Fall in my Garden

No, I didn't fall in my garden, it's the time of year. It seriously effects the productivity of certain types of plants. The tomatoes get going strong, but the Cucumbers and Squash slow down a ton. In fact, I pulled most of my squash out as you can see the big hole in my garden now.

Hannah helped me keep everything wet, even though it's cooler now, and doesn't need as much water as it does in the middle of summer.

Over the last month, the kids have set up a vegetable stand out on the corner, and sold fresh veggies. It's been great for them to make some $$ and to learn some good lessons about work.

They made about $25 over the two times they did it! They were stoked, and I was too. I think we'll try and do that every year, we have enough room, and I think it gives them a vested interest in the garden each year.

Check out the latest pics up above!

It's getting out of control!

It's getting to that time when I have more veggies that I can handle... I'm loving the sweet tender squashes right now! They are soooo good. I can't wait for fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

The recipe for the best tasting squash:

1 small yellow squash (or crookneck) less than 6 inches long
1 small zuchini squash less than 6 inches long
1 TBSP butter or margarine
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice the squashes into 1/2 - 1 inch thick pieces, then lay the pieces down and cut them in half, so you have a bunch of half moons. 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Microwave on high for 2.5 minutes, then put the butter on top and mix it up the best you can to spread it evenly on squash. It should be firm, but cooked. Then add s&p to taste and enjoy! It's soooo good. If you need squash, just ask... I have plenty! :)

Check out all the growth.

Hot Weather = Lots of Growth

We've had an extremely hot week, and I was out of town. Kim and the kids kept things going for me though while I was away. I was shocked to see how much things had grown while I was out! Even little Hannah was helping hoe out some weeds!

I harvested about half of the lettuce, and it made about 10 gallon bags stuffed full of mixed greens. They are delicious, and I like to share them with my family. The snap peas are coming in at about 1 bowl full/day. If I let them go for 2-3 days I think I'd be overrun with them. I can't believe how fast they grow!

It's cool to see the changes since my first posting... look at the difference!

Until next time, happy gardening!

Now we're getting somewhere

Pic #1 Main Plot... looking good
Pic #2 Mixed lettuce... the ones off to the left were not supposed to grow there, but for lettuce, I'll pretty much take it wherever I can get it to come up!
Pic #3 My "4 season miracle" lettuce! I cut it down, and within a week it's already back to what it was before. I love this stuff.
Pic #4 Look how tall the Peas are getting... I think they doubled in size in one week!
Pic #5 I took out all my radishes, they were going to seed... I put down three melons and two more cukes, plus 3 tomato. By the time they need space, I'll have the spinach (to the right) and the peas (far right) all taken out. This way, I'm utilizing the space as efficiently as possible. Sure I'll be giving away food like I'm the produce department, but I don't care! My neighbors and family will love me for it!

Well, it never seems like the plants can grow fast enough, but looking at these pics from 9 days ago, I can see huge differences... especially with the snap peas.

My lettuce is peaking now, so I'll probably tear it all out after a week or so. It's getting into the upper 80's this week, so it will not fare as well as some of the other plants do with that sustained heat.

I did put miracle grow on all the plants 3 days ago... I just use that liquid plant food thing that you hook up to your hose, and spray all over the plants. I think they are taking very well to that extra food combined with this nice weather. It's been such a cool spring, I think they were just lying in wait... now that it's heating up, the plants are shooting up!

I took most of the rhubarb out last night, and made some yummy Rhubarb muffins with whole grain wheat that I had just ground! We've gotten so much rhubarb off that one plant. No need for more than one of those, unless you make pies with it.

The first fruits of my spring garden!

My son and I have gotten awesome turnips and lettuce from my garden this spring. I'm sure it has to do with the cool weather we've had lately. It will heat up fast now that we are into June. My good lettuce days are numbered. You can always tell your lettuce is about finished when you see those tell-tale seed stalks start to shoot up out of the lettuce bed. :( Until then, eat up!

The lettuce is sweet and tender. I like to put a bunch of it into a 1 gallon ziplock baggie and add 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, and 3 TBSP of Basalmic Vinegar, then shake it up, coating all the leaves. It is such a great treat, I eat it right out of the bag, no mess. This amount of lettuce was enough to fill 3 one-gallon bags. My one row of lettuce will produce more lettuce than my family can eat. I literally take this much lettuce everyday, and the lettuce row easily keeps up while the days are sunny and the temps are in the mid 70's. After a week, I can't even tell where I had cut leaves out. :)

The radishes are best cut up and dipped in Ranch... you need the Ranch to cool down the radishes a little, they can be pretty hot!

What I Am Growing

I'm currently growing the following:

Lettuce - Red leaf (merville de quatro siasons), butter crunch, green leaf.
Sugar Snap Peas
Radishes - Easter Egg
Spinach
Green Cabbage
Tomatoes - Beefmaster, Better boy, DCX (A special variety specially engineered for my county), celebrity.
Summer Squash - Crookneck, Zuchini and Scallop Squash
Bell Peppers - Golden Bell, Red Bell, & Green Bell

Here are a few of the pics, I'll add the rest soon. I'll try to update with pics every week, so we can all track the progress.

I have two separate locations in my yard, the one with the ground covering is actually a converted sand box (my kids would rather garden with me!). The other is a dedicated garden space. All together I have 1 12' x 15' (converted sand box) and one 15' x 20' plot