HARVEST TOTAL FOR 2011

Just a side note- my Harvest Total for the year of 2011 is complete at 315 pounds.

I'll be taking down all the stats to start over next week with the next Harvest Monday post. (I WILL post, I promise!)

Garden Tally 2011

• Basil 1lb 5oz
• Bell Peppers 3lb 15oz
• Blackberries 2lb 6oz
• Blueberries 6lb 3oz 
• Brocoli 4lb 1oz
• Cabbage 19lb 2oz (5 heads)
• Carrots 8lb 7.2oz
• cilantro 4oz
• Citrus 36lb 10oz
• Corn 4ea 
• Cow Peas 1lb 5oz 
• Cucumber 15lb 8oz
• Dry Beans 2lb 3oz
• English Peas 3lb 10oz
• Figs 4ea
• Grapes 1lb 2oz 
• Green Beans 19lb 11oz
• Greens 7oz
• Herbs asst 1oz
• Hot Peppers 5lb 15oz
• Lettuce 4lb 14oz (6 heads +baby greens)
• Lima Beans 4lb 8oz
• Mulberries 2lb 6oz
• Okinawan Spinach 5oz
• Onion 6lb 13oz
• Onions green 2lb 1oz
• Peaches 6lb 3oz 
• Pecans 72lbs 
• Radish 2lb 6oz
• Rosemary 9oz
• Snow peas 9.9oz
• Spinach 2lb 4oz
• Strawberries 2lb 14oz 
• Sunflower Seeds 14oz 
• Tomatillos 7lb 13oz
• Tomatoes 25lb 12oz
• Watermelon 3lb 
• Winter Squash 15lb 14oz 
• Zucchini 20lb 14.4oz 
• ZZGRAND TOTAL FOR 2011 ** 315lb 12oz

No meat is included in this- only veggies and fruits!

Oh- and the nursery in Alabama also supplied a few new trees for the property up there as well - incuding 2 Granny Smith trees for my girlies. They are my favorite apples, and well - we just hope to get a few off the tree each year. I can't wait to watch the trees grow and mature with the kids. I know we have apple trees here, but we don't have the intention of keeping this property long term so it's a pipe dream that we'll see any REAL crops from these trees. Besides apples just grow better up there.

Barbie~

Decembers Garden state...

Seeing that the first Frost is upon us I thought I'd show you what the garden looked like - in December. These pictures are now fully 2 weeks old and it's time for new pictures only now i"ll need to wait for the poor plants to recoup from the aggressive pruning. :-)
So here is where we stand with what is (or was directly before going on vacation) going on:
The basil has gone insane (but was pulled last night after the final cut.)

Carrots are up and romaine is looking nice!                 the Anunue lettuce is looking good as well, albeit crowded.

Strawberries have fruit setting now! Early but Oh so delicious. These are some of the best I've had yet. They seem to really like the slightly acidic soil with the blueberries. :-D *BONUS*

Cabbage are absolutely beautiful, if a bit cramped.

Alliums are wet, but looking good still for both the garlic

And the onions as well.

Daikons are coming along nicely. Rich says they taste like waterchestnuts, kinda. LOL

Spotty germination on the snowpeas, don't know why - and the spinach is a little light. I think it's time for some fish emulsion. The babies look a little hungry!

  The garden peas are coming in droves. This is good because they are our evening snack. We eat these like popcorn while watching TV at night. Also in our salads. I don't think they've ever made it into a side dish. Teehee.

Since the freeze warnings are up- we are officially loaded with - TOMATOES>..... Wahhhh... I'm all but crying at the thought of losing these sweet gems. I did pull in about 10 pounds of ready to turn maters. I'll weigh them and put them up on Harvest Monday soon. I feel like a slacker, but on this Monday I spent the whole day IN the garden getting ready for the freeze and taking out anything I could to save in the kitchen. *sigh* The tomatoes with size where one of my main goals. I also dug up 2 plants and potted them to bring inside as well. Young plants that just bloomed. I don't expect to keep the fruit, but will be happy if they bloom again in a couple weeks and hold their own long enough to get me some new fruits by spring! 

 

Pomegranate tree is in full bloom right now. Not sure what it will do to the tree- but this single fruit was taken in for consumption prior to the freeze degrading it as well. I was a busy gal yesterday I'll tell ya!

Found these little critters in my garden, too!

Oh, since I was taking out so many things from my garden - I finally did take out the hot pepper plants I felt the need to put something back into the garden as well. I found a fantastic nursery in Alabama while we were gone and I wasn't brave enough to bring back much, but blackberries are so strong I just knew they'd make the week long trip and be OK. They are dormant now and are bare root anyway, so I am hoping for the best. 3 thornless canes are being planted and I'm digging up my existing 3 thorned canes. Wish me luck! I'm thinking about putting them OUTSIDE the fence! (shhhh) Oh, they are Ouichita and Triple Crown. I'm suddenly looking forward to Summer, and that is not something I do very often!

