Monday, May 30, 2011

Harvest monday

Hmmm... Memorial Day Monday and today I harvested a handful of plums, the only one I will get this season undoubtedly. Sweet and sour and so juicy you'd think you had chewed a piece of bubblicious. The deer will scavenge the rest before we make it back by the Fourth of July.
I also harvested 3 cups of blackberries, plus whatever amounts got eaten along the way.
From the garden a zuchini that reached over a foot long having been gone for only 2 days when my friend came over. I had her take it rather than trying to find a way to combat a zuke larger than myself in a few more days time.
Unfortunately she also repoted a load of ripe tomatoes - all with worms. She sent me a picture and if the worms weren't bad enough every plant has spots! LOTS of them! 8-O I run off for a whopping 4 days and the garden has gone insane. Looks like it might mean an early end to tomato season for me. What a shame. I hope I can pull the plants along long enough to bring in what is currently on them at least.
Such is life. I needed a break so I took it, now I will have to deal with the rest tomorrow when I get my butt back to Florida.
Here the corn is planted but its not yet time for the grains to go in. We'll plant those next trip. I did notice the pomegranate trees blooming here. My Florida trees didn't set again this year so I am hopeful these will.
Till next time!
Barbie-

Friday, May 27, 2011

Back in the stand

Ahhhh... It may be hotter than an oven but it sure is good to get back in the stand again. :-)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Harvest Monday 5.23.11

Guess what today is?

Why, It's Harvest Monday - of course! Linking in with Dapne's Dandelions to share in all the fun.

Updating my tally today to include last weeks harvest but unfortunately I can't add in the tally for the Sunday evening harvest. I uprooted the failing green beans last night. It was late and little bits need a bath and bed so I was too rushed to weigh everything out separately but all told there was about five pounds of produce picked last night. :-D I'm happy with that, even though it means that my green beans are for the most part finished for this season. I won't see them again until fall. *pout* The purple ones are hanging in there still so I'll have a few here and there, but certainly not in the amounts I've had lately.
SO, with no further adue, I bring you pictures!  ( I know you didn't expect that, right?)


My 'mater counter that is NOT growing. It's actually only got 1 or 2 tomatoes any given day on it. This was only for a quick picture and a caprese. :-D

Purple and green beans, rainbow tomatoes, lemon cukes, sweet success cucumbers, sweetie cherry toms, blueberries strawberries, Armenian cuke, Nonnas, green zebra, zucchini, hot pepper, and  bell pepper.

 The stink squirrel knocked down my sunflower. Hopefully the seed will still be viable! Grrr.... No need to tell you what I want to do to that stupid squirrel. I'm not happy.

No weight on this harvest picture and for this reason I am considering combining my weights of harvest - I'm worried that trying to pull the harvest out in weight is going to end up with harvests not being weighed and such. At least if there is a total value of weight it's something. I dunno. Maybe, maybe not. Total weight, and per piece perhaps?  Ah, I'm just so happy when I get to eating it all it doesn't seem to matter how much it weighed. ;-)


Thanks for stopping by. Looks like a long weekend for me, I'm heading up to try to make a few quick fixes to the property in Alabama, and put a few seed in the ground. It's corn time, and watermelon time up there. Hopefully I'll be just in time to nab some peaches on the way back.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Friday, May 20, 2011

*sigh*

Such as life would have it we had an ending today, and there will be a beginning in the fall....
 






















