More Strawberries!!!

So I thought I would go out last night and pick a few more berries before the BIG rain hit, so I wouldn't have to walk through the mud in the patch after the rain.  Little did I now that it would turn into such excitement for Brett and I!  Here's our pickings for last night...7 more pounds of berries!

Year 2 Strawberries!

Since it was the first year for our 45 strawberry plants, we only picked a handful of berries last year.  This year is a different story!  We picked 4 lbs. of strawberries this morning and there are plenty more green ones on the vines.  It's such a satisfying feeling when you get to reap what you've sown.  Thank you, Lord, for your bountiful blessings!  Ryan did the taste test and gave it two THUMBS UP!  Mmm...

 

Year 2 has FINALLY begun!

It's quite a bit later than last year, but we finally got our garden project started for year 2.  Quite a few obstacles prevented us from beginning earlier this year.  Between cooler temps, late snows, rain, end of school activities, dance recital, garage sale, dad's hay cutting/baling season in full swing and dad's newest project of renovating my grandmother's home, we definitely had to make a conscious effort to get started when we did.  It would have been very easy to let it slip by this year, but I just couldn't pass up playing in the dirt!

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, we planted the garden in winter wheat for the late fall and winter.  Last year, we didn't get it plowed very deep due to all of the rock picking...We decided to try and plow it deeper this year, but it just revealed MORE rocks!!!  HIP HIP HOORAY (insert sarcasm here...LOL)  Here are a couple of pics before and during the plow...

As I mentioned, the plowing revealed a lot more rocks.  Since we were so far behind in getting things in the ground, we decided to skip the rock picking for now.  I tried to start my own tomato plants this year and it was a total flop, but luckily I located a greenhouse about 10 miles from my home that was selling BEAUTIFUL tomato plants for a GREAT price.  Since we plant close to 50 tomato plants, it can get really pricey if I purchase them all at the big stores.  I am very thankful for this lady who has the knowledge and facility to grow such healthy plants and can sell them at such good prices.  I purchased 42 tomato plants (each were over a foot tall) for approx. $17!  I have never seen plants this nice and healthy at the big stores, but if I had purchased the nicest plants at those stores, I would have had to pay over $150!  

On Sunday, May 19, 2013...we finally got our tomato plants in the ground, along with 2-100 ft. rows of sweet corn.

Brett is a really big helper this year in the garden.  He likes to dig, plant and throw rocks.  I'm going to have to ask our "photographer" to catch better shots...LOL...sorry about the backside shot!

Here were my helpers for planting tomatoes this year...Couldn't have asked for a better team!

We even had an audience during our tomato planting party...Grammy & Kately would rather cuddle and watch.

I repainted an old mailbox that Grandpa George gave me and we placed it near the garden and berry patches to store our smaller garden tools and gloves.  This idea was courtesy of Pinterest.  This should save us many trips to and from the garden shed and it sure looks cute when I look out my kitchen window.  It's the small things...

On Saturday, May 25, 2013...I got out and transplanted my broccoli and cabbage plants I had started from seed.  30 broccoli and 14 cabbage plants, 2 hours and forgetting to use sunscreen (oops!) made for one sore and sunburned momma.

This evening, Tuesday, May 29, 2013...we planted 2 more 100' rows of sweet corn, bush beans, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, lettuce, sugar snap peas, zucchini & yellow crookneck squash.  I think we totaled about 400 ft. of planting tonight.

I looked back at the blog entries from last year and noticed that we were picking broccoli by this time last year, so I am hoping everything hasn't been planted too late this year.  If you have a garden of your own or do any type of farming, please join me in praying for frequent rain this summer.  As my dad often says, "There's nothing better than a good rain."

Year-End Recap

As the new year approaches, I wanted to take a moment to recap the last few months since my last post.  Remember the pumpkins we took time to plant in July? Well, many of the plants grew beautiful green leaves but no pumpkins grew and within a week of the plants looking so lush, all of the leaves seemed to disintegrate and almost disappear.  I didn't take the time to try and figure out why this happened, but it may have been too much watering on my part.  I don't really know, but it was really weird. So...we did what the majority of people do...went to Wal-Mart and purchased 3 pumpkins for carving at Halloween time!

