Sunshine in a jar

I think of the tomatoes I’ve canned, peaches in the freezer and they zucchini bread we’ve baked as stashing away a little bit of sunshine for a snowy cold day.

Last week I canned 18 quarts of tomatoes.  It is probably the last of the season.

My garden is just about done. 

I haven’t been out there taking pictures of the wonderful produce we’ve been harvesting because well it is pretty much all picked.  I haven’t pulled the tomato plants because there are still a few tomatoes here and there and the zucchini is still producing a few.

But we are basically eating what comes in and not storing any up.  Don’t get me wrong I would rather pick a tomato that go buy one at the store!  They are still delicious but my mind isn’t focused on what needs to be done in the garden each day.

The seasons are shifting.  School assignments not watering and weed pulling are dominating my days.

It is time to do more book work instead of yard work.

I miss summer already. 

Maybe I will try to turn over some dirt and try a fall planting of lettuce.

I am not ready to let go of summer and sunshine just yet.

 

Tomato bliss!

There are some recipes that I can only eat & REALLY enjoy to the maximum in the summer time. 

I guess that I am a bit of a tomato snob.

The tomatoes from the grocery store are just not the same as the ones from my garden.  Their taste isn’t as delicious.  I have a crowded garden this year with 30 some tomato plants & they are ripening for our enjoyment!

There isn’t the same desire on my part to run in from the garden and just slice up a tomato(or two) & sit down to just eat & eat & eat.

I am trying to avoid most sugar and processed carbs.  Now that doesn’t mean I don’t cave to an occasional Pepsi or slice of bread but this seems to be helping me whittle away at those pounds I gained after hip surgery in January. 

So when the kids have pizza or something else I am avoiding I will pull out some tuna.  They don’t enjoy tuna salad so this works out perfectly.  It is a very fast & filling lunch.

Tuna & Tomato Salad

1 small can or pouch of tuna

1-2 Tbsp Miracle Whip

1 tsp pickle relish

1-2 tomatoes

Lettuce(romaine, green leaf & spinach)

Prepare lettuce by washing & tearing.  Mix the tuna, Miracle whip & pickle relish.  Arrange lettuce & sliced tomatoes on plate & top with tuna mixture.  EAT!

Harvest time Adventures

Some times life just moves too fast.  For the past month I have been scrambling to keep up with all the “adventures” we’ve been having(hence the 3 weeks there haven’t been any posts!).   We are cramming the most we can in to the last “free” days that are available before the regular routine is upon us at the end of August. 

I love this time of year because we are taking all the great food available from our garden and others and freezing it or eating it up!  The kids have been a wonderful help this year as we process these blessings to save for when it is cold and nasty outside.

A friend gifted us 60 ears of yummy sweet corn & the kids helped worked it up.  I have such memories of my grandma’s sweet corn. . . mmmm

 

The end of July is when we get our yearly delivery of yummy blueberries.  Elizabeth was a HUGE blessing when she sorted and bagged for the freezer the ones we didn’t snarf eat right away.

 

And of course we’ve been harvesting from our own garden, tomatoes & peppers.  Joshua helps me to find the tomato worms & get rid of them.

 

Of course we are canning tomatoes to use in chili and soups this fall.   

The refrigerator has been crammed so I had to get creative in how to store the tomatoes I had skinned but not canned.  Hey it worked!

Garden in a Trashcan?

Sounds crazy doesn’t it? 

Well my whole garden isn’t in the trashcan.  Just my potatoes & sweet potatoes.  Here is the June update on my crowded garden!

My garden is small so I am always up for creative ideas to save space.  After looking at several different bloggers garden ideas, I decided to try planting potatoes in a trashcan.  When I saw potato plants at the green house when I bought the rest of my plants I was overjoyed!

The beginning of June was a bit late I knew to plant potatoes.  I believe that they like the cooler weather to get started(reason I believe this later on in the post).

Planting Process

1. Take an old trashcan and drilled holes in the sides & bottom.  This allows extra rain water to exit the trashcan!  You don’t want to drown the plants!
2. Line the bottom of the can with some gravel so that the dirt wouldn’t clog the holes.  I do this in my smaller pots too!
3. Add soil about 1/3 of the way up trashcan & plant your plants.

Up to this point I had great success! Unfortunately I had other responsibilities call me away.  It rained non stop for several days and then was VERY hot right after.  My potato plants were not happy with their move.  I lost all but one!

I had didn’t have time to plant kept my sweet potato plants inside.  So instead of putting them in their own trashcan I decided to put them with the lone potato plant.  We will see how that works. 

I planted them in a smaller pot & hardened them off by putting them out in the shade and then gradually in more sun for several days.  This seemed to help acclimate them & they are thriving!

As the plants grow I will be adding more soil to cover the stems and leaves.  You should leave 4-6 inches above the soil.  Once the plants reach the top of the trashcan you can just let the plant grow.  I am hoping for a bunch of sweet potatoes & a few regular potatoes too!  I will update at harvest time in the fall!

***Update & confession time.  I haven’t actually looked in in the trashcan for a week or more while.  The sweet potatoes have reached the top & are climbing the fence.  The potato plant looks dead so we will see what happens.  Good thing I love sweet potatoes more than potatoes!

How does my garden grow in June?

July is just around the corner.

My crowded garden is growing like CRAZY!

There has been rain and hot days with lots of sunshine lately. My tomatoes are LOVING it!

I am trying an experiment and not clipping all the suckers that develop. There are TONS of blooms and some tomatoes!

We’ve been faithfully putting our grass clippings in between the rows so there haven’t been a large amount of weeds. YEAH!

A couple of failures, I’ve had in previous years were peppers & zucchini. I started with pepper plants instead of seeds and they are thriving.

