There is something that will always amaze me: a tiny seed germinates! Beautiful, healthy, and with love and care, it grows into a phenomenal fruit-bearing plant. It is a miracle, and as I have said on more than one occasion to my husband
"who am I to decide which live or not", so I always end up with more than we can possibly plant in our raised beds, and just prior to planting them into the outdoors, give two-thirds of them away.
The process begins in late January/early February with our favorite heirloom seeds. We nurse them along fertilizing, watering, transplanting into larger pots... and when the time is right to take them from the house to the outdoor hoop house, all is overflowing.
This year we cut way back on the vegetable garden, and in so doing, still had more than we required, and even with the reduction, family and friends
were tickled with exactly what they wanted.
Every gardening season is a little different, and this year summer and warmer temperature brought an earlier harvest.
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| Sugar Snap peas and the 1st 'Cocozelle' zucchini |
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| First tomato July 4 | | | |
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| July 7 |
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| July 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| 'Lazy Housewife' |
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| Silver Fox morning stroll |
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| Spaghetti squash coming along |
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| yes, a lime |
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| 'Rosa Bianca' |
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| Full Blood Moon, July 27 |
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| Full Blood Moon over the valley |
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| Northern Flicker |
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| oh, the fragrance of Oriental lilies |
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| August 6, haze from the summer fires |
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| The makings of tomato sauce |
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| Red Romaine lettuce gone to seed |
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| Heirloom Pole Beans: 'Purple Podded' and 'Lazy Housewife' |
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| 50 lbs of 'Brunswick' cabbage |
Brunswick: an old German heirloom introduced around 1924.
These beautiful drumheads store well, are cold hearty and make great sauerkraut.
Cabbage = sauerkraut = natural and good probiotics
Cabbage rolls, Kimchi, cabbage soup, cole slaw.... What's not to love?
Sauerkraut: shred; add 1 TB canning salt to each head of cabbage; stomp until liquid appears; weight it down so it remains covered with the juice; cover with a cloth; after 3-5 days taste test the fermentation until it achieves your palate pleasure. It can take up to several weeks depending upon the room temperature.
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| In the making | | |
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| Banana |
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| Full Sturgeon Moon, August 26 |
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| My oh my, from one dwarf pear, nearly 100 lbs |
We have only 2 pear trees, and from those we have more than enough to use, process and share. In years past we have dehydrated some, but this year the majority have been cut and frozen and to be used mainly in our morning protein drink.
At times I have added pears to the applesauce for a nice dimension, but since the apples are lagging a bit this year, I decided to make some
pear sauce as the pears were ripening quickly. Add the juice of a lemon, a touch of salt, some freshly grated ginger to fit your personal preference, and never do we add any sugar to this naturally sweet fruit.Yummy! Freeze or can.
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| Pear sauce |
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into the freezer
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| Goin' fishin' |
