Planting Potatoes

These went in the ground about a week ago....

This is actually after planting...the potatoes went in about 6 inches from the top of the boards, then were covered with just a couple inches of soil. As the plants grow we'll hill up around them with the excess dirt.

I ordered quite a few seed potatoes from an organic source but also planted a couple of regular spuds that we bought from the grocery store....we'll see if there is any measureable difference.

November Tally

I'm posting this on both blogs this month,

about half of our harvest this month came from this garden

and half from our yard.

Sweet Potatoes .................27.5 lbs.

Butternut Squash...............23.5 lbs

Feijoas..................................13 lbs.

Green Peppers....................9 lbs.

Tomatoes...............................6.5 lbs.

Peanuts..................................4.5 lbs.

Soup Beans..........................3 lbs.

Salad Greens........................2 lbs.

....and 159 eggs!

Total for November.............89lbs.

We are finally eating Feijoas from our tree,

and by we I mean 'I' am finally eating them....

....if I eat it I get to count it :)

Mostly I'm eating them because my sister finally showed me how to eat them (let's not go there). I was peeling them and leaving too much of the pith around the fruit so they always tasted bitter. We have for years just thrown them in the compost. But after smarty pants sis showed me the 'cut in half and scoop' method.....I'm hooked, these things are delicious!

ps. lucky for the tree too, we were about to take the dang thing out and plant something worthier in it's spot. SO glad we are not complete idiots.

Garden Tour

Here's an overview of the mostly winter garden. The first 2 beds as you enter (from the right) are broccoli...and the artichoke is in the wine bottle bed.

Future DG walkway....maybe in the Spring.

Still cleaning up some of the beds, gotta love Bermuda grass!

Cabbage and Leeks

Not sure why some are kind of stunted.

Onions in front (we planted close to 180) and the back bed is peas and carrots.

With the ever popular crushed egg shells as snail deterrent.

Just today I picked the last of the Butternut squash hiding in the bed...got 24lbs. total from 6 plants.

Makes great pumpkin pie:)

The tomato plants look pretty good....

...tho I'm not sure if the fruit will ever turn red in this cold. I'll probably bring them in and set them on our windowsill.

Peas and Spinach

Future potato bed in the foreground.....

Peas and broccoli against the fence.

View from the back - Lettuce and broccoli in the foreground and the bed back between the squash and tomatoes is more onions....not sure why I ordered so many....hope they store well!

What's Left in the Garden

Still harvesting peppers...

... butternut squash...

...green beans...

...and tomatoes,

....tho they do look a bit sickly.

Planting time!

We're almost finished planting the back garden...

...more photos to follow :)

More Gardening Space

Our wonderful neighbor Joyce is allowing us to plant food in her front yard, as well as the back.

So I spent Sunday weeding and planting.

The trellis is for sweet peas and in front there will be cabbage and calendulas.

And some pansies by the front door.

Before...

...and After.

Soup Beans

Hard to believe there is anything growing in this bed (besides Bermuda grass) but we are still harvesting kidney beans....unfortunately they do not all come off at the same time. I've been picking dried beans for almost 2 months now. Not sure this experiment will be tried again :)

Then there is the shelling process.

And I've only gotten 3 lbs. of beans so far.

But it is kind of fun filling up more jars for the pantry (I'm weird that way).

Oops!

Pretty.....

...not so much.

As you can see, this blog is not the only thing I have been neglecting lately. With our trip over I can finally start to work on the garden...and there is plenty to do. Many of the beds are overrun with Bermuda grass, the bane of valley gardeners. The stuff makes a great worry-free lawn because it grows with little to no care, let alone water. However, that is exactly what makes it such a pain-in-the-butt weed in the garden. Some of the roots go down several feet and it's almost impossible to completely eradicate. This should be fun :)

Death by Bug

Our wonderful plan to grow our very own pumpkins for Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns has been thwarted by the nefarious squash bug....bummer.

These guys were absolutely merciless; the plants went from healthy to decimated in less than 24hours!

Fortunately, they don't seem to like the Butternut squash...

...or they're just full :)

Aptly Named

Joyce and I have decided that this tomato has earned a place(or five) in next years garden. It's called Gold Medal but I think it looks like a sunset, very pretty inside and out....plus they're huge and taste great.

We have a Winner!

August Seedlings

Waltham Butternut Squash...

(kind of need to weed this bed)

...Provider Beans...

...and Big Max Pumpkin

August Plantings

This weekend I'll try to post pics of the plants already coming up, but these are the beds we did a second planting of ....

...Provider Green Beans....

...Butternut Squash...

...and Big Max Pumpkin.

This is a bit of an experiment as we don't usually bother with more than one 'crop' in the summer. But fall plantings are months away and it seemed a waste to leave these beds empty. I'm sure the beans will be successful (if the pill bugs don't eat them all) and we've had good luck with this particular squash. As for pumpkins... since the first crop was so sickly and unproductive, I amended with plenty of compost this time around.

Now we'll just have to wait and see.