Kate and Annah will be on to bigger and better things soon. *sniff* Next year they will be in uniforms and going on to 'big school' with their brother. The same homeschooling extension co-op I am so glad to have found so many years ago.  :-) I don't know what I would do without them. It's great to know they are getting the same structure as the public school with the Abeka and Sonlight curriculum I crave for them. I know that they will grow and thrive in the environment, but I worry about the poor teacher. Is she REALLY prepared for these two? LOL. Kate is such a handful. This should be an interesting year coming up!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Monday, May 16, 2011

Harvest Monday 5.16.11

Wacky Week! It's Harvest Monday again, and I'm still joining in the fun over at Daphne's place. If I didn't I think she might come looking for me. Nah. Probably not - but I would miss seeing everyone else's posts!
This weeks harvest? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I took the tally - but left it sitting on the kitchen counter.
I'm thinking me and weighing my prizes isn't going over so well. LOL. Oh, I started with good intentions. I did. I just have some of the worst follow through. Maybe I'd be better off to just keep it on paper. So far that is what is actually get kept track of. Then again it doesn't get added together unless I bring it to my own attention and post the total here. Such a catch 22.

The first ear of corn came in. Oh - YUM. I wish it was easier to grow good corn here. What I believe is the last of the broccoli and carrots are here.

More zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, Cilantro, peaches, blueberries, green beans and kidney beans 
 



So a very diverse picking this week. It won't be so diverse next week. The carrots are gone, and I've left a stalk of broccoli to flower hoping to attract some bees or wasps, or anything that flies that can pollinate.
The weather has been wild this week and believe it or not cool. But the crazy winds have taken out all my sunflowers and most of my beans, and corn. Some of my tomatoes stalks are broken and citrus pups are falling. Usually our wild storms are late summer and after the larger less sturdy plants have produced their finest crops. So it was  quite a shock to find my peppers snapped in half and all the damage done in the last few days.
The rare tree sale was a good time, though I missed meeting up with a comrade and wished for a bigger budget while I was there. This week is the middle of the month so stay tuned for my mid month update!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Rare tree sale

Ahhh... Well.
No pick 'em up truck meant no black surinam. The only ones they had were easily 6' beautiful specimens. It also means the joey avacado (goes to 15 degree) was out.
Only good news about those things is that my budget wouldn't allow as many plants had we been able to get the larger trees.
What did come home?
2 grumichama
4 seagrapes
1 tiny little surinam baby
1 dorsett apple
It would have been nice to have picked up some of the other things there, but this was a good start. Especially to mix with what we already have.
It was a nice day, but next time I think I will have the sitter for the little kids and take the strapping young teen with me to carry things! Lesson learned!

'Till next time!

Barbie-

Friday, May 13, 2011

Missing post #2 Ornamentals & Summer sowing

So this past weekend I did what any sane gardener would do. I got rid of my peas if you please. I mean really, it's been 90 degrees here consistently for about 3 weeks straight now. It was time. Time for me and my poor plants to surrender. They were good plants. Strong and even as I pulled them out they offered one last small bounty. So nice of them. Most of the carrots were yanked out as well. The rest will go this weekend. It's just getting wicked hot and the rains are coming. I can feel the difference in the air now so it won't be long. Who wants to eat rotted carrots? The kids eagerly gobble them up and we enjoy them on our salads so they are certainly not going to waste.

What does this have to do with the title of my post you ask? Well see watching all these little pieces of spring fall wayside made my heart ache for some semblance of that part of the year. The colorful fragrant air that is crisp in the morning. Instead I know that this next month will change and humidity will quite literally put her fingers on me. Pushing my chest as though willing me inside my home, a captor. So I had to fight! And fight I did. I'm not much of one for frilly little plants. No, I much prefer tropicals. Gingers and heliconia, birds of paradise, palms, and orchids those types of things. But this time I gave in. I planted 3 rings of flowers around my young oaks. My own personal 3 ring circus. LOL.
It's shaded there and I plugged the yard around the trees to try to get the grass to grow in. Hopefully in a month or so it will have filled in nicely. This is just so unlike me. I wonder how long it will last before I rip it out and put little baby bougainvillea there? LOL or for that matter eggplants, cabbages, etc. If I didn't have to worry with the roots being so close to the surface I certainly would have turned this into more vegetable gardening space!

