Onward!

Goodness, I can see dust and cobwebs forming on the last blog post.  It’s busy season folks.  I will do my best to keep the blog freshened but if you could see my house right now (though thank goodness you can’t), you might not place bets on that.  I was all ready to start some seed when it occurred to me that I don’t really know what I want to do with the garden this year.  Shawn and I talked about whether to do the 2 gardens like I did 2 years ago or go back to the one.  I think he had visions of my spring verve dwindling into summer malaise or perhaps more likely, visions of me sobbing into a mountain of green beans about how I never have enough time to get stuff done (uncannily perceptive that man).  So I considered the wisdom of his words and then ordered enough seed and plants for about 20 acres.  Go forth boldly to your nervous breakdown I say!  

Weekend Update

1.  Last week, we came to a disturbing realization that we were out of jelly.  So while Shawn watched Vi, I dusted off the supplies and got to work.  Voila!

 8 cups of plum jelly.  Of course 8 cups of jelly won't last very long, so I'm planning a batch of strawberry jam as soon as I get a chance.

2.  I finished picking the green beans this weekend and got another 4 1/2 pints put away, bringing me to 10 pints thus far.  

3.  I'm just a few good stitching days away from being to the back stitching on the cross-stitch, which is good since Vi's stocking came in and needs to be started. 

As the garden grows

This year I scaled back the garden (what?  you thought I could forgo it completely?) to just beans, green and lima, and corn.  At 37 weeks pregnant, I managed to drop from a standing position the seeds into rows and cover them.  That's it.  I haven't touched it until yesterday.  Thanks to the fact that we've actually had rain this summer, the garden is thriving despite some serious neglect.  I decided to introduce the Vi to the joys of hot, sweaty, mosquito laden work of picking the garden.  She was less than receptive.  She cried.  Mosquitoes ate me (they didn't touch her; at least she didn't inherit my insanely tasty blood).  I sweated.  I gave up after barely getting half of the green beans picked.  But, that got me 5 1/2 pints--already more than I got last year.  

Weekend Update

1. Mom and I went to Ketner's Mill Fall Craft festival this weekend.  We were both on the fence about going, as the crafts that are in vogue to make right now are not what we are interested in.  There is a lot of jewelry, a lot of handsewn jumpers (which went out in like 1985 unless you're a member of certain religious groups), and a lot of pottery.  There are plenty of people who like pottery but the other two types never seem to attract many people.  Mom and I left empty handed.  Even my favorite soap maker wasn't there.
2. Dad and Mom surprised me with an early birthday present of a rick of wood, which was awesome.  Shawn and I have been trying to make time to get wood for 4 months.  We're ready for cool weather!
3. This morning Shawn and I decided to attempt digging up a few sweet potatoes before we get a freeze.  I have vague memories of sifting through dirt hunting russets when my Grandparents grew them.  I thought it would be long and back breaking.  It wasn't.  In 30 minutes, we had 50 lbs of sweet potatoes.  Yes, 50 lbs.  The plant site I bought them from suggested that 25 plants would produce 20-25 lbs of potatoes.  So, success!

Weekend Update

1. So after a few days weeks, I finally got around to canning my tomato sauce and jalapeno peppers. Either I don't have the hang of it, or you really do have to stand by the stove and constantly adjust the temperature and pressure of the canner to keep it at 11 psi.   Water baths rule!
2. I got most of my sleeve on my sweater completed before I decided I couldn't live with my fudge on the decreases, even though it would have been hidden in my arm pit.  So tonight, I ripped it all back and tried again.  It still didn't go exactly right, but it was more right than before.  
3. I also managed to finish a real, written book this weekend-The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley.  This is the first book I've read in a shamefully long time.  I've listened to The Forgotten Garden over the past few weeks, and I'm still undecided on fully embracing the audio format.  It took 24 hours to listen what would have been about an 8 hour read.  There are many times when I would have skimmed the sometimes wordy prose in order to get to what I already knew was coming but instead had to listen to the somewhat plodding pace of the reader.  Strangely, shouting at the radio to "get on with it!" didn't make the woman read any faster, but did cause me to grind my teeth.  But it makes decent use of the commute, when I wouldn't be doing anything productive anyway and I did "read" a book, which I haven't been making much time to do.
4. Biscuits put in an appearance at Sunday morning breakfast.  I haven't made them in ages.  I should make them more often.   They are a nice change of pace from pancakes.
5. I also happen upon two cantaloupes and a watermelon in the garden this weekend.  One of the cantaloupes was too rotten, but the other one was pretty tasty.

