Only glitch is that we're experiencing heavy rain this morning which is making the taking of pictures close to impossible. If the weather changes up, I'll get the photos later today . . . or may have to wait until tomorrow. But since the forecast is for only 20% chance of rain today (ahem), I'd say we've already had our 20% . . . and it can clear up now.
In the meantime, I (once again . . . I'm a very slow learner) pushed myself beyond any sense of reasonableness yesterday in the garden and am paying for it today. (Well, hey, it was the second day in a row that we'd had sunshine and I just couldn't let that go by me, now could I?) I had strawberries to pick, 14 pounds, 7 ounces of them. Lettuce, salad greens and scallions to harvest for myself and our daughter. Bolted arugula, lettuce, and a couple other things to clean out of the garden. Comfrey to cut back to feed to the poultry. Tomatoes to stake (again!), flowers to dead head, watering of new seeds that still need to sprout (could have waited until the rain this morning, had I only known), and some tilling where the thickest, lushest, most matted, little ground cover of a weed had had the nerve to grow up right through the mulched rows between the peas.
Then after dinner, I cleaned about half of the strawberries in preparation of jam making today and ran back out to the garden to cut some rhubarb and then made a Rhubarb Pie.
Stayed up later than I would have to enjoy a late night, short visit with our daughter (thanks again, hon, for picking up the milk at the dairy for us) and then shortly thereafter, I think I crashed in bed although I truly don't remember actually getting into the bed.
Day before yesterday when I was in the garden, I was very surprised to find several clumps of actual tomatoes on the cherry tomato plants.
Where did they come from? But, wahoo! I've been watching the little yellow flowers for what has seemed like forever but with our lack of sun, I had begun to doubt if we'd ever actually get tomatoes to form. And here they are! Double wahoo.Okay, time to go attack the strawberry jam making . . . and maybe the Rhubarb Pie as a reward incentive to keep me going today.
15 comments:
I am exhausted just reading about your day! What an amazing amount of strawberries ~ I think I am up to 8 oz., but that's 8 oz. I didn't have last year. Do you can your tomatoes? Why is it that tomatoes seem to ripen all at once, during the hottest month of the year?
That is ALOT of strawberries! Awesome! And I hear Susan and wonder what is UP with the tomatoes? It's always dead man walkin' when that happens here! Good luck with the jam making!!
Hi, Susan - Do I can my tomatoes? Hahahaha! Please forgive me, I'm not trying to be a smart-blank. Up here near the tundra I can't even get regular sized tomatoes to ripen! Although I have good luck with the cherry varieties which is all I put in this year.
The last time I had tomatoes to can was when we lived in hot, humid Illinois some 37 years ago! I continue to dream of a hoop greenhouse that will cover about half of my field garden so I can grow enough real tomatoes to can. I use a lot of stewed tomatoes and would LOVE to have my own again someday.
Hey, Apple Pie Gal - Lucky, lucky you! I'll come help can all those tomaters in exchange for a couple of quarts to take home with me!
Any time you want to come back to IL, come on in! That's where we call home afterall! Although with all the rain we've had, the plants don't look so hot...but with about 28 of them...I am sure I can spare a few for you!
That's ALOT of tomatoes!! So along with harvesting for Chickie Mama are you also cooking? I don't know how she finds time to eat with all that working and commuting!!
OMG WHY HAVE I NEVER NOTICED THAT PROFILE PIC???
LAUGHING MY BUTT OFF!!!
Hi, Apple Pie Gal - I know I whine and complain about not being able to grow corn, tomatoes, eggplant, etc. up here near the tundra but I don't know if I could take the Illinois heat and humidity (mostly the humidity!) anymore. I still miss the corn, tomatoes, eggplant, etc., etc., etc., though. :o)
Hey, Erin - If only (IF ONLY!) they were full-sized tomatoes! (Some people are never happy, are they?)
I'm trying to stuff as much good food and nutrition into Chickie Mama as I can. She's on such an awful schedule that I'm afraid she's going to get sick.
Thanks for noticing the profile pic. I personally thought it was pretty funny. Hubby snapped it last summer one day when I had lost all my oompf. I could have actually taken a nap right then and there.
Would love to have some of your rain! The tomatoes look great.
Hey, Leigh - Thanks for the kind words on the tomatoes. They're growing like gangbusters which surprises me since we've been so lacking in sunshine.
We started out this spring under severe drought conditions but now it won't stop raining. Hey, Mother Nature, can't we even it out here a little bit??
I am just gobsmacked, thinking of all those luscious strawberries. Yum! And the personal satisfaction you must get from growing it all yourself must just make them all the tastier :)
Hi, Jen - Gobsmacked?! GOBSMACKED?? I've never heard that before, but love it!
We've been growing so much of our food for so long I guess I don't even think about it anymore. I mean it's just part of our lives, what we do. But, yes, I still get that sense of satisfaction and well-being when I see the freezers and shelves chock full. Gives us a sense of knowing we can "take care of ourselves" to a certain extent.
Oh no - I think my British is showing! Comes from many years of mixing with Brits and reading British authors. But it is a great word, isn't it? :)
That's funny! I have heard the term "gobsmacked", where have you been MamaPea, living out in the woods or something? LOL.....
Jen and Erin - Oh ya, I HAVE been accused of "being in the woods too long" more than once! (I can't wait for an opportunity to use my new found word!)
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