Now-  on to topic number 2 summer veggies. When I pulled the peas I planted in Limas. Eastland limas. A new type for me. I just couldn't resist the name. Easterwood, planting Eastland limas... yes, yes I believe it was meant to be. So a 3x3' space for them aprox. 36 plants give or take. I'll do a head count and let you know how many germinate. I planted 42 beans. Another 3 weeks later and the beans may not have set very well, but these are an earlier variety than my normal, too.

Rice peas went in again 3'sq space roughly. These could have waited but I'm anxious to get some of my other things going so priority had to go somewhere.

I harvested my first set of kidney beans. 10 oz. Not bad from 25 beans now I've turned around and planted back out another 30 beans and this time they are in the garden rather than out behind the old ginger where the sprinklers can't reach. These plants will be taken care of and I"m curious as to the difference of harvest when the plants are well cared for vs left to fend on their own.

The black eye peas, pink eye purple hull,  Holstein, amaranth and okra are all ready to fill in the blanks as I pull my soon to finish green beans and other early crops and things. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen over and over the past few weeks people talking about how they can't garden in Florida heat. How gardens should be allowed to fallow in the summer. You know what I say to that? PEESHAW! That is what I say. Maybe my slicing 'maters wont set fruit and maybe I can't grow zucchini and green beans and radishes and carrots. But there are so many other things I CAN grow. Why fallow? Why let weeds get a grip on my garden when I can plant things that will help my fall garden grow better and give me a crop, too?!  *sigh*
I don't understand. And, just to set the record straight, this isn't a reaction to one person. ;-)

This year I have a few new varieties of lettuce to try. Over the summer you ask? YES! Over the summer. If I don't try I will never know. 2 varieties sent from Diane and some I ordered special. If they work out I'll post the info. If not I'll post that too. We have to keep trying and searching we learn each year that we garden. Don't give up. Don't go fallow!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Tree Sale! (1 of missing posts)

For anyone who lives within a 3 hour drive of Manatee county - this might just be worth your drive. I am NOT a member of the rare fruit council - but I've got to say I love me some of these fruits. I wish I had me a brand spanking new pick 'em up truck to take down with me. *sigh* instead my poor children will be subjected to squishing by young trees. :-) Must remember to get cash prior to getting to the sale though- the ATM fees are more than just horrible and the food is awful, too. Mark my word. It's pizza and hot dogs and neither are edible! LOL Hoping the tree growers have samples. ;-)


Will I see you there?

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Blooms N such.

What's blooming?

Lots of ornamentals. Lillies, and such. The purple hues of this Nile one is my favorite. Shh, don't tell the others. They would be jealous!



 



Loads of squash blossoms, tomato blossoms, and cucumbers, too.  The tomatillo are finally showing promise of fruit in their husks. YEAH! The plants are monstrous so I was hoping they would start soon. This week was going to be their last if they didn't start to look promising. Apparently they took that quite seriously. After blooming wildly for months the fruit is finally setting and at a great rate. Looks like we'll have tomatillo just in time for the tomato harvest to dry up in summer. PERFECT for salsa verde - and great timing over all to hold us through till fall. :-)

 


The sunflowers are everywhere and doing well. The new varieties are not as fast as my old faithful one, sunspot. They are budding now, but not open as these are. I suppose that is good timing as well. When these are ready to be culled and dried the other will be ready to take their place.





 The girls pose with their favorite bloom.The jalepenos are right on track with the tomatillos. ;-) imagine that. Perfection!
Guava flowers are beginning to fade now and we aren't sure if we will have fruit or not this year. The bushes are young and they were not well tended to when we got them. They are looking better and better. Putting on new growth all the time. I know that next year we will have armfuls to harvest. For this year I think we will simply be grateful to be able to enjoy the flowers. They are edible, and if you remove them carefully you can still get a fruit! How cool is that? A salad garnish to boot.Mulberry are setting fruit again as well. The 'flowers' are so interesting on this tree. Not tons, but enough to keep the kids happy.
What's blooming in your garden?

