A Season For Growing...

A wonderfully sweet friend of mine sent me an email the other day. She was concerned with how I've been because my last blog posting was over a month ago. I assured her I was doing just fine and then began the mental process of storing up thoughts to include on the next post.

How sweet that someone should think of me because of a lapse in posts :) I didn't realize my writing would be missed and believe you me, it was a really good feeling. Thank you Daiana!

As I said, I've been doing just fine. I've been in the gardens on the farm! I now have three flower gardens, a 12x47 vegetable garden and a variety of potted plants that include both flowers and vegetables and even one pot with fruit.

I started a bunch of seedlings indoors but truthfully, I'm not so good at transplanting them and only four survived in the vegetable garden. I look forward to my one Brussels Sprout plant growing taller and stronger every day. The same with my cabbage plants; just three of seven survived! The tomatillos perished within two days of transplanting and the lavender just simply never showed up.

Not to be daunted, I decided to sow the seeds directly into the soil. The tomatillos have sprouted (yay!), the broccoli is about 10 inches tall (yay!) and just yesterday I noticed that the lavender has finally made a showing (yay!!!) Only one little seedling has sprouted but I'm happy with that. To me it means there's hope more lavender will be coming up soon!

My squash is growing fast and has the brightest yellow/orange flowers on it you've ever seen! It's a pure delight to look upon that row and see such a color as that of the squash. The baby squash it's producing are just as pleasing to the eye, indeed, I can picture them already chopped up and made into pickled squash. Don't make a face at the thought of pickled squash...trust me, I had my doubts myself. Turns out, it's a very nice treat. It's crunchy, sweet and tart all at the same time. It's so good that when we open a jar, we eat the entire contents in one sitting. It's so good, it's actually all gone!

I'll be making more when the rush of summer squash begins. It comes in fast and furious and there are so many farmers growing it that there is always extra. I know I'll be able to buy some if need be. I'm figuring we'll need a least 14 pints of this yummy stuff to get us through the next winter and up to the time the squash comes in again. That's what you call planning ahead my friends :)

I have three cabbage plants that I started from seed and eight that came from a farmer over on Hwy. 100. All are doing well though the ones I bought are considerably bigger than the seedlings I started. Not to worry though. If they all grew at the same rate, I'd be up to my elbows in cabbages! LOL I love cabbage, don't get me wrong, but a little goes a long way! The cranberry slaw is already making my mouth water just thinking about it :)

The peppers haven't proven as stout as I had hoped they would. They're growing but slowly. They also show signs of something nibbling at them...little brown rimmed holes on the leaves? I have sweet and hot banana peppers, sweet green bell peppers and hot jalapeno peppers. Of the 14 plants total, I would say 4 are looking decent. The others are just looking so-so. A disappointment to be sure because I had such big plans for making more hot pickled peppers this year.

Perhaps I'll be offered the chance to go pick from our friend's garden over in Centerville. Last year he told me to come pick how ever much I wanted because he was done picking even though his peppers were nowhere near done growing. I picked probably four grocery bags full of sweet bell peppers and another three or four bags of hot peppers. It was wonderful!!!

Working with peppers is tricky so I've stocked up on gloves for when the time comes to once again begin the chopping of those hot little vegetables! Thank you Debbie!

My tomatoes are growing with wild abandon - just as they should! Already I have had to stake them and I have tied them twice to the stakes and still, every day, they require more attention. I love the smell of the tomato plant and I certainly love that they produce so heavily but best of all is eating them! Oh man, I don't know about y'all but that first one off the vine and in my mouth is like nothing else that the season brings!

Canning tomatoes is something I've done for years. It began with a dear friend, Sherry, and her super sweet and feisty mom, Sis. We literally bought boxes of tomatoes and canned every last one of them. My what a wonderful time that was :) Looking back, I do believe that event in my life kindled the fire leading to my current addiction of getting vegetables in a jar. When I look at them on the shelf, I can't help but think of those happy memories :) and feel grateful to those two beautiful ladies.

I have two called "German Queen." This plant grows very tall and puts out huge, purplish colored tomatoes. I have two "Early Girl" tomato plants which I believe should be the plant that every first time tomato grower should try. They grow fast, they don't get unruly to the point of requiring all that staking business and they put out tomatoes within about 40 days...that's a good month before any others even have baby green tomatoes on them. They may not get as big as some others but they sure make up for it in flavor and quantity. My first "Early Girl" put out about 25 tomatoes!

The rest of the plants are called "Mountain Fresh." This one is a pretty quick grower. It's supposed to be determinant but I've found that, in this case, it just means it might not get as tall as other varieties but it will still have to be staked and tied - every other day or so! lol Oh for the love of tomatoes...

