't
think we've had a single 100 degree day this year. In a
normal summer it's not unusual to have high 90's and 100
degree temps from July through the end of August. We
were almost two weeks into August before we broke
90. No lack of humidity, though; I've had to clean mildew
off of everything.


FINALLY...abundance! It's lovely.

Heh, yeah, it is, isn't it?

The tomatoes did poorly again this year, with only the pink
Brandywines and one unidentified tomato holding up against
the Tomato Spotted Wilt virus. The peppers are going crazy,
though. I'm getting a basketful every other day.

(And, hey, I'm out there picking those habaneras
barehanded.)

The unidentified tomato was supposed to be a Manalucie, but
it's a determinate, potato leaf yellow tomato. I sure wish I
knew what it was so I could get more next year.

snip bountiful harvest


We gave some of the squash and tomatoes to a neighbor,

One of my neighbors told me she *loved* hot peppers, the
hotter the better. So I gave her some. Now, for some reason,
she avoids me when I'm out in the garden picking peppers...

I am continually amazed at how little work it really takes
to produce so much good food using either raised beds or
container gardening.

I would expand that to include any well prepped soil. I've
grown things in raised beds, containers, and in the ground;
and starting with good soil makes all the difference.


Pam


--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

Pam wrote:

I would expand that to include any well prepped soil. I've
grown things in raised beds, containers, and in the ground;
and starting with good soil makes all the difference.


Sigh, yes. We moved to a new place with a large yard so that I could have a
big garden. Moved in in March, cleared about 4000 sq ft, and didn't have time
to prep the dirt (honestly, it didn't even deserve the term soil, it was just
packed dirt) before planting. Still, I'm getting great peppers, great beans,
poor tomatoes, and lots of cucumbers. My zuccs did great until I got leaf
mildew. Now they are very sad indeed. But, as parts of the garden have died I
have tilled massive manure mulch into it, covered it with grass clippings and
leaves, and tilled again. Now when you walk on the soil you sink about 5
inches down. I can't wait for next year.




Andrew