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Just a reminder...

For anyone who lives within a 3 hour drive of Manatee county - this might just be worth your drive. I am NOT a member of the rare fruit council - but I've got to say I love me some of these fruits. I wish I had me a brand spanking new pick 'em up truck to take down with me. *sigh* instead my poor children will be subjected to squishing by young trees. :-) Must remember to get cash prior to getting to the sale though- the ATM fees are more than just horrible and the food is awful, too. Mark my word. It's pizza and hot dogs and neither are edible! LOL Hoping the tree growers have samples. ;-)
Will I see you there?

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Ornamentals, Summer veggies - and such...

So this past weekend I did what any sane gardener would do. I got rid of my peas if you please. I mean really, it's been 90 degrees here consistently for about 3 weeks straight now. It was time. Time for me and my poor plants to surrender. They were good plants. Strong and even as I pulled them out they offered one last small bounty. So nice of them. Most of the carrots were yanked out as well. The rest will go this weekend. It's just getting wicked hot and the rains are coming. I can feel the difference in the air now so it won't be long. Who wants to eat rotted carrots? The kids eagerly gobble them up and we enjoy them on our salads so they are certainly not going to waste.

What does this have to do with the title of my post you ask? Well see watching all these little pieces of spring fall wayside made my heart ache for some semblance of that part of the year. The colorful fragrant air that is crisp in the morning. Instead I know that this next month will change and humidity will quite literally put her fingers on me. Pushing my chest as though willing me inside my home, a captor. So I had to fight! And fight I did. I'm not much of one for frilly little plants. No, I much prefer tropicals. Gingers and heliconia, birds of paradise, palms, and orchids those types of things. But this time I gave in. I planted 3 rings of flowers around my young oaks. My own personal 3 ring circus. LOL.
It's shaded there and I plugged the yard around the trees to try to get the grass to grow in. Hopefully in a month or so it will have filled in nicely. This is just so unlike me. I wonder how long it will last before I rip it out and put little baby bougainvillea there? LOL or for that matter eggplants, cabbages, etc. If I didn't have to worry with the roots being so close to the surface I certainly would have turned this into more vegetable gardening space!

Now-  on to topic number 2 summer veggies. When I pulled the peas I planted in Limas. Eastland limas. A new type for me. I just couldn't resist the name. Easterwood, planting Eastland limas... yes, yes I believe it was meant to be. So a 3x3' space for them aprox. 36 plants give or take. I'll do a head count and let you know how many germinate. I planted 42 beans. Another 3 weeks later and the beans may not have set very well, but these are an earlier variety than my normal, too.

Rice peas went in again 3'sq space roughly. These could have waited but I'm anxious to get some of my other things going so priority had to go somewhere.

I harvested my first set of kidney beans. 10 oz. Not bad from 25 beans (25cent pack) now I've turned around and planted back out another 30 beans and this time they are in the garden rather than out behind the old ginger where the sprinklers can't reach. These plants will be taken care of and I"m curious as to the difference of harvest when the plants are well cared for vs left to fend on their own.

The black eye peas, pink eye purple hull,  Holstein, amaranth and okra are all ready to fill in the blanks as I pull my soon to finish green beans and things. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen over and over the past few weeks people talking about how they can't garden in Florida heat. How gardens should be allowed to fallow in the summer. You know what I say to that? PEESHAW! That is what I say. Maybe my slicing 'maters wont set fruit and maybe I can't grow zucchini and green beans and radishes and carrots. But there are so many other things I CAN grow. Why fallow? Why let weeds get a grip on my garden when I can plant things that will help my fall garden grow better and give me a crop, too?!  *sigh*
I don't understand. And, just to set the record straight, this isn't a reaction to one person. ;-)

