What you might not know is that once upon a time I loved volleyball....played year round since I was 9 and went on to play in college....a 4 year starter and ranked #7 in the nation for Division II assists....Woop! Woop!...ahhhhh...the good ole days. I love to read ~ especially anything about being healthy and I love to work out. I love camping and swimming.....and I LOVE S'mores!!! Really LOVE them! I love to cook from scratch. And one of my favorite, favorite hobbies is gardening. I wish I was a good flower gardener....I really like flowers....but I like my vegetable garden even more! And even though summer is not a good time of year for me since the sun is so strong and out so long....it is an awesome time for me because of my garden! So with that said........I am going to mix it up a bit and share a little bit more of me with you!
This is a post from my private personal blog documenting my vegetable garden for the year 2009.....hope you enjoy!!!
Can you believe it's August already??? I can't! Where did this year go? I have no idea...but it's going too fast! But although time is going fast.....it is one of my favorite times of year.....garden season!!! Last year Ryan built me a compost bin out of some rough lumber my grandparents gave us and my garden must have loved it because it is just gorgeous this year! I love that compost bin.....my garden must love it......and this little guy loves it too! It's not a snake, but a weird lizard thingie. He's right above the "P" in Photography. Ewe. I have seen him two days in a row out by the bin.....one day next to it...the next day in it! But since I scared him off I haven't seen him around......
Along with composting comes watering.....and tonight when I went to turn on the water to water the garden I saw a SNAKE! An ickie black and yellow SNAKE! ACK! So of course I screamed and ran away....told Ryan to turn on the water and chase that snake away. He did of course and laughed at me the whole time....sissy girl....damn right I am. No thank you to snakes. That fortunately has been the first and hopefully last one I see out here!
On to better news......this is my lettuce patch...that sounds like rabbit from Winnie the Pooh..he he.....we have enjoyed a fresh salad every week all summer....and next to it out of the picture is my spinach, kale, and chard which I have enjoyed every morning in my smoothies!
And the peas.....I never plant enough peas....we could have eaten them all day every day......
One of my first bowls of raspberries at the begining of July....not much there that day.....but there were lots afterwards....made two batches of jam (one seedless which is amazing!)....some raspberry salsa......and ate bowlfuls every day for the last few weeks....the bees pretty much stayed out of them this year......thank God! The kids and I prayed every day to thank God for our wonderful garden and to please keep the bees out of our raspberries this year....and every day when we went to go pick raspberries Owen always said in wonder "God heard us! The bees didn't get the raspberries!" And so he did hear us.........
Last year I learned how to make sourkraut from Ryan's parents and it was SO GOOD! So this year I was super excited to grow some cabbage and make some more! For some reason my cauliflower and cabbage went crazy and peaked early....but you won't hear me complaining! You can see how big this one was....they pretty much were all this size....I was so happy! I ended up using 4 heads of cabbage and getting 15 pints of sourkraut (one broke in processing) and I have another 6 head in the garden........
Sissy thought the cabbage was pretty neat....but eating it....well, that's another story!
Every year I grow zucchini and summer squash and last year (like everything else in the garden) was not a great year for my squash. This year however they are crazy!
These are just from Monday of this week.....had one in the fridge......and I just picked 2 more today! So 9 in a week! Oh yeah! I made some zucchini bread and zucchini relish today...also had grilled zucchini with dinner....yum!
And drum roll please..........a heaping bowl of pickling cucumbers! Picked these Friday night and made the first batch of pickles for the year......so glad the cucumbers are looking good because we are on our last jar of pickles.......looks like many more to come!
And of course that's not all.....I have green beans growing....beets.....kohlrabi.....strawberries....onions.....garlic.....horseradish.......tomatoes.......5 different kinds of peppers......eating cucumbers.......carrots......potatoes......dill......cilantro.......hmmmmm? What else? That might be it....or there might be more....can't think of anything else right now.....but all I know is that we have been so blessed this summer with lots of wonderful food from the garden! I am just giddy over how wonderful the garden has done this year. And it's not over yet! Lots of pickles, salsa, and green beans to still be canned. And oh yes.....it's apple year! My grandparents apples trees are loaded this year and so I will be making and canning applesauce and apple pie filling like a mad woman in just a few weeks! We truly have been blessed.......
But don't worry.....I will still have time to take pictures!!! I hope you enjoyed a little peek into my life!
Here's to a Happy August!
And stay tuned....there's a senior session sneak peek coming soon! She's a Beauty!!!!!
Wow Staci! Is there anything you can't do well? Your garden is amazing. I will email you a zucchini soup recipe if you are interested. It is a great soup, uses up 6 zucchinis and it is pretty healthy too! Great photos as usual!
ReplyDeleteAmy S.
Staci, I am soooo jealous of your garden. You are one amazing "farmer." I too could have done without the snake and would have screamed in terror as well.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great photos! Who would have known one simple bowl of raspberries or cucumbers could look so great. Cindi Brown