Man, I suck at blogging lately....

Today I actually looked at my blog and decided that I have sucked at it. Recent changes in my life have taken over my ability to care for the garden as it should be, and my ability to write down everything going on with it!

Yeseterday I pulled out all of the tomato plants in preparation for a cold and rainy weekend, and I have about 50 green tomatoes. I need to find a good plan to allow them to ripen. I am sure they won't taste as good as a vine ripened tomato, but hey, its all good.

We harvested the winter squash several weeks ago, as the plants we turning brown and going kaput. It was a great harvest however. 6 large acorn squash, and 5 medium sized butternuts. That should allow some really yummy dinners, and LOTS of butternut gocchi. YUMMMM. I will remember to post the recipe for them when I make them.

The herb harvest was EXCELLENT. I have bunches of herbs hanging in the mud room to dry out. A gallon size bag of sage in the freezer, chives still growing outside as well as rosemary and lavender. I need to cut the lavender down for the winter, but not yet. I need to find out what I should be doing with the rosemary. The basil died either while Andrew and I were on our honeymoon, or the week after. I have neglected everything for about the last 4 weeks, and I am carrying a guilty conscience.

I have already begun planning the garden for next year. We are going to extend the garden size 3 feet towards the house, as well as another plot roughly 15 feet by 10 feet next to the fence to plant sweet corn (so I don't have to look at my hillbilly neighbors junk filled yard) as well as greens, broccoli, and some other things I cant remember.

I am anxious to begin the building of some new containers for next year. I am going to attempt to grow my cherry tomatoes upside down in a bucket (not one of those tiny things from HD, but my own home made one.) I am going to build a shallow rectangle container from salvaged wood in the garage, about 3ft x 3ft x 12in to grow lettuces in. I think it will probably just sit in the driveway. Not too sure on that one yet. I MUST BUILD A RAIN BARREL. However, not until the spring. I don't have any veggies left to water!!!

Todays Harvest

Today I brought in 41 red plump cherry tomatoes!!! That doesn't include the handful I ate while I was out there :)

Holy Tomato!!!

Yes Yes Yes... It has been awhile... A LONG while... Anyways, WOW! My tomatoes are outrageous! They are, for the record, as tall as me (5'4"). We have hundreds of little cherry tomatoes, but have only been able to eat about a handful of them so far. We have probably about 40 regular size, slicing tomatoes. None of them are red yet... I think it has to do with the lack of heat we are having this summer. I think the record high this month has only been about 82, and most night have gone down to the 50's and 60's. I think the record low this month was about 55.

The tomatoes are growing so rapidly and HUGE that I had to rig up some sort of support system besides my cages. I placed 2 ladders on the ends of plot, and boards on the rungs of the ladders. I used my compost support on the other side and draped more branches... It is quite the white trash system, but I really didnt expect my plants to get so big! Next year will require more planning and better supports, as well as more spacing for the plants.

All of the plants are doing super well, except the cilantro. It got really lacy and brown... Oh well... Better luck next year... We have about 4 BIG acorn squashes, 3 or 4 butternut squashes, 3 HUGE zucchinis that are for some reason the lightest shade of green. Everything is just awesome!

Garden shots

The Whole Garden
TALL Tomatoes (the "cages" are 5 ft tall)
Bee pollinating my tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Squash
Butternut Squash
Acorn Squash
Roasemary (Thanks for the gift Senior!)

I Am Having Some Issues

The quash plants are growing beautifully. However, they seem to be suffering from rot. I am not sure if it from laying on the ground when it is wet outside, or if it is blossom end rot. I will have to do some research on that. I have read that blossom end rot can occur when there is a lack of calcium in the soil and uneven watering. I hope to correct this problem, or else, no summer squash for us. I could try to train the plant up a trellis, but I think it is too big now for that... I will just have to see how it goes.

The tomatoes are HUGE!!! I have plenty of cherry tomatoes, and lots of blossoms on the regular tomatoes. We have LOTS of peas, and will have a stir-fry this week. YUM!

All of the herbs are doing well. Andrew said the basil was getting a little sunburned, so I will have to move the pots around tomorrow.

I am an idiot! What I THOUGHT was my cantaloupe plant is in fact a butternut squash plant! While I am excited about having my favorite squash around in the fall, I would have really loved to have cantaloupes to eat this summer.

I made our first beets of the year. Andrew did not like them at all! I didn't think they were bad, but I left them in the oven a little bit too long, and they got a tad too soft. What can I say? I get distracted easily! Next year, we will just avoid growing beets. Perhaps try carrots instead.

The Hunt for Rain Barrels

Today I talked to my cousin down in Virginia, and he has awesome rain barrels and a pretty sweet composter. I decided not to give up the effort on finding some of my own. I looked on www.freecycle.org and had little luck. However, Craigslist (my savior) has come through yet again. I found a guy who gets 55 gallon food grade drums from all over the place, and sells them for $15 a piece. I talked to him and he said he should be getting a good amount of them on Saturday. He said he will hold 3 for me until I can pick them up, and if he didn't get them on Saturday, he would call and let me know when the next shipment would be. I hope this works out. I want 2 for rain barrels, and 1 to make a composter. I have provided pics of my cousin's set up. I really like it.

I Know, I Know... It's Been Awhile

WOW I haven't written in awhile!!! The garden is AMAZING!!! All the herbs are huge and I need to start clipping and using them. I have my first lavender flower. It smells so good. I love it. I just cant wait for it to turn into a bush and stink up my yard.

We have five, FIVE!!!, baby cherry tomatoes!!! We have FIVE yellow squashes growing! The beets are still getting bigger, and the PEAS! OH MY GOSH THE PEAS! Finally there are tons of flowers all over the pea plants and next week we should have LOTS of peas to cook up for dinner.

Something I am not too sure of are my acorn squash plant, and my cantaloupe plant. They have WHITE leaves... Weird. I sprayed the yard for weeds, and my only thought is that some of the poison got on the leaves (RIP one little beet) however, the leaves are not shriveling up, but just like, white yellow greenish looking... Hmmm...