On to the next set...

'Till next time!

Barbie~



A few quick post for catching up.

A citrus problem.

I think I have a major problem and I think it's 'Greening'. At this point I believe only part of my tree has it and that I might solve the problem by getting rid of the infected part of the tree. It is after all a "cocktail" or grafted tree and only one type of the citrus has the infection. At least that's what I think. I could be completely wrong, but it's doubtful.
Here's the evidence:
Mottled/Yellowing leaves

 

Lopsided fruit:

Fruit not ripening entirely: *sniff*

This just completely and thoroughly breaks my little bitty heart. I love citrus, and my kids adore the stuff. It's taken 9 months for these beauties to turn orange and in that time we've waited with anticipation for the day we'd taste their sweet nectar. Now it seems we'll be lucky if they even taste like oranges, mush less if we'll ever get any more fruit off the tree.

So, if there are any experts out there - Please weigh in. I need more info. What are the chances if I take these few limbs off this tree of saving the rest of it from nearly certain demise? So far the rest of the fruit is unaffected. Limes and lemons are growing with no problems. Only the oranges are affected. Unfortunately this is the ONLY oranges we have, so I'll need to do something about replacing them in the spring. I sure wish we could plant citrus in the front. Guess I might have to plant a tiny one just to see what happens. LOL. Might be worth it if I can get away with it long enough it would get grandfathered in. ;-D

Anyway... more posts to come this week as I catch up. There's much to post about. Our first frost is here for the winter and the last harvest oft he year... not to mention some hunting and gathering....

'Till next time!

Barbie~



Meat

Just a simple post dedicated to the meat in my freezer.
Thank you deer and pig. You make my family satisfied and my freezer full.
You make me happy and well, you are yummy.

:-)

I realize that we are very lucky that we can harvest these animals the way that we do. We give to the hungry most of the meat, but these two we kept for our family. The hog meat we kept and gave most of it to my brother. He's on disability and this will help his dollar go a lot farther for the next few months. Don't get me wrong, we still have quite a few packages of sausage in our freezer as well. There is still more biscuits and gravy in my future yet!
We'll try to harvest another doe (hopefully a barren, older doe) out of the herd that needs to be taken and with any luck we'll be able to also take another boar as well. It's possible but not as likely as when it's warmer.

So - here's my post for thanking the harvest.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 12.19.11

With so much going on right now, it's hard to believe I haven't posted since last weeks harvest!
We've gone to parties, and thrown our own. We've baked cookies, and eaten quite a few as well. We've shopped and decorated, and gone for walks. We've watched it 'SNOW' in Florida, and we saw Christmas trees dance to music as well. This week has been active to say the least!

The harvest came, but the camera was shy. The nights were busy so the seat of our pants, we did fly -
(Ever get the feeling you've told the Christmas story one too many times?)

Anyway here are the few pictures I DID get of our harvests this week!

There were probably a half dozen tomatoes. but the counter isn't full. Oh no! We had lettuce and radishes and peas and a few green onions to make a nice complete salad for a change! This doesn't happen often here so we are taking full advantage while we still can!

On Sunday morning we decided to take some of the 55 pounds of meat we just put in the freezer and make one of my favorite treats! MMMMmmmmm...... Biscuits and sausage gravy, with 2 runny eggs right in the middle.

That's the kind of breakfast that means I WONT be fitting into my Holiday gown again any time soon! Guess I'll have to slow down on that.Teehee.

Well, Linking in with Daphne's Dandelions for our weekly Harvest Monday PARTY! This week addition is sure to be full of Christmas and other assorted Holiday Cheer!

I hope that you are staying warm and cozy with your loved ones. See you soon!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 12.12.11

Linking in once again to Daphne's place for Harvest Monday!

This Monday features our normal December fare of citrus! We got lots of citrus this week, and some tomatoes (red, orange and yellow, too!) Bell pepper, broccoli and hot peppers of course. Not pictured are the peas and radish and a salads worth of lettuce as well.

Also harvested was one sow. We split the meat with our parents so 55 pounds of pork to the freezer. Yippee! :-)

Sown this week: Oregon Snow peas, Kuroda carrots, Little Gem lettuce (thanks Daphne for the lettuce seeds!)

Till next time!

Barbie~

Such a Card

Sending best wishes to each and every person who stops by this time of year. Tonight begins the festive cooking with the late night/all night cookie fest! Bring it on!!!

Barbie~

Turtle Time!

