Weekly Harvest Review

This is a recap of the past two weeks as I was so broken hearted after our big loss to report what we had.  Of course, don't forget the daily egg gathering and veggies that only make it from the garden to the chicken pen!

The first of the sweet corn!

Yes, more squash.

My favorite, sweet corn!

MORE squash! Yellow, zucchini and spaghetti squash. Beans and a few cucumbers.  As you can see some of the zucchini reached monster size.  Lots of this goes to the chickens and never even makes a picture.  The smaller goes to supper in various forms, breads and baby food.

A Big Loss

I haven't written in a bit because simply put, life has been crazy.  We went to Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days and had the most fantastic time.  Then it was back to the grind and playing catch-up.  Way to many things to even begin to explain!

We did have a major travesty here at the funny farm.  My lovely and fun ducks decided that they would take things into their own hands (webbed feet?) and EAT our garden!  Please excuse me while I shed a tear....  Ok, it has been a week since it happened so I really should be over it but I still can't hardly look at the ducks.  They of course, hadn't bothered anything all season and waited until things were really going strong to make their attack.  We lost 90% of our beans, 98% of our tomatoes and most of our peppers.  I was heartbroken.  This is why there was no harvest report for the week, I just couldn't bare to think about the garden!  We still have lots of squash varieties left in addition to corn, carrots, lettuce and melons.  Some of our tomatoes are trying to make a comeback so we will see how long it stays warm into the fall to see if they can make up for such a hard hit.  I think the part that made me most upset about this event is that we have worked so hard on the garden this year.  Most years we are ambitious at the start but get to busy or lose steam at some point and more or less give up.  We hadn't hit that point yet this year and I have a feeling we may not have!  I guess we will just work hard to keep what we have in great shape and may even try and replant a few of our favorites since we do still have a good amount of summer and warm weather left in this region.

Now, back to the garden!

Weekly Harvest Review

Sadly, I don't have any fancy pictures of harvest this week.  This was a week where there was more of the same.  We had more green beans and more squash.  I was a baby food making machine trying to not let any squash go to waste!  The corn is doing really well and should be ready to eat in a few weeks.  Our tomato and pepper plants are still alive but very sorry.  We have heard so many people talk about how their gardens just aren't growing well this year and we are no exception.  We are expecting some really hot weather over the next few weeks so maybe that will get everything in full summer mode! 

Happy harvesting!

Weekly Harvest Review

Things are really starting to pick up as we have been blessed with rain.  The garden is doing well although it is eternally needing weeding.  I am going to try and post on Sundays or Mondays a recap of what we have harvested throughout the past week.  I look forward to being able to look back at the end of the season and remind myself all we have been blessed with!

The first of our squash!  This went into making baby food (brown rice and squash) which was consumed immediately.  And of course eggs, we get lots of eggs, daily.

 

Still getting lots and lots of lettuce although with the heat it is starting to get bitter.  We may have to take a break from lettuce for awhile and give it a shot again when it cools down in the fall.

 

Our first green bean harvest of the year. Many more to come!

 

We picked all the artichokes that were left.  So many! Our season is just a tiny bit short to get another harvest this year so we will enjoy these as it will be a year before we get anymore!

Cherry Time

Last week we wanted to finish picking cherries before the birds got them all.  We had a net to cover the tree but the tree has grown so much that it only covered about a third of it.  Once the birds get one taste of the berries we don't stand a chance at getting any.  Michael took the time to finish picking what was ripe and we took to processing them.  We washed them and then ran them through a crank pitter that we borrowed from my mother in law.  It was a slow, sticky and messy project but it was a success!  This is the first harvest we have had from this tree and probably could have done another light picking but we were cherried out.  We ended up with three, 2-cup bags that we froze.  Michael loves cherry pie so maybe we will make one for the 4th of July. 

Do you have any 4th of July plans?

An action shot of Michael working the pitter.

Summer Time and the Living is Easy!

Summer is off to a fantastic start, even though summer doesn’t officially start until this weekend.  The excitement of the change of season really has been different for me as I am no longer working.  There is no anticipation for the summer break and vacation time.  Now, we can go on vacation or sneak off for a night away anytime without having to submit leave requests and the like.  It really sweetens the experience.  Although, with the busy farm this time of year little escapes are a rarity.

Rufus enjoying a summer afternoon in the backyard.

 

                We have our garden in and it is coming along well. We had some bouts of cold nights and so a few of our first plantings died but we have been able to replant and everything is doing well now.  I was so sad that all the tomato plants that I had started inside from seed got taken in the cold.  They were all from seeds that were saved from favorite tomatoes so we can’t just go to the store and buy more packets.  I was upset about it to begin with but have since settled down and accepted the situation.  What else am I to do?!  Our artichokes are in full production so we have been eating them like crazy.  We boil/steam them and then eat the meat out of the leaves and savor the hearts at the end.  We use garlic butter and Heinz 57 for dipping sauces.  The process of pulling apart each leaf and sucking out the meat reminds me of summers at home eating fresh lobster.  I miss those days but embrace what we have now.  Again, what else am I to do?!

 

 Fresh artichokes picked from the side of our house.

 



Our first cherry harvest.  A little green but had to get them before the birds. They still taste fantastic but of so tart!

  

 

Roses from the garden.

 

Our rose patch.

 

            I have been on a big sewing kick lately and just can’t seem to get enough hours in front of my machine.  There are so many different projects I am working on.  They are all so different which is fantastic for providing entertainment when I get bored with one project I can easily just switch to another.

Some of the crazy quilt blocks I have been doing.  Trying to use up my scraps and try something different!  Also, in the bottom corner you can see one of my 1930's mini block.

 

A new wall hanging done and ready to be quilted.

 

 

  

A couple of the mini blocks I have been paper piecing for a 1930's mini quilt.  These blocks are 4.5" unfinished.  So much fun to do!

 

 I hope this post finds you well and happy!