 
Another plus to growing your own corn and doing a garden project with your father is the fun fall decorations that appeared at the entrance of my driveway!  Thanks, Dad!

 

By the time we got around to planting the middle area of our garden (sweet potatoes, beans and 2nd round of watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and okra) it was towards the middle of the summer and REALLY HOT.  Dad was busy helping care for a cousin struggling with cancer and I had both kids at home and we were trying to keep cool however possible, so we didn't take the time put straw around this area as we should have.  The grass and weeds got ahead of us in this area so it was really hard to tell where the weeds ended and the plants started.  We almost forgot we had even planted sweet potatoes.  We should have dug them up earlier but we were able to salvage a few...

 

We were able to sell &/or share hundreds of tomatoes this summer...The tomato plants were SO plentiful!  I had read to go ahead and pick all of the firm green tomatoes still on the vines before the first frost, so I spent over an hour picking all of the little tomatoes still left on our vines one day.  I couldn't believe how many were still left!

 

So with all of these green tomatoes in my possession...I went to the internet for ideas on how to use them.  I made a green tomato & apple crisp which turned out really good.  Those I made the dessert for weren't very appreciative of the fact I tried to "hide" that there were green tomatoes in it, but said the dessert tasted really good.  I made a green tomato salsa which turned out WAY TOO VINEGARY and the few people I gave it to didn't really care for it. (Lesson Learned:  Don't always rely on internet recipes to be delicious)  I also made a green tomato chutney...which I guess is popular in the south and is a type of relish or topping used for extra flavor.  I can't tell you if anyone liked it as I was too nervous to give it to anyone after the salsa experiment.  I tasted it and it seemed good but I couldn't figure out what I'd like to eat with it.  I still have 5 bowls of it in my refrigerator and probably 5 bowls of the green tomato salsa in my freezer if anyone wants to give it a try! LOL...Here's what the chutney looked like...

Some of the green tomatoes were sliced and frozen for Fried Green Tomatoes...Anyone who knows me very well, knows my eyes are drawn to the color green...Which is why I had to take a picture of this...I thought it was so pretty :-)



 

Grandma George taught me the coolest trick I learned to do with green tomatoes.  She remembers as a little girl that her mom would wrap their green tomatoes in newspaper and put them in a cardboard box.  Christmas time would roll around and they would have ripe red tomatoes to eat in the middle of winter!  I gave Grandma quite a few green tomatoes for her to try this again.  Sure enough--the tomatoes ripened!  They ripened way before Christmas and they all seemed to ripen at the same time but there for a short time they had ripe tomatoes after ripe tomato season had ended!  I will definitely try this myself next year.

 

One mid-November day, dad came over and pulled up our tomato plants and took down the tomato stakes, then he came back in a day or so and we tried to burn off the majority of dead plants that were left.  The ground wasn't as dry as we thought so it proved more difficult than we hoped it would be. (Note: There were no corn stalks to burn because we had pulled those up a while back and fed them to dad's cattle.)

 



After we burned off whatever would burn, dad hopped back on the tractor and tilled up the ground.  Not a trace of our blood, sweat and tears remained...Just rich brown dirt and MORE ROCKS!  We sowed winter wheat in the ground for the time being so we can till that into the soil when spring rolls around.  Here's what the ground looks like now.  A new clean slate.

Unless they've participated in this journey with us either by working in the garden or following this blog, no one could realize how much time and attention this patch of earth had received in the past 12 months.  My family and I have learned a lot about gardening this year.  We've tried a lot of new recipes and my husband and kids have gained a new liking for some (but still not all) fruits and veggies they may not have even wanted to try if they hadn't seen it growing in our garden.  Also, I wouldn't trade the large amount of time I got to spend with my dad during this project for the world.  Thank you, dad, for all the time and effort you put forth on our garden.  It means so much to me and I am happy we got to share this experience together.  As Mimi would say, "I Love You Bunches!"

Pumpkins...

Dad informed us a about 5 years ago that pumpkins should be planted on the 4th of July if they are going to be ready for October.  So for about 5 years now, he's prepared a spot for the grand kids to plant pumpkins on the 4th of July.  This year, we decided to use a portion of our garden to do the same. 
We had a large 4th of July family gathering at our house, so just before dark, we got the younger kids lined up on the outskirts of the garden so each could plant a few pumpkin seeds. 

