Bad Dog, Annie!
My tiny bunching onions emerged from the soil yesterday (Saturday), and germination looked to be very good. Today I was working in the garden, and happened to look over my shoulder toward the new fall veggie bed behind the shed. There was Annie, sound asleep right on top of the tiny onions! It's hard to tell at this point, but I'd bet I probably lost at least half of the row. It's my fault, as I had left the front shed door open. I go in and out of the back door so often, and I hate having to open and shut it every time, but there was no way to keep the front door shut without locking it from the outside. So both doors were wide open to the dogs. But I fixed 'em.
Two hooks and a bungee cord on the inside of the doors! Now, even if I go out through the gate I can still open the front shed door by pulling it open and reaching in to unhook it. So I can just leave the back door open all the time, and no dogs can enter.
While Annie was napping, I was working on one of the sickly tomatoes, and got most of the diseased leaved cut off. I think I'll remove that lower stem, the one with the tomatoes hanging from it. It's quite leafless anyway, and now the tomatoes will just sun scald. I gave it a 2" layer of composted manure, a good deep soaking, then a thick mulch of chopped leaves. We'll see if it helps. The really sick one to its right was pulled out and put in the trash.
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Before.
After.
It looks better than it did on Friday, but that's not saying much!
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I didn't think the garden was producing as well this year as in the past, but then I looked at similar harvest dates (first week in August) in years 2009-2012. This is what I found:
2009 - 382 lb.
2010 - 304 lb.
2011 - 251 lb.
2012 - 412 lb.
compared to........
2013 - 418 lb.
So.....2013 harvests are actually ahead of the previous years!
I certainly can't complain about the 73 pounds I harvested this week.
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While prepping the potato bed for the next crop, I found a few potatoes I'd missed. I wonder just how many more are in there. I'll find out when they all start volunteering next spring!
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Cucumbers are coming in faster than Mr. Granny can eat them, so quite a few go to son Scott and daughter Amy.
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For all the problems I'm having with my tomato plants this year, they are being quite generous.
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Both summer squash and tomatoes fill my kitchen counter on most days.
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There hasn't been a lot of corn, but what I get is sure good!
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I picked the bush beans, then pulled them. They were growing into the carrots, and carrots are very dear in this year's garden! I'm getting pole beans now, anyway. Mr. Granny is sooooo sick of green beans. I think I'll go plant another row or two!
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There's always one hiding, isn't there? This zucchini weighed nearly 4 pounds, not the size I like for cooking. It's too bad I don't need any sweet relish.
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More tomatoes meant time to begin making salsa! I pulled a couple of spring planted garlics, but they were pretty worthless. I sauteed them in butter and cooked them with the broccoli for a little bit of flavor.
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I've had quite a few sun scalded peppers this year, but they're fine for the salsa.
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Still getting strawberries!
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Cherry tomatoes are my new snack of choice.
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Fortex beans are finally beginning to mature. This is the second picking of the week!
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Seeing red....strawberries and tomatoes are always welcome!
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I love a varied harvest. Especially when it nearly covers the patio table.
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The third picking of Fortex beans this week!
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I've never grown leeks before. It looked like they were getting quite large, so I dug one.
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The leek and the contents of the basket, all cleaned up and ready to be weighed. I always clean and prep my veggies before I weigh them.
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That leek was just begging to be combined with a couple of big Red Norland potatoes for Cream of Leek and Potato Soup. Then I looked at that fresh, sweet corn.....I couldn't resist, so it became corn chowder instead. I had a big bowl full for my lunch, with a slice of fresh French bread. Not a very colorful meal, but it was good, good, good! So good, I had to call my daughter and granddaughter to come over and enjoy a bowl full as well. Of course, Mr. Granny won't even taste it. He says he hates corn chowder, but I'm quite sure he's never even tried it. Since he wouldn't eat what I cooked, he had to make his own lunch. He had a bowl of cereal :-)
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One final trip to the garden for the last of this week's harvest. Strawberry shortcake for Mr. Granny tonight.