Neglect and then some

The garden has suffered a bit (maybe more than a bit) from the schedule of the summer.  I haven't picked or weeded in a month.  Saturday, I tried to put a little bit of it right.  The mosquitos ate me alive even with a liberal application of sure-to-be cancer causing OFF.  If cancer doesn't get me first, west nile still might.  I didn't put that much to right.  The green beans were pretty far gone.  I picked what was edible and pulled up the plants as I went.  The lima beans had already had a picking come and gone, so I have my first ever picking of dried beans.  Doing what I can to look for the positives, if I can find them amongst weeds.

So far behind, I'm almost ahead

I'm behind.  I've been behind for a while.  I was only a little behind until jury duty week.  Now, I'm way behind and can't seem to catch up.  This weekend I picked and bagged blueberries until my fingers were blue.  That meant that the green beans didn't get picked.  I also found this in the garden.

 

Surprise success!  It has been 6 years since my last good crop of corn.  And I found this.

11 pounds.  I think it may be the only one I get but still, it's still pretty cool to get it at all.  Alas, I picked it way before ripeness (I thought hollow sounding = ripe).  Taking care of the corn meant there was no time to process the tomatoes or turn the plums into jelly.

Luckily though, at some point one of my troublesome projects disappeared (oh, darn).  But on the plus side, I freed up some time to finish one side of my sweater.

Weekend Update

1.  Craft on diaper bag.  I don't know how a beginner project can give someone such fits.  I mean I'm a reasonably intelligent individual, and I'm using internet and book resources to make sure I'm interpreting these directions correctly.  It isn't a matter of errata.  It's a matter of semantics.  When you use the phrase turning chain, I assume that means the work should be turned even if you don't spell that out.  Yet my stitch markers keep moving rather than staying in the corners which would imply I'm crocheting on a slant.  If the baby hadn't come early, I might feel more kindly about the amount of experimentation that is having to take place here.

2.  Catch up on house chores after working through last weekend.  I was behind, but now have the laundry done, house cleaned, and pantry stocked.

3. Make more bread.  Honey Wheat, my new favorite. 

4. Garden.  Pick and process green beans for 5 pints.  Pick zucchini weighing 3 lbs.  (It was hiding).  Discovered that my zucchini plants have beetle borers and will likely be dead within the week.  This happens to me every year and only to zucchini and squash plants.  Try eco-spray anyway.  Dig up garlic.  Got 14 inchelium reds and 25 chilian silvers.  I will not use the chilian silvers again.  The growing circumstances were ideal and those "bulbs" are barely the size of nickels.  The flavor is good but they just aren't big enough.

5.  Finish second panel on the sweater.  Until my needles come in from WEBS, I'm in a holding pattern on this one.Thankfully, I seem to be able to manage a beginner sweater pattern.  Apparently, stockinette I can do.

Grounded

Saturday dawned cool (thankfully) and humid (can't have everything I guess).  I commenced hoeing and picking and planting.  I picked a small mess of peas, eating about every third pod.  Fresh peas are so, so good.  It appears that rabbits are going to be a problem this year.  Several small plants showed decided signs of nibbling and the broccoli was gone (I don't think it was meant to be).  Then it was on to the new garden plot.  I planted my 6 back up tomato plants from Home Depot as well as my 10 tomato twigs I started from seed.  Also sunk into the ground were 8 pepper plants of various varieties.  In went a couple of short corn rows and the mounds for cantaloupe, watermelon, squash and zucchini.  Then the real experiment was planted.  25 sweet potato plants were sunk into luxury dirt mounds.  I say luxury because to create big enough mounds I had to supplement with some super fortified garden soil from Home Depot.  Then Sunday, there was a nice rain to settle everything in.   I expect a harvest by next Saturday. ; )

Slow Growing

Getting going on the garden this year has been tough.  We seem to be uncommonly busy.  Last week, I finally got the green and lima beans planted along with my from seed onions (seedlings went in 6 weeks ago).  This week I broke ground on a new plot that will have my corn, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli (what's left of the 16 seedlings anyway), sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash and zucchini.  The plan was to break ground and plant, but I had forgotten how brutal breaking ground with a tiller is.  After battling for a couple of hours, my muscles were vibrated and strained in mush, and I had flip-flop sun burn on my feet.  Sunday was house cleaning and two mothers' day meals.  So I still don't have everything in the ground.  At this rate, I'll still be gardening in October!  On the plus side, it is blackberry winter and mine are putting out a few blossoms.  The strawberries have started ripening.  There are pea pods on the pea plants.  And I guess at some point, the garlic will be ready (though this is a different variety planted at a different time of year, so it is anybody's guess).  It's a good start.