I know all of us with gardens are in the same boat right now what with our harvests coming in lickety-split. It's what we all plan and wait for all season, but wouldn't it be better if we had a few more hours in each day and perhaps two more people to help?
Not to complain, that's for sure, but good-golly-Miss Molly, is it a busy time!
Yesterday I picked these green peppers that I'll use to make Stuffed Green Peppers for the freezer. Not good timing as my To Do List is already out of control, but the plants are bearing so heavily that several of them are listing at a 45° angle with the weight of the fruit. These will have to wait a couple of days in my spare refrigerator before being processed.
Papa Pea helped me pick the last of the green and yellow beans yesterday. There are still beans growing on the vines, but with this last picking I'll have an ample quota already put by. Why is it that everybody is eager to accept extra strawberries or blueberries, but not so much beans?
Speaking of berries, we're getting more blueberries this year than we expected. We're in the blueberry patch filling our bowls nearly every other day now. And there are still lots of green and pink developing berries on the bushes that, hopefully, will turn deep, dark blue yet.
In my notes from last year, on August 1st I wrote that our slicing cucumbers were producing like crazy. This year, all we currently see are some developing flowers. How different the seasons can be.
Yesterday while checking out my Asian Lilies, dear daughter spotted this teeny-tiny frog (I didn't know they came this small!) perched on a lily petal. She snapped this photo before the little creature moved on to further adventures.
I wonder what month it will be when I finally get around to processing all those strawberries, blueberries and haskap berries waiting in the freezer? No doubt after the apple harvest and all the planned on jars of applesauce are lined up on the pantry shelf!
14 comments:
You have some processing and preserving ahead of you! Those peppers are lovely! Our cat has taken to bringing frogs into the house. Alive. For us, I guess. -Jenn
Jenn - But, oh, we are so fortunate to have all the bounty from our gardens that we do, and I totally realize that. Considering the way I feel about snakes (((shudder))) which my in-law's German Shepherd used to bring into the house, alive, I'd tolerate your cat's presents of live frogs any day! ;o)
My little patio pot pepper is also leaning at a 45° angle – from one pepper!
PS: I'd GLADLY take beans off your hands if I was close enough to drive over!
Michelle - Give that little patio pot pepper a small stake to hold him up! You would be one to accept and use my extra beans because you know the value of homegrown vegetables totally free of poisonous sprays or pesticides!
What a beautiful basket full 'o peppers! My plants are putting on another burst and are blooming again!! Serious blueberry envy here. Cute froggie. Is it a tree frog or a wood frog? Taking a bit of a break today, after two batches of applesauce, tomato sauce, red pepper jelly, and a dehydrator load producing a big jar of apple slices, yesterday. More beans coming along, and will be picking by the weekend I expect. Agreed...why does it all have to come at once?!!!
Nope I haven't been preserving anything this year. My garden is a failure again. I got the tomatoes & peppers out late (in early June, not late May) then they got eaten back by a groundhog. Now they are only about 2 feet tall, but do have a few tomatoes & peppers starting finally. Even the cherry tomatoes are not up to snuff, only a few handfuls that I eat while out there weeding. I never did get beans, peas or carrots planted as I was too busy weeding other places that had bindweed show up. Even the cardinal climber had no sign of blooming until yesterday, otherwise I think they were blooming in July. Certainly before the end of August.
My guess is people will line up for berries over beans because of snacking on berries while preparing them. Not that raw beans are bad, but raw berries are waaaay more tastier IMHO.
Fantastic! I very much understand about that to-do list being out of control, lol.
I'm very happy you're getting so many blueberries. And your peppers! They're a WOW. Green peppers don't seem to like my hotter summer very well and mine are always small (but still welcome.)
What a precious frog!!! Happily, I am almost done with my garden. This week I am moving on to mulching and soon we will batten things down for the winter. And boy am I ready! Every year I look forward to winter more and more. I just want to sit and read. There is still food and always work to be done but I am past the demanding stage.
Oh those peppers! Mine totally pooped out for me this year - Next Year!
I've been putting up a flood of tomato juice/sauce/paste. More than is good for an old man, but last year I didn't get a single jar put on the shelf. Feast or Famine, it seems.
Cheers!
Rosalea - Haven't taken the time to research out Mr. (or Mrs. or Ms.) Frog's real name, but a miniature one for sure. Can't believe all you got done in a day's time . . . whadda dynamo! I think those of us who garden "up north" always face the fact that our harvests do seem to come all at once. Oooof!
JustGail - Bummer about your garden this year. I am worried my pickling cucumbers aren't going to make it. They need whatever warm weather they can get up here close to the Canadian border and our temps are starting to cool down already. There is something about the human palate that always will pick fruits before vegetables! And that's okay when the fruit is fresh from the garden. I've been bingeing (proper spelling?) on breakfasts of fresh strawberries and blueberries in milk all summer. Sure wouldn't do that with a bean!
Leigh - Would it help to put your peppers under shade cloth? Or plant in a shady part of the garden? I struggle with enough warmth for mine and your struggle is just the opposite. (And why is it we garden??) Being a slow learner, I'm just now coming to the fact that I'm not doing myself any favor by trying to "do it all" during this harvest time of year. Granola for breakfast (if I can keep the supply of it made), yogurt, kefir, coconut milk with fruit for lunch and a hamburger patty with a vegetable for dinner (if I still have the energy for that). (Why is it we garden??)
SmartAlex - Yep, I think I'm ready for winter more than usual this year. I have a feeling you really pushed yourself this gardening season being "retired" and having more time. (Isn't it supposed to work the other way?) Please pass that "past the demanding stage" along to me, will you, please? That's something I DEFINITELY still need to work on.
Tim - Our good neighbors raise lotsa tomatoes in their hoop house and bless us each year with as much tomato juice as we want. A glass a day keeps the doctor away. (No wait, that's an apple a day. Hahaha.) Too much heat for your peppers? And don't call yourself an old man. It's all that nutritious bounty you grow every year that keeps you from becoming an old man!
I was admiring the beautiful lily and didn't even notice the frog! Great year for beans. I'll appreciate the jars lined up this winter. I've been letting the excess cucumbers get jumbo-size and tossing them to the chickens. I've had to keep up with watering, but it's been a good garden year.
tpals - That little frog is easy to miss! Excess cucumbers? I am just hoping we get a few before our weather gets too cold for them to continue producing. This time of year I don't feel like a tossed salad is complete without slices of them. Hasn't happened yet this year though. We've been dry also and our sprinkler or me with the hose have been getting a workout. So it goes some years!
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