Random Updates...

This evening, we truly had a garden feast for dinner--complete with corn on the cob, green beans, sliced tomatoes and fried okra!  Of course, we added KFC for the meat, but everything else came from the garden.  It was a very satisfying feeling to know we had grown the majority of our meal in our own back yard.  The most exciting moment of the evening was when both of my picky veggie eaters, namely Ryan and Brett, raved about the homemade fried okra I made.  I was so excited, I had to get a picture to document it...(I am so glad my husband has a sense of humor about this blog and is such a good sport! LOL!)

With as much work as there is to do in the garden each day, we always welcome any new "helpers".  We had a new helper in the garden this evening!  Welcome...My mom! 

Something I've always admired and appreciated about my mom is how supportive she was in almost whatever us kids pursued.  I could always count on mom to atleast "act" interested in what I was interested in, whether she really was or not.  :-)  And again...What a great supporter and good sport she's been through this garden project...There is no telling how many hours of garden conversation she has had to endure between the time I have spent with her each week and also living with dad!  We couldn't have accomplished many of our major tasks on our garden to-do list without her because she has helped with the grandkids so I wouldn't have to run back to the house every 2 minutes getting snacks, drinks, helping someone go potty, etc...  I hope she always knows how much her support has meant throughout my life and I don't take it for granted.  I love her so much and feel so blessed to call her "mom".  Here she is picking tomatoes...

Our pole beans have really started growing up our wigwams we built a couple weeks ago...Take a look!

The next two rows of sweet corn have begun to tassle.  At the end of these two rows is where we planted some Indian corn...This corn has a completely different look than the sweet corn and it is growing so tall!

We have harvested almost all of our cabbage...Dad insisted we get a picture of how big the cabbage plants got, so I got the honor of posing after cutting another head of cabbage this evening...The really don't look very pretty anymore...If we had taken this picture a month ago, it would have look a lot better, but oh well!











Sweet Corn has arrived!

The past few little rains we received have helped give our corn that last little boost it needed to finally give use some mature ears.  This morning, dad picked a little over 3 dozen ears of the Honey Select sweet corn we planted close to 75 days ago. 

As a child, I remember my dad eating the corn raw as soon as he picked an ear, which I thought seemed a bit strange.  But, this morning, when he pulled the husks back on one and tried it, I took a bite, as well...It was delicious!  It was so sweet and crunchy...The kernels were just bursting with flavor!  The corn had some worms at the ends of the ears, but nothing that couldn't be cut off.  Dad said he has seen A LOT worse, which made me happy ours was only a minor nuisance.  In the coming days, we will have a lot of corn picking to do...I am so excited everything has been producing as we had hoped!  A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ULTIMATE PROVIDER!

More Beans...

Kately and I sat down the other evening and snapped our last batch of green beans we had picked.  Since the 4th of July holiday was approaching, I knew we wouldn't need these beans for a while.  We snapped, blanched and prepared them for the freezer this time.  It's a great feeling to open my freezer and add garden items which will get us through till next year's garden and I love saving money! :-)
Daddy snapped a picture of me and my little helper while we were in action...

Attack of the Tomatoes!

Well, our waiting for tomatoes has ceased! For the past week, we have been blessed with a basket full almost every day!  They aren't all "picture perfect" tomatoes, but they still taste absolutely delicious!  It has become a daily request from my kiddos for a bowl of tomatoes as a snack! I must say, I've been snacking on them, as well...MMM....

Here are a few pictures of our recent daily harvests...

Hot Potato, Hot Potato!

This is Kately.  Mommy said I could do this blog post since I was so curious about how it works.  Yesterday, we dug up our first batch of potatoes! Papa came over in the morning and helped us with the HOT job.  Grandpa George loaned us his potato fork to make things a little easier. 

First, we slid the fork underneath the mounds of dirt trying not to scar the potatoes.  Then, when papa lifted the dirt, little red potatoes appeared!  Some were BIG, some were small.  Take a look at our pictures below...

 

WHOA!  HOT POTATO!

Green Beans, Jalapenos & Onions...

This past week, we were able to pick our first green beans, jalapenos, onions and potatoes.  This post will talk about all but the potatoes, as I promised Kately she could do the post about the potatoes, since she is so curious about how the blog works!

Ryan and I spent about an hour picking green beans after church last Wednesday night.  I was really surprised how many there were to pick, but we ended up with 3 full gallon sized ziplock bags of green beans.

We took some green beans over to Grandma & Grandpa George's house on Thursday when we went to spend some of the day with them.  As grandma was preparing lunch, Grandpa, Kately, Brett & I sat down and snapped beans.  We sure had fun with them that day!

We pulled up our onions this morning...I was expecting they would be bigger than they were, but they'll have to do!  I think our ground is just too hard for them grow big.  I may try growing these a different way next year, but we shall see!



I have had many green jalapenos on one of my plants for a long time.  But, I remember reading somewhere the longer you leave them on the vine, the hotter they will get.  Well, this morning, when I came out to look over the garden, I noticed some had turned red.  So, we finally picked a few to see how ready they are.  Dad is the only one brave enough to try the red jalapeno, so I can't wait to watch him take a big ol' bite out of one!



Largest Harvest to Date...

It has been so HOT the past week or so, I've only been able to get out in the garden in the evenings right before dark.  Yes, I could get up at the crack of dawn and work in the morning, but with still having 2 young kids, I try to "sleep in" as long as they will!  I don't think I will ever be a morning person :)

Even with the lack of rain, our garden is still producing quite a bit.  It is a daily process to go out and pick everything that has ripened since the day before, to make sure there are no new "pests" eating on plants and to make sure everything is getting atleast a little water.  This evening, I picked our largest daily harvest to date and even got to add cherry tomatoes, okra and green peppers to the mix!

Final Thoughts For Today:
I have tried many zucchini/squash recipes in the past 2 weeks.  I have learned my husband and kids (Brett is still not too sure) have actually learned to like a new vegetable, but my family (including myself) is about sick of zucchini/squash for dinner!  I really need to learn how to make pickles because I am about to be buried in bush cucumbers.  I am so happy my kids have also been able to experience how good it feels to give our produce away.  They are always so excited to carry in a basket of goodies to give to people!  I treasure the days when my vision is so clear to the multitudes of God's blessings for me and my family.  It is such a humbling feeling because I fail him everyday even though I try my hardest not to.  Thank you God for your love and mercy today.