Knee High By the Fourth of July?

Since I was little I've heard the phrase, "knee high by the fourth of July", in reference to the growth of corn. Of course, this phrase was repeated by my parents both raised on farms in Illinois, which is probably why, it's not applying to the corn we planted in our back yard.

We have TASSELS ! I couldn't believe it when I saw that each stalk has tasseled, that means the corn is on its way and we are thrilled, as this was the most "iffy" crop we planted this year.

The tomatoes were just out of control, growing wildly and producing clusters of good looking tomatoes that just need to turn red. We decided we had to offer the tomato plants a little more support and so Guy built these amazing trellis' to support their incredible growth and increase our odds of getting all the fruit possible off of these plants.

As an update, the sparkly mylar ribbon did not help keep the birds off the strawberries, but still looks pretty out in the yard. We did put some one inch square mesh plastic over the strawberries to protect the fruit and that is working!

I started new seedlings on beans, squash, and beets this week, to keep our crops going through the early fall, and the beets and squash into winter. I also found an heirloom variety of cherry tomatoes that is supposed to bear fruit in a variety of colors - I'll let you know if those seeds pop up, I have never planted tomatoes from seed before!

Garden Bounty

We returned from our Maya Riviera vacation last night and immediately went out to the garden to see what was new in the last seven days.  We were thrilled to discover the number of golden cherry tomatoes ready to eat, the extraordinary growth of the tomato plants, and the crazy number of beans ready for picking.

So today we had our first garden meal, well mostly garden anyway.

I picked, red and yellow beets, yellow wax beans, and red and golden tomatoes to put in a salad.

It just looked so pretty sitting in the colander out in the garden I had to take a picture.

The salad turned out to be really yummy, the golden cherry tomatoes, Gingers Golden Delicious, are so tender and sweet.  The small red tomatoes are the "Stupice", the heirloom tomato from Czechoslovakia, that has the huge potato leaf, and they have an amazing flavor.

I also steamed some Black Pencil Pod Wax Beans to add to the salad, boy were they yummy and sweet also.

The beets were fabulous, I boiled those in a little salt water to get them tender and was able to peel the skins right off.  We not only ate the beets, but also the leaves from the beets in our salad, which added a nice tangy flavor to the rest of the romaine lettuce.

All in all a great first meal from the bounty of our garden.

Backyard Buffet

Well, I'm more than a little concerned that my sparkly garden trim is not going to keeping the birds from eating our tender fruit....why you ask?

I unknowingly turned our garden beds into a veritable feast for all birds in the neighborhood, and I mean all birds, as I turned the soil over yesterday in my fertilizing efforts.  It was so noisy in our yard last night and this morning it was hard to believe.

That will teach me to fertilize.  My only hope is that they will be so filled up with worms, and other assorted earth creatures that they will leave our veggies and fruits alone!

Well if nothing else I have contributed to the happiness of the local bird population.

Sparkly, Glittery, Garden

Yes, our garden is now sparkling...are you surprised I found a way to make our garden sparkly, probably not :)

It's not just decorative though, the primary function of the sparkly mylar ribbons is to keep the birds from eating our berries and little tomatoes.  We have seen big blue birds and sparrows swooping around the garden and making off with our fruit and we are not happy about it.  Where are the cute little humming birds, those are welcome in our garden any time!

Are you ready for a game of  "I Spy"?  Check out the photo's and see if you can see the vegetables that are starting to show themselves...

It's so exciting, we now have yellow beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and the tomatoes are starting to turn to their "ripe" colors!

We got the garden fertilized today, using E.B. Stone Organics it came highly recommended and seems to have done the trick as we mixed it into the soil with our initial planting.

Tomato & Vegetable Food 4-5-3 E. B. Stone Tomato & Vegetable Food is formulated from quality natural organic ingredients for use throughout the vegetable garden as well as with soft fruits like strawberries. It will contribute to even plant growth without producing excessive foliage at the expense of fruit. The additional phosphorous helps to ensure the production of high quality fruits and vegetables. The calcium in our Tomato & Vegetable fertilizer aids in preventing disorders like blossom end rot and helps to correct acidic soil conditions. For superior produce, use our Flower & Vegetable Planting Mix with native soil when preparing your beds.