This Week's Harvest
Beans (bush): 13.9 ounces
Beans (pole): 40.9 ounces
Broccoli: 12.2 ounces
Carrots: 19.8 ounces
Corn: 204.6 ounces
Cucumbers: 102.9 ounces
Garlic: 1.1 ounces
Onions (leeks): 7.6 ounces
Peppers (sweet): 56.4 ounces
Potatoes: 32.4 ounces
Squash (summer): 227.4 ounces
Strawberries: 24.1 ounces
Tomatoes: 579.8 ounces
Total for week: 1166 ounces (73 pounds)
Total to date: 418 pounds
Daphne's Dandelions is the host for Harvest Monday.
I laughed so hard thinking of Mr Granny and his bowl of cereal. Don always says he hates certain foods, but when I press him for details, it's always something he tried as a child. Snort! Kids think Kraft Mac and Cheese and McDonalds chicken nuggets are good. So, I force feed him the stuff anyways, and he always ends up loving it. Men! Put on earth to vex us!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
Sue, I get so upset with Mr. G sometimes. I'll make something new, like a zucchini pizza casserole, and he'll rave about it. So I make it again....and he doesn't like it. Insists he never did. I've just gotten to the point where if he doesn't eat it, I freeze it and give it to the first kid who comes in the door and offers to take it off my hands :-) Speaking of, I have a taco casserole in my freezer, just waiting for a kid.
DeleteThat story makes me laugh. It reminds me so much of my husband. Though I think my husband is worse since he won't eat any vegetables unless I hide them in the food.
ReplyDeleteAnd you just made me go and look at my totals. I've been thinking all year that it has been a bad year. Well this point in the year I got in pounds: 2013:179 2012:320 2011:317
And the onions got weighed in early this year. So it is a very bad year here. I knew that though. Interestingly enough I have friends with a CSA that were complaining last week how little they are getting. It doesn't seem like the weather has been all that bad. To be fair I did plant some things late because of my vacation, but some things just aren't producing well.
Daphne, I think my husband would eat anything as long as I deep fried it or put frosting on it. Which reminds me of what happened a couple of weeks ago. He had his yearly physical and the doctor was ecstatic over his nearly 30 pound weight loss. So he left the doctor's office and headed straight to the grocery store, where he bought himself a half dozen BIG cinnamon rolls (with icing), came home and ate half of them in one sitting. The next day he ate the other half. Needless to say, he's up a few pounds again and blaming me for feeding him too much!
DeleteYou really are down in garden production! Don't you think your vacation had something to do with that? Your garden sure does look beautiful and productive. I'm way down in root crops, and I don't expect to get anywhere close in tomatoes (I planted all determinates), but the butternuts should bring me up a bit, as it looks like there will be at least 30 of them. I don't think I'll hit that 1000 pound mark this year, though it might be close.
Yes I do think part of it is my vacation. But I was down before I left too. Hopefully I'll get a lot of squash, but it is just setting now. I think the corn crop might be good though. I hope so. It is one of my favorite crops.
DeleteThat Mr. Granny is such a party pooper. Your soup looks delish, so wonderfully creamy. I'm so jealous of your tomatoes, I have only a handful of cherry toms here. Of course, our temps have been lower than yours here on the western side. I planted Fortex beans for the first time this year, on your recommendation, and I love them. And you're right about the hiding zucchini, I found one too. I can't figure out how I missed seeing it for so long. I'm also excited that for the first time I might get some butternut squash this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
ReplyDeleteAlison, I'm just putting my first big batch of Fortex in the freezer this morning. I think they are my favorite beans for freezing. Fingers are crossed for a good butternut season for you. I could share!
DeleteMr Granny doesn't deserve Strawberry Shortcake if he won't eat corn chowder! I have to point out that not all men are the same... I would actually PREFER corn to strawberries (well, most of the time!).
ReplyDeleteMe too, Mark! I could eat corn every day of the week, I just love it.
DeleteGranny your countertop looks like a farmers market to me! Beautiful, I can't say it enough. I love to decorate my countertop too when all harvests seem to come at the same time. Sadly, it is not that time of the year though, yet!
ReplyDeleteYour time will come soon, Random! Patience :-)
DeleteOh my my. My stomach growled when I saw that soup! I was thinking potato leek (which I love)! I'm like Mr.Granny, can't stand corn chowder. It's just the way it is. But it still looks delish! Your tomatoes look wonderful, so many of them! Congratulations on your poundage! Way to go! It's funny, but my July total also beat last year's and I'd been whining about how bad a year I'm having. Guess it's just that while some things are doing terrible, others are making up for it. Doesn't hurt that the blueberry harvest this year is phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteOh, Nutmeg....I'm going to ship Mr. Granny off to you. You deserve each other, LOL!