 Aunt Elaine kind of "managed" the line as she watched the annual pumpkin planting party!

Each child got their turn to walk out to the garden and plant a few hills of pumpkin seeds...My sister, Amanda, was the official photographer for the event...Thanks, Aunt Manda, for these photos!

It's Brett's Turn! 

It's Jarrett's Turn!

It's Jude's Turn!

 It's Madelyn's Turn!

 It's Reece's Turn!

Kately also had her turn with planting the pumpkins, but for some reason, both of her pics and one of Reece's pics were too blurry to post.  I am still working on this dilemma because I definitely don't want to leave her out of this post if at all possible! :-)

They planted 3 seeds in the top of each mound of dirt dad had formed prior to the kids coming out to the garden.  

We planted 5 types of orange pumpkins.  Then...dad had saved some seed from some white decorative pumpkins my mom had purchased a couple years ago which we decided to see if they would grow, too!  I sure hope they do...they are unique and beautiful!

After the kids planted the pumpkins, we had to wait a couple weeks to surround the plants with a thick layer of straw to help with weed control, to lock in moisture and to give the pumpkins a barrier to rest upon to help keep them from rotting &/or pests when they begin to grow.

This is definitely not one of the best pictures of me, but dad insisted because I was coated in sweat (yes, I had sweat in my eyes, too!) and had dirt all over my forehead.  The cup I am holding is one of dad's notorious cups of ice water he is rarely seen without when out on the farm or in the garden.  Ice water never tasted so good as it did that morning...I sure am you can't smell pictures because I know this one would knock you over!  LOL...

Where has Summer Gone?

As with most people with young children at home, we have kept really busy this summer!  The majority of the kids' and my time has been spent with grandparents and great-grandparents or on daily trips to White Water, Silver Dollar City, Kids Free Bowling, Parks or Swimming Pools.

It has been dreadfully hot and dry, so I have waited to get out in the garden till the last part of daylight if at all possible.  Since rainfalls have been few and far between this summer, we have tried our hardest to keep our garden watered and we have still been blessed with a bountiful crop of goodies!  I can only imagine what it would have been like had we received adequate rainfall!

I have learned so much in the past 8 months.  Some were things I knew I would learn but others I would have never guessed...one of which is what it feels like to have rivers of sweat run in my eyes as I am bent over working in the garden.  Wow...it really stings.  Dad and I have literally sweat gallons & gallons this summer, but I don't regret it a bit!  It has been so fun learning something new!

Between Dad, Ryan and I, we've been able to keep up with picking our garden items daily.  But, it has been a lot of work!  We've cooked A LOT, shared A LOT, froze A LOT, canned a little and sold a little...It has been a great summer so far!  Here are some pictures of random items I wanted to document...

While our corn was producing, Dad would come over in the mornings, pick a few dozen ears of corn (or more) and leave on my back porch so it could be refrigerated or shucked.

Brett was SO excited when we picked our first watermelon...he couldn't wait to eat the first bite.  His little arms were dripping with juice and his little fingers, face and neck were as sticky as ever! Now, every watermelon he gets ready to eat, he'll say..."Mom, did we grow this in our garden?" :-)  I've enjoyed so many sweet smiling moments this summer as I've watched my kids learn about the garden, process what they know and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

I don't know how we missed this cucumber so many times when we were picking, but this picture hardly gives it justice...It was at least 4" in diameter!

Okra has done better now that the hot temps have set in...Now, I've felt like it is coming out of my ears...there's only so much one can do with okra...it is a sticky gooey mess to get it prepared, but pretty tasty when dipped in cornmeal and fried in some canola oil!

Our pole beans are looking beautiful, but there not any beans on them yet...Not sure if there will ever be...They sure look impressive though!

My kids actually asked if they could have tomatoes for lunch the other day...Usually, I would say they would need to eat a sandwich or something with it, but hey...it's summer and the fresh tomatoes won't last long!  So...we all three sat down for lunch, each with our own big bowl of tomatoes!  YUMMY!  Dad took this picture of Brett on our back porch one evening when he was eating a tomato.  Of course, Brett wasn't going to let him eat it alone! So cute...