2019 garden report

You know it's been a busy summer

 when there haven't been regular garden updates in my moodlings. 

So to make up for it, here's my single 2019 garden report, 

posted on a rainy Friday morning with pictures from earlier in the week.

2019 has definitely been a year for flowers.

I've never had dahlias like these, or sweetpeas. 

Our "sunrise" rosebush hasn't stopped blooming!

It seems they all like cool and rainy weather,

and we've had no shortage of either in 2019.

It also helped that the feet of our sweetpeas 

are shaded by carrots that seem to have done very well this year.

Unfortunately, 2019 has also been the year of slugs and voles.

My poor kohlrabi and some beets look like lace,

and between the slugs and the sparrows, 

our peas didn't amount to more than two feeds (out of 30 sq ft).

The lettuces and chard went to pieces, pretty much.

I'm afraid that next year I'll have to put up a scarecrow 

and spend my beer on the slugs, 

much as I'd rather drink it myself!

(They'll die very happy!)

I had a dozen cabbages to start with, 

but voles ate out the roots of five of them

before I understood what was going on.

Thanks to serious vigilance with BTK,

a yeast-based organic treatment

for dealing with cabbage moths,

I still have seven cabbages left, 

and managed to freeze 18 500 mL servings

of cauliflower. We ate our broccoli as it matured,

and when I didn't pull out the rest of the plants,

they went to flower, much to the joy of local bees!

I started my onions from seed back in March,

and they've done very well -- the slugs don't like them! 

We also have some really nice leeks, 

even though my seed packet said 2005 on the back 

and I didn't think they'd come up at all.

Also grew some hard neck garlic for the first time, 

and it did very well. I'll be sure to plant more this fall.

I wish I had planted more pepper and pansy pots.

(Maybe that could be turned into a tongue twister...)

On Mother's Day weekend, Lee rebuilt our cold frame, 

and as I'd already planted lettuce elsewhere, 

I put the three sisters in it. We've had two lovely feeds of corn,

but, as you can see, the scarlet runner and purple peacock beans

 got so heavy, they pulled the corn down!

 I'm not sure what happened to the 2000-year-old squash plants,

 but I'm guessing the slugs got them too, sigh.

Fortunately, a few spaghetti squash have their own space elsewhere.

There will be lots of fava (broad) beans if it doesn't freeze too soon,

but my snow peas seem to have gotten lost in them somehow.

I had thought they'd do well climbing the walls, but they kept climbing

into the beans. Next year the snow peas will get their very own dedicated boxes.

Or maybe I'll just plant more broad beans because my family really loves them!

Should have taken this picture BEFORE I picked. 

Our bush beans turned out really well this year 

in spite of slug bites here and there. My best friend

gave me a bean mix that included Kentucky blue,

yellow wax, and these purple ones.

I love colourful produce!

Including these black cherry tomatoes. 

(Forgot to take a picture of the red and gold ones!)

I spent a fair bit of time with my 94-year-old friend, Ralph, this summer,

and he gave me several pointers on how to grow tomatoes,

but I'm afraid I didn't listen to some of what he told me. 

With our weather being so unpredictable in this era

of climate emergencies, I decided not to prune anything 

so that in the event of a hailstorm, at least 

some of the fruit will be sheltered by foliage.

These two strawberry beds were transplanted just this spring, 

and I'm delighted how well they've filled out.

I'm hoping frost will hold off, as they're flowering like mad right now,

and producing the odd humungous strawberry.

I'd also like the cucumbers to have a bit more time, 

as they've been really slow thanks to the chilly weather,

and they're loaded with the possibility of pickles at the moment.

Everything has been a bit slow this year -- I've never found myself 

still picking raspberries at the end of August before!

I am grateful that so much of my knowledge about gardening

 has come to me from family members and friends like Ralph

 Even the internet is helpful on occasion. 

But I suspect more of what I know has come from trial and error. 

Next year, I will definitely be doing some things differently. 

But in the meantime, our freezers are filling

with good things from the back yard, 

so I won't complain too much about my mistakes with our 2019 garden. 

I'll just put in an order for a little more sunshine next year!

Ralph’s squash... and tomatoes, and a bunch of other produce

With a four-letter s-word dreaded by all (but especially gardeners!) in the forecast for tomorrow or the next day, perhaps it's time to wrap up a few harvest moodlings. I went out to pick today because I'm afraid covering my cucumbers and tomatoes won't work too well if 10-15 cm of white stuff arrive by Thursday morning and flatten my blankets. Lee and I harvested the last of the peas and beans on the weekend, and it sounds like it's time to bring more produce indoors...