DeleteI haven't weighed anything this year. It's been such a tough (personally) year, that I end up giving so much of my produce to the chickens. I'm glad to see your gardens producing better than previous years and better than expected. I enjoy seeing how pretty all your tomatoes and other stuff is.
ReplyDeleteLangela, at least you have chickens to give it to, and they give you eggs in return! I try to feed my extra veggies to the dogs. Annie loves them, but Otto pukes it all up.
DeleteYou had better leave Annie alone. If she would like to roll in some onions she should be able, it is after all Annie's Garden isn't it? She just wants to help dig a little. She may even kill a weed or two when she is rolling around and scratching. I am totally on her side. ;o) Have a great gardening day and take good care of my baby, little Annie, she is so cute.
ReplyDeleteOh, Frank...you're such a softie! Annie sends you bunches of big slurpy kisses. It looks like most of the onions survived, but they aren't in a nice straight line like they were pre-Annie!
DeleteI can't believe Mr. Granny would rather eat cereal than corn chowder. That doesn't sound right at all! Impressive harvests, Granny, as always.
ReplyDeleteYes, but on the other hand, remember who hates clam chowder? LOL, I'd rather eat cereal :-)
DeleteToo bad I don't live a couple of states closer. I could help with that taco casserole! ;-) It and the zucchini pizza casserole both sound good to me. Your harvest figures make a good case on what can be learned from keeping track of the harvests. I have learned so much, plus it has helped me make better decisions about what to plant, and when to plant it too.
ReplyDeleteMr G sounds a little like my dad, who hated all the veggies that me and mom liked so much. He would actually go sit on the porch when she cooked broccoli or cabbage, because he couldn't stand the smell! She had to cook two meals all the time - one for him and one for her.
Dave, I'm surprised Mr. Granny and I have been eating together for over 50 years! I usually cook what he likes, and make adjustments to my portions. That doesn't quite require cooking two different meals, but it does sometimes require more than one pan being used! For instance, meat loaf. He'll only eat it like his mother fixed it, with tomato soup. I hate mine with soup, so I have to make two small loaves and top mine with a glaze of ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. We can usually get past the corn chowder problem by making potato soup, then dividing it up into two pans and adding the corn to mine and clams to his.
DeleteWhat an amazing crop, especially the tomatoes. I have never weighed my crops, great idea. As we are near the beginning of spring (NZ), I might give it a go. Althbough I have to say that my winter garden has been good. Love the look of your Annie, reminds me of my Mum's old dog Punchie! Sharon's Patch.
ReplyDeleteHello, Sharon! You will be starting your garden just as mine begins to wind down, but you are lucky to be able to grow much through the winter. Although by winter here, I'm more than ready for a long rest!
DeleteI would say your harvest is wonderful! What is the matter with Mr. Granny! I would think a bowl of corn chowder would beat a bowl of cereal any day! Our furbabys sure do keep us entertained! Hope you didn't lose too many onions! Nancy
ReplyDeleteI didn't train him too well, Nancy. Just like the dogs. I have a brown blob, a black blob and a human blob, LOL! I don't know which of the three is the biggest problem, but I guess I'll keep them all.
DeleteYour tomatoes, corn, and squash are really starting to come in! It looks like there is going to be a lot of food processing in your future. Don't you just love cooking from the garden? It just brings so much satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about what I should do with the rest of the ripening tomatoes and hot peppers, we already have enough salsa to last a couple of years.
Phuong, how about jalapeno poppers for the freezer, or jalapeno jelly? Of course, they can also be diced and frozen, then bagged, and used in chili or casseroles. My extra tomatoes usually go for tomato juice, ketchup or sweet chili sauce. I especially like the sweet chili sauce.
DeleteReally amazing harvest, I can see why your totals are up. Things are definitely down here with the cold, wet spring and then the heat wave. My wife is like Mr. G., she won't eat things like corn chowder or creamed corn, anything that squishes or pops in her mouth. Unfortunately, that includes blueberries, cherry tomatoes, etc. More for me.
ReplyDeleteDavid, it was so hot today, nearly everything in the garden was wilted. I don't know how it survives. The only thing that looked happy were the peppers and the corn. I don't mind eating all the corn chowder myself :-)
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