2012 Season

May is here already, and I am ready for a new gardening season!!  We enjoyed produce through the winter and the squash was delicious on Thanksgiving.  I'm again doubling my garden, adding one 4x4 box and one 3x9 box.  Maybe I'm not doubling it, I'm not good at the maths.  I haven't charted exactly where everything will go, but tonight we filled the new boxes and planted the broccoli sprouts from Weesies.  The pea trellis is up and peas are planted, a couple are sprouting.  Oldest's garden is filled with celery, her choice, and she informed me she was saving her watermelon seeds to plant there too.
Inside, I have seeds sprouting in eggshells.  I saved shells all winter, and they make convenient little pots.  So far I have a butternut squash striving and some butterfly bushes I'm planning on putting in our "Fairy garden."  I'm hoping for some peppers popping up, I'll keep hoping as they haven't yet. 
New this year are 3 blueberry bushes.  I can't remember the varieties.  One is early blooming, one is mid blooming and one is late blooming.  Hopefully we'll have berries because with the crazy spring weather the news is saying all produce will be cut way back this year. 

I still need to figure out how I'm going to irrigate all the beds.  I got a new waterfall sprinkler, it should be pretty useful.  Next week I hope to add the potatoes (a whole box of them!) and get the straw for the mulch walkways.  That will look sooooo nice. 

Garden Favorites

As our season is almost over, I have been thinking about next year (yes, already!) My favorites this year were the potatoes, sunflowers, and nasturtiums. It's funny, I put a large plot of the nasturtiums in, and they got no use. I didn't like the flavor of the leaves, and I didn't use any of the flowers, but they sure brought a smile to my face when I saw them. The flowers are still blooming and the leaves are still green. I even tried pawning them off to people, but apparently no one likes the flavor of the leaves. It's okay, they are keeping my butternut squash company (still only one,) and they bring an alive look to my mostly dying garden plots.
Our sunflower is wilting, but the head is still big and the seeds are very defined. I have a feeling the birds will get most of them, but I can hope they'll save me some.
The potatoes are in a bin in the garage, and I'm saving them for special occasions because they're so delicious. Next year more potatoes are in order, along with some different varieties. The 4x4 box will be full of them!
Today I removed the last of the bean plants, and tilled the tomatoes into the dirt. The cucumber plants are turning very brown, but there's cucs growing and we're still eating them! We were playing with our new camera last week and got the cutest video of our 2 year old explaining the garden. She can't pronounce the hard "c" sound, so she's holding a "twotumber" and says frogs grow in the garden. It's pretty adorable. I'll try to upload it when I figure out how.

Garden in the fall

The garden is coming to a fast end. Wednesday we pulled out all the potatoes and harvested our last meal of beans. The peppers are still hanging on, and we have a couple zucchinis which will grow a little more. Michigan had three nights this week where the temps got into the low 40's, and the tomatoes really felt it. I pulled them out tonight. My lone sunflower is beautiful, and I can't wait to have more next year. I'm going to dry out my pole beans and see how that works, maybe they'll be better dry than eating them fresh, or maybe I can do something decorative with them.

You can see our final mass harvest. I found a cucumber hidden behind some leaves that was way over ripe. We had a lot of potatoes, and next year I'll do a similar amount. The butternut squash is turning tan and I still only have one on the vine. We'll probably get 3 or 4 more Jalepenos, and I have been freezing them. I've also froze whole tomatoes, and Sarah told me to roast and puree them for easy freezing. Maybe next year.

Butternut Squash is so cute!

There's this squash in my garden and I want to pick it up and cradle it like a baby. I just think it's the cutest thing. I have found myself stroking its smooth skin and smiling at it fondly. Maybe I have baby fever? Except that I'm excited to eat this baby squash. I only have one on a huge vine overtaking the entire half of the garden, so it better be worth it. Here are two pictures, taken a week apart. It shows you how much it has grown. In the picture of my nasturtiums you can see its cute little butt poking out. I also included an updated picture of the garden, in which I removed my pea climber, and have given my pole beans over to the beetles. I figure if they like them they can have them. No one else does. My sunflower is so tall, it towers above everything and it would probably reach the roof if it was by the house. I love it. I can't believe this summer went so fast, school will be starting in 12 days and the garden is heading into its last leg.

Blueberry Cake

Last night we made Blueberry Cake out of our church cook book, and it was the most delicious cake I have ever eaten. That's saying a lot because I love cake. It tasted like something you would get at a bakery, it was even better than Panera Bread. I now understand why the Pioneer Woman always says to drop everything you're doing and make this right now. That is how I feel about this cake. Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk
4 cup blueberries
Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

Cream first two ingredients; add eggs and mix until light. Sift flour, tartar, and baking soda together and add to mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in blueberries and pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan. Mix sugar and cinnamon for topping and sprinkle over top. Bake 1 hour at 350 if using fresh berries. Add 20 minutes if using frozen blueberries. Pour melted butter over top of cake as soon as cake is removed from oven.

It is also very easy to make, and I had all the ingredients on hand. The topping of sugar and cinnamon seems like a lot, and I admit I didn't sprinkle it all on, but now I wish I had. It's still good, but it forms a crispy crust on the top that is amazing. Next time I will have more of this crispy crust.

I feel like the best recipes come out of church cookbooks. I think it's because people's names are attached, and then the uppity church women will shun them if they're recipe isn't good. This one proves my point.

25 Pounds of Blueberries

So, this year we picked/bought 25 pounds of blueberries. Most have been frozen, but many were also eaten. This doesn't count random pints and containers from the store. I hope 25 pounds is enough to last us through the winter. It sure doesn't look like much in our freezer. They will mostly be used for the girl's morning oatmeal. The frozen berries help cool off the oatmeal and they are so good.
Tonight we will be making a Blueberry cake, which calls for 4 cups of fresh berries and I am very excited to eat. The lady at Palmer's told me fresh berries will be done by Saturday, so I'll have to travel north if I need more in the coming weeks.

Progress!

The garden is producing! Last year seemed so easy, and controlled, and there was always rain and no bugs. This year I have had a lot of panic attacks, but it seems to all be working out! The tomatoes are starting to blush, the bush beans are finishing their production, and we have gotten many cucumbers, zucchinis, and jalepeno peppers. The big dissapointments are the green peppers (which were eaten by the deer, so I don't blame them,) the peas, (which were my fault for not planting enough,) and the pole beans (which don't seem too tasty and have been attacked by Japanese beetles.) I have enjoyed the look of the nasturtium, but the edible leaves are useless to us, they are too bitter, but are producing many beautiful flowers.

The broccoli is done for the year, which is good because the winter squash is quickly taking over their plot, and the potoatoes are browning and wilting. We have been enjoying the Jalepenos on nachos, and I enjoyed the burning sensation on my lips and fingernails for hours afterwards. I'm surprised the girls will eat anything that comes out of the garden. They especially like the roasted zucchini and the beans fresh from the bush. We have one remaining sunflower, and it is towering above all our heads.