I also have to give props to the "Atlas" garden glove, I LOVE these, they are so fabulous, the fit is snug and the Nitrile on the palm allows you to pick up anything small or large, and our hands don't get hot and sweaty in them.  I don't think I will ever again be without this glove.

Atlas 370 Tough Nitrile Gloves
		Retail Price: $5.95 Sale Price: $4.95 Size                                X-Large                               Large   Medium                               Small                              Check for your glove size Need Extra Small gloves? Check out our new smaller gloves for children.
Atlas 370 Tough Nitrile Gloves Durable Nitrite Coating, resists punctures and abrasions, outperforms leather. No seams, fits like a second skin. Wears like iron; extremely durable.  The flexible nitrile coating is tougher than rubber, protecting palms and fingertips from the rigors of every day work. Seamless lightweight black nylon knit liner increases comfort while it repels dirt and stains. Ideal for jobs requiring maximum dexterity and freedom of hand movement without the fatigue associated with heavier, bulkier gloves. Machine washable.

Anaheim Peppers = Chili Rellano

I spent the morning working in the garden, wow, I love being able to say that!

I thinned out the yellow beets, where there were two or more growing together they were starting to bump each other out and, while they are quite tasty as little baby beets, we would like them to get a little bigger.

I also planted some Anaheim peppers in the same bed as the tomatoes and golden beets, Anaheim peppers are my preferred pepper for Chili Rellano and I want to be sure we have plenty.  We had fabulous Chili Rellano in Cody Wyoming at a little restaurant called Zapata's on our trip, and of course I want to replicate it.  It was unusual because it wasn't breaded and deep fried.  They grilled the pepper, and then laid it on top of eggs which had been prepared as if for an omelet, layered cheese on top and the folded the entire thing over and served it with an incredible salsa.    I may not be able to wait for our own peppers to try it, it was so yummy.

We planted a few more strawberries, I'm not sure how many plants we would need in order to support our "strawberry habit", however I don't think we're there yet.  And while we're talking about strawberries does anyone know if squirrels eat strawberries, we have had a few large ripe strawberries disappear entirely, one the size of a small egg, the only culprits I have to consider are birds or squirrels - any bets?

I had to take another picture of the beans climbing up the tepee and the squash below, I think its so beautiful and now the pole beans have so many blossoms on them.

I wanted to let you all know the beehives continue to work like a charm at collecting lots of white flies and other flying creatures, except the bees.  The actual bees just buzz around all the flowers and plants happily pollinating as they go!

Tomorrow is another day in the garden, I am planning to fertilize, the north and east beds, and if I have the energy the north tomato bed, I'll let you know how far I get!

Surprising Garden Growth

It has been three weeks since my last posting here, we left on our road trip to the family farm in Illinois on 5/11 and returned yesterday 6/1.  The trip was fabulous and we saw beautiful farm land and grazing area all over Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota and Idaho.

The growth of the garden is so exciting, we can hardly believe the rapid growth of everything we planted.  

I was also thrilled to see that the pole beans knew just what to do with the tepees, they are climbing right up, and the base of the tepees look so verdant and green with the squash planted right below!

The only garden casualty as a result of our road trip was the newly planted onions.  They did not continue their growth in our absence, I have no idea why, but there is literally no trace of them left.

One of the prettiest things happening right now in the garden is all of the flowering, little yellow flowers on the tomato plants, white flowers on the strawberry plants, large golden buds/flowers on the zucchini, small pink flowers on the black wax beans, and even a beautiful purple flower on our casper eggplant.

And to my surprise the sunflowers have also blossomed!

We had our first bite out of the garden yesterday, a small but very ripe and sweet strawberry!  It was wonderful to pluck it right off of the plant and eat it while we were standing in the warmth and peace of our very own garden.

Today we pulled both a red beet and a golden beet, sliced up the beets and then chopped up the wonderful large leaves and put them in our salad, it was both delicious and satisfying!