We have one BIG pepper & several little ones.

Also in the past. my zucchini have been a failure because of squash bugs. There haven’t been any bugs on the zucchini so far this year.

However my poor little pumpkin plant was attacked.

It lost a bunch of leaves and I thought it was a goner. I squashed 4-5 bugs & removed the leaves with eggs.

So far it is still alive, has new leaves & a little bloom that is starting to develop!

Next week I will shop you how THE TRASHCAN EXPERIMENT is going. It is looking pretty good so far!

I am so glad to have a garden. It truly is one of the joys of summer that I love!

How is your garden growing?

Posted at Things I love Thursdays,Titus 2sdays,Simple Living

Building Perennial Flower Beds

Wow summer finally has arrived!  I am not sure where spring went but we’ve jumped right in to mid 90 temperatures. 

That means a couple of things. 

#1 Joshua, my 9 year old, will be in the water as much as possible.  He is armed with water balloons & guns.  He pretty much lives in his swim trunks right now.

#2 I am out in my garden A LOT!  I love growing plants/flowers!

The tomato plants in my crowded garden are growing nicely.  I am out there every morning or evening to water & pull weeds.  This is not a big job because we laid newspaper in the paths between rows & covered it with bagged grass from mowing.   I like this challenge because I get satisfaction out of feeding my family from the garden.

Another challenge—planting flowers in a shady yard. 

We have a ton of trees which makes our yard nice & shady but challenging to plant perennials.  I like to do some annuals but truly I love the ease of plants/flowers coming up year after year without a lot of work on my part.  I have carved out one spot of sun to have a flower garden.  And you guessed it—there are perennials in it.

Starting Point

Just pick one place to work on this year.  If you try to tackle it all then you will be quickly overwhelmed.  Also, looking at gardening magazines & blogs are a great way to get ideas. 

I try to add at least one perennial plant to each area I am working on each year. This year I am working in more than one area because I feel like I can handle it and the kids are helping. It is one thing to do it by yourself & another to have helpers. :)

Soil

Your dirt is important.  If it is clay(as mine is) you are going to have to help it along.  I add peat moss, sand & compost every spring to loosen things up.  I also will turn over the dirt in the fall & mix in leaves to help increase the quality of the soil.  Don’t just start sticking plants in the dirt—you may need to make some changes.

Buying Plants

I love perennials.  Perennials = Low maintenance. 

--It comes up year after year

--Often multiplies & gives you more.

--Perennial plants are NOT more expensive than annuals.  Think about it.  You spend $4-10 on a nice 1/2 gallon or gallon size plant.

 

Filling a bed with annuals year after year = spend more money & time in the long run. 

Plant something that will last & you can move your focus on to another bed or area of your yard. 

Free(or nearly free) Plants

Ask your friends or better ask people with gorges flower gardens.  Most plants will spread or multiple each year—hmmm I bet God planned it that way!  So there are some years I just can’t give away enough Iris’s.  Last year my mother-in-law had purple coneflower’s everywhere & guess who took every one she would give away?  Gardeners are willing to share and when you have some extra—give it away!

Another nearly free way to boost your gardens?  Don’t shop up front at the home & garden store.  Go to the back.  Sometimes there will be racks of reduced plants there that are done flowering or have gotten a bit dried out or root bound so the store will clearance them.  They will not always grow, they will sometimes take a full year to bloom again but you will have paid a fraction of the cost. 

At Easter when the lily’s are done blooming?  Volunteer to "take care” of the plants from church.  I had a couple that way & just stuck them in the ground.  They were seriously dead looking when I planted them.  This year?  Well they haven’t bloomed yet but I just can’t wait!

Last time I was at my hairdressers house she mentioned that she had Lamb’s Ear that she wanted GONE.  It had spread & she was tired of it.  So I volunteered to dig it up for her.  It is going to fill in this hard to mow spot and a couple of others around the yard!  Thanks Dalene!

Final word

As you probably can tell I try to make gardening as easy as possible.  One more tip is to MULCH, MULCH, & add more MULCH.  I hate to spend the $ on shredded bark but it is worth it.  Pulling the weeds gets old so if you can’t buy mulch at least lay down newspaper and cover it with grass that you are mowing up anyway.  Mulching helps retain the moisture in the soil, keeps the weeds back, enrich the soil, and generally looks nicer.

So there is how I’ve gotten my perennial gardens going without spending an arm & a leg.  Do you have any great tips to share?  Or maybe a flower or two to trade.  Chime in and tell us how you’ve done it.

 

Shared at

Simple Lives Thursday

Crowded Garden

I love tomatoes. 

You would know that if you could stand beside my garden spot.

Last year we had around 25 tomato plants.  This year there are 33.  I think I am probably at the max for this spot. 

And yes I know I am CRAZY to have that many plants!

The really cool thing that I am thankful for is that I canned/froze enough diced tomatoes for our family for 9 months.  Not to shabby for around a $5-10 investment.  It isn’t usually that much but I bought some t-posts for holding up my fencing.  So hopefully this year we will go for a full year without buying tomatoes from the store.

Since I bought those posts I am changing how I “cage” my tomatoes.  I used to use the normal circular cages.  That took up A LOT of room.

Now I am using what I call a trellis but it is just some fencing that we used to keep the dog out of my flower gardens.  Using the t-posts to keep the fence upright seems to be sturdier than the circular cages which seem to blow over whenever a Missouri thunderstorm comes through.

It allows me to plant things a little closer together.  It is SO much easier to weed and water everything.  Speaking of weeding.  I do have helpers who are great at pulling weeds & finding those yucky tomatoes caterpillars!

Gardening should be a family thing!  My men turn over the soil, I plan it out, the kids & I plant & everyone helps with weeding & harvesting.  Here is a prize from last year!