But first, I want to show you Ralph's squash plant... It did pretty well in spite of the fact that I wasn't around to tie it up at the right time, and I probably should have removed half its branches and blossoms if I wanted a six-foot squash like the one for which Ralph is famous. 

But a six-foot squash is more summer zucchini eating than our family wants to do. The large gold squash  (below) will give me seed for next year, but the small ones are tender and probably better for eating, which is what we prefer! The seeds are in the large bulbs at the ends, and if any of my readers would like to try growing their own, I'm guessing I'll have seed to spare! Just say the word and it's yours!

I planted two of Ralph's roma tomatoes... and got at least 30 extra large, almost seedless fruit that will be great for tomato paste. And three of his banana tomato plants gave me at least three gallons of long skinnies, which  means I'll be making spaghetti sauce for a day or two. And there are lots of other tomatoes for eating, salsa and bruschetta...

Ralph's romas

Ralph's banana tomatoes

Our peppers did well enough that I picked a small peck...

We got decent crops of cukes, cabbages, and corn on the cob. I think I'll leave the root vegetables to fend for themselves in the coming storm. There's more than enough to do with what's come in just today!

Thank you, God, for an abundant harvest, and thanks, Mom, for the extra buckets!

Return to my happy place

It's good to be back. In the greenhouse, I mean.

Of course, these little babies didn't plant themselves.

I've been in and out since mid February, when I brought

little planters into the dining room to start 

peppers, tomatoes and eggplants.

Also decided to plant a pot of lettuce, pictured above,

which now needs to be thinned...

These are the early tomatoes, that we hope to enjoy 

by the end of June.

When you save your own seed, you can plant

plenty of extras in case some don't come up. 

These are the later summer tomatoes. 

I only have room for about two dozen of them,

so I might have a few extra to give away...

depending on how much space I have to keep them.

 This year I thought I'd try growing my own bedding plants,

and they're taking up my usual tomato space, but it's all good.

I'm happy, surrounded by green growing things, and this morning

I planted lettuce in our cold frame. Looking forward to

organic homegrown veggies!

On another note, there are guys on our garage at the moment,

beginning the process of installing some solar panels.

Stay tuned...

October garden update

I thought it might be fun to look back at the garden's progress over the summer...

June 1st

July 1st

August 1st

September 1st

October 1st

It's almost put away for the year --
not a minute too soon, as you can see how the sun has shifted,
and meteorologists are predicting a snow/rain mix tomorrow --
just three tomato plants moved into the greenhouse,
a bit of kohlrabi, some beets, chard and lettuce are left.
I'm canning tomatoes and freezing soups,
grateful for the opportunity to grow a garden.
We'll be enjoying our produce well into next year,
and start all over again!

Tomatoes galore! and my 5th Moodle-versary

Wouldn't this be a pretty Christmas wreath?

It's a banner year for tomatoes.

Ralph's Romas are bigger than ever,

the cherry tomatoes are oh-so-sweet,

and there are still too many out on the vine.

I've been working hard on pears this week,

and next week, tomatoes!

A few of Ralph's Romas

On another note, this is my 1001st moodling, 

and Simple Moodlings celebrates its 5th anniversary

on the 19th. It has racked up over 137,000 hits,

I've posted 239 Simple Suggestions, and participated in 

536 exchanges (comments) with readers.

 How does one celebrate something like that?

Maybe I'll have a piece of pear pie --

or a tomato sandwich!

Winding down -- the September garden update

Autumn is coming, and the garden is definitely starting to feel the shorter days and the decreasing intensity of the sun. Mornings and evenings are cool, and I can't get over how far the sun has shifted to the south. Garden production is slowing, harvest is ongoing, and kitchen activity to save all those veggies is ramping up.

So I thought I'd moodle a few pics of the yard before I start emptying the beds just to show you what's still going on.

Dad's marigolds and borage are still providing some colour...

The Columbus wheat is ripening...

This crazy spaghetti squash has produced 9 big ones...

while the 2000-year-old squash is taking over both sides of the fence...

and we've had 4 humungous gourds from it!

The pumpkin plant is trying to take over the composter...

and it's still fruiting and flowering...

Tomatoes have been pretty prolific...

And Ralph's Romas didn't disappoint either. 

Two jars of spaghetti sauce right here, once they ripen!

The carrots, which were so sparse in the spring, seem to be filling out...

and here's my last red pepper.

Our Russian Giant sunflowers reached at least nine feet...

and these peony poppies just won't quit...

It's been a pretty good garden summer, all in all. Potatoes, beans, and onions didn't do much, but the rest exceeded expectations, and I have processing to carry me to the end of the month, I'm sure, as I'll soon have to pick pears and bring everything in. It's all good, thanks be to God!