It's time for a Creature Feature. This encounter happened at a friends house a few weeks ago directly before our first cold snap of the season. The poor critter was upside down and lifeless, left to die by some careless driver. He was cold and lonely and well... stuck between a road and a hard place.

I shouted for my friend to pull the car over, jumped out and ran to his rescue. Yes, I assure you it is a he. See those white spots on his plastern down where his Little back legs would stick out? That is where the shell has been rubbing on the ground when he walks. This tells me that the middle of his shell is sunken in. And, after all if you were a gal that wanted to lay eggs that would make things rather uncomfortable - wouldn't it?

Anyway, I flipped him over to see this cute little face stick out to say 'THANK YOU!'

He didn't even so much as hiss at me. Good thing, too. I had to put him on the floor board of the car and if he was both stinky and hissing at me she might not have agreed to such things. Pam drove us to the nearest (larger) pond where we patted him on the back and told him goodbye!

Hopefully he'll avoid the road from now on, because next time I've got a big old fish tank with his name on it just a waiting for him! ;-) Mud turtles - this is a Three Striped Mud Turtle by the way make excellent captive turtles due to their size and their relative easy keeping requirements. Once a week a little vitamin D (sunshine) a decent sized fish tank, a heater, some worms, crickets and fishes with an occasional piece of greenery and you've got a healthy pet.

Just thought I'd introduce you to a little more of my insanity. Hope you enjoyed meeting this little guy.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Bento Tuesday

It's the first Tuesday of December and once again I haven't been all that great at taking pictures of my bento boxes.

But, if I don't try to make the post I won't actually do it and so I am here to show you what I do have!

This month I got a brand new bento box, and got it home, washed it up, tested it out, and promptly - threw it away. It wouldn't stay shit and it didn't seal at all. The concept of it was fantastic. It had 3 divided areas on one side and a flap that divided the container in half so that when shut you could have one side open for either a sandwich or a meal (pasta, meat, etc)a clip was supposed to hold the entire thing shut. Not only did the clip not function to hold the container closed, but the divider didn't seal properly so it simply wasn't worth my time trying to find a way to keep it closed. It wasn't entirely a waste. I knew it was an off brand when I bought it. It was a charity sale. (School fund raiser) Brilliant concept - poor execution. Next time I'll take the $12 I spent on that container and double it so I can get one that will work correctly!

So without any more drama here are the lunches:

Breakfast for lunch one day                                                                      Corn nuggets, carrots, yogurt, and an apple

 

  Chicken strips cut up with cheese, apples, and carrots                                a goldfish sandwich (turkey and cream cheese)      and goldfish pretzel mix

 

This one was interesting linberger jam and turkey on rye with a fruit salad. Go figure!

Since I'm not great at pictures - this wraps up the bento Tuesday!

See you next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 12.05.11

December's first Harvest Monday report!

Linking into Daphne's for the party over there. Make sure you stop by to say hi and tell her thanks for hosting!

Well- after I said that I checked the link and she hasn't posted yet so if she doesn't post still pop on by and wish her well. She normally posts before the sun rises and keeps us gardeners straight!
This weeks harvests looked like this most nights:

I don't have a lot to share as the garden clean up from my week long hiatus hasn't even been completed yet. The peppers suffered from both my absence and a brief dip into the upper thirties. The marigolds that had spread 4' tall and 5' wide are both history. Wow what a sorry sight they are! The purple beans are nearly all gone. What is left is a tangled mess with a couple of live vines intertwined. It breaks my heart to rip them all out because there are a few left that are producing of course and this time of year there is no hope of starting any new plants and harvesting anything from them. The bush beans are nearly all done as well so a tiny handful this week is my pitiful bounty for green beans... but this is December - so I'm NOT complaining!

The cucumber vines also all shriveled up from the cold, and the tomatillos as well... I have one that is still alive but with only one alive it is doubtful that it could set fruit again this year so I will see tonight what is left to mature and bring in anything promising to finish the harvest for the tomatillos for the year. Time to start next years plants indoors! :-D They don't get nearly as tall as tomatoes so I'm seriously thinking about doing this. Besides the purple ones are kinda pretty.

The 'english' peas are doing well and Richard and I enjoy eating them as a snack fresh without cooking them. We eat them rather the way most people eat popcorn- in front of the TV. :-D

Some more Daikons and greens came in - and the first of the lettuce provided a nice salad this week, but silly me got to eatin' before taking a picture.

The Holiday season has officially set in full force as the sitter is officially on the schedule for the remainder of the month and every single week is jam packed with activities and I am scrambling to figure out when to do my baking already! I suppose this is a good thing, but the tree is only up and somehow we need to find time to string lights, and garland and ornaments, and decorate outside and sheesh! I'm tired just THINKING about all that. *teehee* When, exactly did I get O~L~D?

'Till next time!
Barbie~