August 20, 2013 Monday and Tuesday in the Garden and Kitchen

Monday.......

It was a busy day in the yard and garden today.  I had to make three trips with my big harvest basket!

 I picked over 3 pounds of Fortex pole beans (two gallon bags stuffed full), some small Happy Yummy peppers, a zucchini that actually didn't grow into a giant before I spotted it, a couple of crookneck squash (and there are many more forming on the bush) and a few Victor tomatoes.

On the second trip out, I found a ripe cantaloupe, some edible sized Chioggia beets (finally!), a few more tomatoes, including a big one that weighed 1-1/2 pounds, and a container of strawberries.

Trip number three, and it was getting hot out there!  I quickly picked the bush beans, a few broccoli side shoots, and enough carrots for dinner.  

My fourth trip to the garden didn't require the big harvest basket, but I did get nearly two pounds of lovely, sweet cherry tomatoes.  These are Sungold and Una Hartsock.  That was enough for one day, as everything had yet to be cleaned and refrigerated, and I had bread to bake and a back yard to mow!

Grandson Kevin dropped by, so he and I took turns mowing the back yard while the bread was rising.  Unfortunately, he had to go to the high school to register for the upcoming school year, so he didn't get to sample the bread when it came out of the oven.  I did, though.  I had a nice big slice, along with a bowl of the cream of broccoli soup I'd made yesterday.  Mmmmmm....that soup was good!  I think that's now my favorite way to enjoy broccoli!  Of course, Mr. Granny won't even taste it.  That's OK, more for me!

I put on a crockpot full of pork chops for dinner.  They were cut from a big roast I bought last week, and they are tougher than a boiled owl!  That's unusual for a Costco pork loin, but crockpotting it in a gravy will make it tender and edible over noodles tonight.

Back outside, I have grass clippings to deal with.  Mr. Granny usually mows with the riding mower, and we leave the mulched clippings on the lawn.  That way we never have to fertilize.  However, I'm trying to put as much organic material on the garden beds as possible, to get them ready for the 2014 season.  That's why I opted for the push mower, with its grass catcher today.

 I spread a good layer of the grass clippings on two of the garden beds.

 Then I covered the first bed with composted cow manure.

I almost had enough to cover the second bed.  I'll finish it tomorrow, because frankly, I'm feelin' it, Dawg!  I'm ready for a big iced tea, laced with Tylenol!

I still have dinner to fix, kitchen cleanup, then I'm through for the day!

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Tuesday.......

My day started off great when I received the Versatile Blogger Award from The Novice Gardener!

Thank you, Mrs. R., the feeling is mutual.  I will gladly accept your award, and proudly display it in my side bar.  I've already listed so many things about myself that I'm now an open book, so I'll not bore you with more.  And each and every one of you is a favorite blogger, so feel free to grab this award for yourself!

Then it was time to come back down to Earth and get to work!

I grabbed a cup of coffee, threw on some old gardening clothes, and headed out.  I filled the wheelbarrow with another load of composted cow poo (there is still a goodly pile of it residing in our garage.  Mr. Granny is not happy).  I finished topping off the second garden bed, then got the little rototiller out and dug a narrow bed near the east garden gate.  That pathway was quite wide, and there was just enough room for a single row of bush beans or maybe a row of marigolds.  The soil was hard there, from walking on the path for a few years, so I dug it down as deep as I could, then added the all the manure that was left in the wheelbarrow.

Moving on, out of the garden, I began tackling the bed under the lilac tree.  It has really been neglected this summer and, although not nearly as weedy as the neighbor's fence line, it was getting there.  I started by whacking off the chives.  I don't use a lot of chives, but I love the blossoms, so there are a lot of them growing in this bed.  There are also a lot of lilac suckers, quite a bit of crabgrass, and some rather ugly volunteer alyssum.  About 30 minutes in, I had worked up an appetite and had to go inside for a bite of breakfast.

 There!  That looks much better!

  

 I even took a snip or two (or fifty) at the neighbor's overgrown hedge, and removed as many of her volunteer walnut trees as I could reach.  Someday there will be a dozen huge walnut trees growing right inside her property line and over my house.  I.Am.Not.Happy.About.That.

Now I can dispose of her hedge trimmings and walnut tree seedlings.  Bah.  Humbug.

It's noon!  I can relax and eat some lunch!  I'm still working on the cream of broccoli soup.  I took two of the three containers of it over to youngest son, so Mr. Granny doesn't have to worry that I might try feeding it to him.

After lunch, it was on to the kitchen duties.  There are beans to snap, blanch and freeze, summer squash and sweet peppers to cut up, bag and freeze and cantaloupe to dice and chill.  I'd like to make some bran muffins for my breakfasts, but I'm not sure I'll get around to it.

Done!

It's still early in the afternoon, but this blog post has turned into a novel so I'd better stop right now!