This year I have a few new varieties of lettuce to try. Over the summer you ask? YES! Over the summer. If I don't try I will never know. 2 varieties sent from Diane and some I ordered special. If they work out I'll post the info. If not I'll post that too. We have to keep trying and searching we learn each year that we garden. Don't give up. Don't go fallow!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Monday, May 9, 2011

Harvest Monday 5.9.11

Hard to believe it's already been a week. Much to blog about in the garden, but we'll try to stick to the harvest today.
Joining in with Daphne's Dandelions to show what we harvest and how we use it. Stop on by to see what people are harvesting from all over!
This week was finally the end of my soft heart for the peas. They are officially gone. In their place are lima seed. Hoping to see their little embryonic shoots by the end of the work week. It is my first official summer crop! Eeek!
Harvested was: 3 pounds of green beans, roughly a pound of blueberries (a LOT were eaten before weighed this week) green onions, 4oz peas, 2lb 9oz carrots, and now I have to refer to pictures because I forget the rest...*DOH*


 

 




Ah, Yes - 4 pounds 3 oz of cucumbers. 2lb 8oz zucchini (grilled, with olive oil I might add) a couple sprigs of rosemary, a whole mess o' strawberries, peaches that managed to get eaten long before being photographed, a bell pepper that weighed in at uh, oh frying pan that one didn't get weighed.
6oz blackberries.
Speaking of blackberries. One of my canes suddenly up and died last week. :-0 the whole thing is shriveled fruit and all such a massive disappointment. It was the larger, stronger and straighter of them! Grrr... I think it could possibly be our fault, unfortunately. I think when we dug just on the other side of the fence to the sprinklers I may have broken the cane. I'm nearly sick over it and hope that a new cane will emerge and that I didn't damage the roots too much. I wouldn't worry if these were thorned blackberries. They grow wild here everywhere but being thornless are rather less hardy and I'm not as sure. :-(
I am looking forward to getting more of my summer plantings done, but not looking forward to pulling out the plants to make the space. The night time temps have officially topped 70 and that means only one thing. No more spring plants. Tomatoes will have a hard time setting fruit, the squash will fight the PM from now until it fails to fight it. I'll have to replant the cukes now to try to keep ahead of the game. The moths have found my corn, the stink bugs are multiplying and I'm seeing beetles in the garden for the first time in years, and in the case of the striped cucumber beetle - I've seen dozens and this is the first time I've ever seen them. I've not brought them in on plants, that's for sure! Everything in my garden has come from seed (except the trees) I have to expect that the neighbors brought them, or simply that they managed to find their own way after the last few years.
Ah, but this belongs in another post. Doesn't it? Happy Monday everyone!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Monday, May 2, 2011

Harvest Monday 5.2.11

Happy Monday! Harvest Monday, of course. Joining in at Daphne's once again to see what the world is harvesting, and sometimes how they are using their harvests. Break out your Maypoles people the harvests have begun to diversify. It's time to string the ribbons and celebrate!
This week was the most productive by far this year. Lettuce, berries, beans, CARROTS (each day a few as I needed them!)
 

 

 

 

*Onions (small bulbs, but oh so good) 6lb total      *Green beans total of 5lb 6oz      *Zucchini I forgot to measure it all but 4lb 7oz       *Carrots for a whopping 3pounds, my largest EVER harvest of them       *Strawberries 9oz     *blueberries 15oz      *lettuce 8oz      *peas 4.5oz      *peaches 2lb 3ozs!   Blackberries  4oz  *broccoli 1lb 6oz
The broccoli is nearly final, and the lettuce is final - I am still undecided if I will allow the remaining plants to try to give me side shoots. The second succession of beans are starting, just as I'm almost ready to pull the first set out so perfect timing there. The most productive zucchini has PM so it's a matter of time now... and that's all right I'll have it again in a few months in the fall. I'm sure I'll get a few more weeks out of it, until the steady afternoon rains come. Now I will have to keep an eye on my winter squash I suppose. Ho hum.

'Till next time!

Barbie~