This is the first year I've tried to grow corn and I'm pleased to say that it is about 8" tall and growing taller by the minute. I swear you can almost watch corn grow! You can imagine my excitement! I planted it in amongst the squash in the hope that the birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc. will leave it alone. Time will tell. I know it won't be nearly as sweet as that of Zellwood corn but I'm ever so hopeful it will at least be edible! Fingers crossed...

As a follow up, corn can be planted continually so when these plants are about 2' tall, I'll go ahead and put some more in the ground for a second harvest :)

I have okra and green beans in the garden. They were planted just two days apart and that's exactly how much time there was in between them coming up. The okra grows tall and straight with pretty yellow flowers letting you know the pods are on their way. I'll be making pickled okra with this harvest and with any luck, maybe I'll even be able to see some of it. It's not easy to part with by any means so anyone who likes pickled okra is always happy to find someone who will sell it. It's an easy process but not everyone gets into it like I do :) For me it's fun, fun, fun in the canning condo!

The beans are a bush variety and if you've been following the blog you know that I've planted beans every year since I've been here. Trouble is, something always eat them. Whatever that something is, it doesn't just eat the beans, it eats the entire plant. It leaves me with nothing but sticks! This year I'm hoping the motion sprinklers will keep whatever it is at bay... last year I ended up with one little mess of beans and that was it! I had to buy them at the farmer's market in order to have enough to get through the year. What a bummer!

On the bright side, my friend Martha (a recent Michigan transplant to GA) suggested I try making "dilled beans." I did a little reading in my canning book and found a simple recipe. As it turned out, I had all the ingredients and that was all it took. I made a batch and wished I had  more beans to make another one. They were so awesome!! I say "were" because they're now gone. If you like pickled okra, you're likely to enjoy these beans as well. I say they would be great in a Bloody Mary... mmmmm!

My peas have taken off after a somewhat slow start. They have plenty of room to climb and I'm hoping they have protection from the wildlife out there too! Again, this is where the motion sprinklers come in handy. The peas don't have blooms on them yet and you can eat them just as they are but if I've learned anything gardening here, it's that patience is truly a virtue. I'm being patient and I'm determined to have plenty of peas for our table. I've said a little prayer and I keep my fingers and toes crossed. I love peas... give peas a chance LOL!

The tomatillos are something I've never tried to grow but after making tomatillo salsa last year I was hooked. It's a lot like my regular salsa but the tomatillos make it a bit tangier - not sure if that's the right word but you definitely know something different is in the mix. I feel like it's such a treat to open a jar of summer salsa on a cold winter's day and scoop some out onto a chip. You can really pretend that it's 85 degrees outside instead of 35 degrees! Come on up and see for yourself.

I have taken orders for this salsa. So far I have 15 pints ordered and scheduled to leave when the canning process is done. It's going to be either hot or mild. No medium being made here. It's just too hard to decide what medium is... hot is hot and mild is mild. It's just that simple!

I have radishes and beets in pots where they seem to be doing pretty well. I already ate a radish, it was begging me... The leaves are getting tall and I'm starting to see the tips of the radishes peeking out from under the dirt. The beets take longer but they're showing a promise of things to come. It seems I'm the antsy one rather than these vegetables of mine. They are taking their sweet time getting to the point where I can eat them!

I know not many people like beets but I also know a lot of those people say they don't like them without ever having tried them...you know who you are! LOL I love them roasted with just a little salt on them and I love them in my salads with Italian dressing (Good Seasons, of course) and hard boiled eggs. Give them a try and see if you don't agree. Better yet, come let me make you a salad!

My strawberries have taken off like wild fire and we're eating them as they come off the plants. Sweetly ripened by that early morning sun, strawberries are nutritious and delicious! I know now that I should have planted at least twice as many plants as I did... remind me of that next year when I get ready to plant LOL Meanwhile, we'll be having ours right off the plant, in smoothies and chopped up in our yogurt. Makes me hungry thinking about those little morsels!

Last but not least, as there is lots more to plant, I have celery growing. I started it from the end of a stalk (thank you Kris!) and while it is an extremely slow grower, I know I will be eating it in a couple month's time. It's really pretty to have in the garden and it surprised me by sprouting the frilly leaves up top first! I started another one in water 3 days ago and already it can go in the dirt.

I hope I haven't bored you with my garden tales and I'd love for you to come see all of it and get the experience first hand. But I do understand that your life keeps you busy much as mine does me. It's always good to go dig in the dirt and plant something... even if you never have before!

As all these things grow in my garden, I find that I too have done some growing. Yes, even at 50 years of age, it's possible to grow. It's also possible to share and I hope you've enjoyed what I've shared here all along.

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson