What have you done today in the Garden?

Oh me , oh my Mel. That is a magnificent harvest. Nice looking peas, those Lincolns. That scarred squash looks like it is going to be a good one.

Oh, but your tomato greenhouse— cor, that looks very good, very professional. It looks better than mine.

That wayward pepper plant in there is amazing. Imagine— breaking from the weight of its fruits. Speaking of peppers— are you trying to break some kind of record with varied pepper harvests? Good grief, that is quite a load. Chapeau.

 

@Melody Mc. your crops look so wonderful! I'm filled with awe!

Such a long journey you have had with those peppers and squashes. It's a labor of love!

Be extra careful with that mandolin. Wear tough mandolin gloves. I've seen some horrible mandolin injuries!

 

My garden day started with an extra early doggie walk, to beat the heat.



This works even better.



Yesterday I sliced two packages of chicken hearts, Nd dehydrated them to make jerky. Of course, there are demands for some of that along the way.



I spent a couple of hours mowing, but left a few 'islands" of wild carrot forvthe pollinating insects.



Dug some spuds.


Dug some garlic.


Picked some berries and green beans.



And the very first English plums.



I cant believe it - I counted ten bunches of pawpaws on the pawpaw trees!





I wonder if I should thin them. Probably.

This is the first crop for this Asian Pear. I forget - maybe Chojuro?




Tomorrow I have Tai Chi class in the am. I'd like to dig out at least half of the garlic, maybe all of it, so I'll have the raised bed ready for more bush beans. Will I be that ambitious? I don't know!

 

Well, he’s a long, tall Texan,
He goes outside to walk his dog.
Yes, he’s a long, tall Texan
He goes outside to walk his dog.
People look at him and say…
Hurrah, hurrah— is that your dog?



Ahhhhh nostalgia.

 

Nothing today it's raining again.

 

Daniel, the spuds and garlic look so good. The beans and berries are looking like top quality. What type of plums are those? They look sort of like the Opal plum that we get over here. I was surprised to see that you had papaya fruits there. Gosh, I like those very much.

 

Bwahahahahahaha (Ear worm now.)

 

Hi Rufus !

Sweetest thing ever giving Rufus your shade Daniel. You're a good Dog Dad.

 

Actually Sjoerd, pawpaw, a temperate American fruit that has never been developed into a marketable product. They bruise easily and don't travel well. The flavor is sort of tropical, like banana or mango.

Pawpaw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba

Papaya is a fully tropical fruit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya

Pawpaws haven't done well for me so far. I think the summer climate here is too dry. It's interesting, these are both from the rootstocks. I never got that many on the original trees.

I don't know what plum that is. It's on a multigraft, and the label is lost. Tasty plum, anyway!

 

Wel, I was excited to see your tree and developing fruit. My Bride and I have eaten so many papaya in our travels. It is fair to say that we are fans. I did not realise that they were different from pawpaws. Merci.

Too bad the plum’s name is lost. Thanks anyhow.

 

Picked some cherry tomatoes, a small lilac bell pepper ans a yellow squash this morning.

 

I had to look wild carrot up Daniel. I think this may live here...but in small amounts. I'm going to keep an eye out. It is on Vancouver Island according to a friend. Hubby picked a little mystery flower in my bouquet a little while ago, which I think may have been this. Our's doesn't grow very big if that is what it is.

Beautiful harvest! And congrats on the pawpaw.!

 

This morning was a harvest of a couple of zucchini for supper, some swiss chard for the freezer, some peas and raspberries. It is a cool +7 this morning, with rain yesterday. I will pick the rest of the raspberries later this afternoon when it warms up a bit.





I have to hurry my harvest up a bit this year, so I did not let the giant cabbage get as giant. It is chopped and blanched in the freezer for fall borscht. (nom nom nom). The small cabbage is the last of my Golden Cross. We really love how speedy they are to grow, tender and sweet. They often are our first veg. And a cherry tomato for contrast.



I am having a horrific vole year, as well as mice. I think we are in the peak of a five year cycle, and with the drought and dead grasslands around, the gardens look pretty tempting. I kept some Vole Beets as bait, and have caught two a day for the last six days. I didn't reset the trap line yesterday, and saw three in the garden today. Back to the beets



@Sjoerd Thank you for the kind words on the greenhouse. And thank you for being the gentle reminder of when to tend to things in my year of chaos. ( "Sjoerd's doing it...I'd better check"....you've been my greenhouse compass. )

@Daniel W - thank you for the kind words - it is very rewarding to have a crop after the journey my seeds and I start in January. I have a fear/fear/love relationship with my mandolin. I did not know of a mandolin glove. I have a filleting glove that I dug out after your caution. And I've ordered a mandolin glove for the next round of peppers. Thank you friend. Good advice. That kind of injury would be the LAST thing that I need right now.

 

This morning picked the last of the gooseberries and some more red and white currants.

 

It is heartbreaking to see the vole damage. I have had some as well. The infernal heat and searing wind has taken a toll on my beets. So much so that I have replanted my beetroots and will remove the remaining mistreated first planted ones.

The greenhouse requires a different type of gardening than things outside. Either my Bride or I are in there every day evaluating, correcting, cutting or feeding. Most folks probably do not take it so seriously, but I would take the results of my mismanagement rather poorly. I mean that Natural interferences are bad enough.

It looks to me like you are going to have a quite successful season in your greenhouse. Your veg harvest shown up above, is so delightful to see.

Hang in there, chaos girl.