Garden Clean-up

Well, summer has passed and today is the first day of Fall. I LOVE fall. It is my favorite time of the year. This morning we did some clean-up of the garden -- took out the black cloth we had used as mulch, etc. We plan to plant winter rye grass. After winter, you till it in. Hope it isn't too late to plant it, but I don't think so. Our winter doesn't really start until December here, and then it only lasts until mid-March.

The asparagus and strawberries did great for us. Next year we will be able to harvest the strawberries, and perhaps the asparagus. The asparagus we planted was "two year" asparagus, meaning you can pick it the second year. We'll see. The leeks are still growing. They'll stay in until right at frost. The tomato plants have about had it. There are mammoth sunflower plants still in the garden, the heads drying, and miniature sized birdhouse gourds.

Farewell, garden 2008!

RAIN!!!!!

I look out my window and see a blessed sight - it is raining!!!
The vegetables in the garden are giving out a collective sigh of relief. We are finally getting rain. Of course I've been watering the garden every few days with our spring water overflow, but, as my maternal grandfather said, there's nothing like rain for the garden. The hydrogen in the rain is good for it.
Last year we were terribly dry all summer, but luckily the spring kept on springing. There must be a large reservoir of water under them thar hills!

Tonight we are going to friends' house to eat and sit around the campfire and I don't care if we have to hold up umbrellas - let it rain!

ZUCCHINI, ZUCCHINI, ZUCCHINI . . . .

Oh my, the zucchini is overtaking our home! I gave some away for the past two days and still have bunches left, and more on the vine waiting to get big. I made zucchini bread today (see pics) and today I'll freeze zucchini.

My zucchini bread recipe:

(makes two loaves)

2 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups peeled and grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts
1 package vanilla pudding Cook & Serve (do NOT use instant): you can substitute the recipe for pudding from the box of corn starch, using only the dry ingredients and the vanilla

Beat eggs until light and foamy. Add the next four ingredients. Mix lightly, but well. Mix remaining ingredients (except nuts) in a bowl. Add to the first mixture and blend. Then add the nuts. Pour into greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or more. Remove from pans at once. Cool on rack.
NOTE: You can freeze this bread, just wrap it well.


I also have yellow squash that needs eaten, frozen, and/or given away!

Monster Garden

The garden is producing like crazzzzy now! I have zucchini & yellow squash up to my ears. I was able to give away some zucchini to company we had today. I wonder if horses eat zucchini . . . . hmmmm...
I wanted to make zucchini bread but ran out of walnuts.
Soon the tomatoes will be getting red.
With our lack of rain, I have to water the garden every other day.

Worms!

My husband gathered last year's manure from the local farmer's pasture and we piled it in the garden in the corner inside a tarp. Today my husband decided to take it out and lay it around between the rows and we are amazed at the number of earthworms in the manure! He said they were dripping off of his shovel when he shoveled the manure up. He should have had me take a picture of that, but I went down later and got a few of the worms inside bits of manure. This would only be exciting for gardeners, I realize!

Gardening Musing

This is a picture of my garden labeled as to where everything is, but you can't see it very well.
I have been snipping off the blooms on the strawberry plants as soon as I see them but some got away from me and we got some juicy, sweet strawberries yesterday and today there was one more. This is the first year for the strawberries so we are trying to keep the blooms off so that the plant can get strong and healthy to grow.

I picked a ton of spinach today and will freeze it later. Also some broccoli, but it is starting to flower. Everything in the garden is growing good. Snow peas are on the vine, soon to be picked. I have posts at the green beans and need to tie string around for them to grow on, plus I want to plant some more green beans. Last year I used the tee pee method but the beans climb so high that I can't reach them, so this year we're trying something different. They'll still climb, but not as high.