Heat

Evidently heat is required for most of the crops that are not blooming like I would like them to.  Mainly the popcorn.  Something is sorely wrong with the bunching onions also.  I have been doing more research and reading stuff online.  I read that raised beds keeps the heat in the ground.  I am going to consider raised beds for some of the crops next year.  Of course I am considering.....I will need to enlist the help of my glorious, handy partner to build the boxes for the raised beds.  That may be asking a bit much.  He worked so hard building the fence for Fort Knox this year, and so I am reluctant to ask him to do more work for next year.  I may just try some different food to grow.

 At the end of August I am going to begin the winter experiment.  I will begin to plant lettuce and herbs and maybe some garlic ...see what happens. I am wondering if I can grow some of the cool weather crops thru the winter in the greenhouse.  I would like to make the greenhouse into a big giant salad bowl.  I would like to grow lettuce, garlic, cucumbers, radishes, green onions, and maybe some herbs like rosemary, more basil, tarragon, oregano, mint, parsley, blah, blah, blah.  I would love to have fresh produce all year.  Of course I am not quite sure why I think I should be able to do this, given I don't know people who have done this, and I know I am not the first one to think of it.  I guess I am a lot like a kid in that regard.  I just need to figure it out for myself.

The composting is not going very well.  There is a huge operator malfunction occurring.  Composting requires some leftover green material.  Well, to get that, it has to be saved, and then transported to the composting bin.  This is where the malfunction occurs.  I have a limited amount of time during the day between my work and play.  I am terrible at actually stopping what I may be doing and hauling that green material out to the bin.  If I do manage to get it there, then I have to walk out to the empty woodshed area, and get some straw to put on top of it.  Then, I have to go get some dirt from somewhere to put on top of that.  It just seems like a huge interruption for such a tiny amount of worm poo.  I have a hard time forcing myself to make the treks.  It is the same to me as stopping to gas up the car, or taking a potty break.  Seems like such a blasted unnecessary interruption of my stream of activities.  As we speak, I have a bowl of slimy, green, bubbling,  "stuff" in a bowl in my kitchen.  When I am not home, I tell myself as soon as I get home, I will empty it.  Well, I get home, and get to talking and doing vitally important stuff like petting the cat, drinking coffee, catching up on my reading...and I just never think of it again.  Sad sad sad state of affairs.  So, I just accept I may not get much worm poo any time soon.

I am very excited about the yellow crook neck squash.  It is doing beautifully and I may make a lot of enemies this year by passing out my extra squash.  I can only eat so much squash each meal.  I hear it is prolific, so I am making plans for saving and sharing.  So all my friends...look out. 

I have a couple of good recipes for cooking squash that I plan to share with you.  So, when fall gets here, get out your cook pots.  I have some good stuff in store.

I have picked tons of peas so far.  They are doing fantastic.  Some of the vines got pulled up out of the ground during weeding.  I just left them hanging off the strings and those blasted vines are turning yellow, but they are still full of snow peas.  I had no idea those little suckers were so hardy.  I haven't had to store any yet, because I eat them and share them, almost as fast as they can grown.  I am going to blanch a batch this weekend and see how they freeze.  My boyscout boyfriend is always prepared for anything.  He does all the shopping so we never run out of anything, and he has more handy dandy kitchen gadgets than the local kitchen store.  He of course had food dryers, food processors, and the tried and true ...wait for it.......SEAL A MEAL!!!!!!!  Wooo Hoooo..we are set.  So I can blanch the peas and put them in that dandy seal a meal...and put them in the fridge...easy peasy.

Next week, I am going to sneak a book review in between garden talk.  I am a voracious reader, and I have a lot to say about some of the books I read, so for anyone who may not be too crazy about reading about gardening, I am going to provide some literary fodder.

I have been throwing rocks at the raccoons so they won't eat my geraniums.  I throw small rocks because I don't want to hurt them.  I think it has done the trick.  I have a front deck full of beautiful big stinky geraniums.  It is a good thing they are so gorgeous, because they stink to high heaven.

I also have some blooming "sweat peas".  Now they smell divine.  They are blooming in a variety of colors.  They have climbed the trellis and are taller than I am, and are releasing a heavenly scent.  I think next year I am covering the deck with sweat peas.

Until next time,
Karen

Peas, Glorious Peas

Yesterday I picked another huge bowl of peas.  I wanted to take them with me to work to share.  I found a way to store them that keeps them crisp and delicious.  Straight out of the garden they go into a huge bowl of ice water.  Water first, then peas then ice all over the top of the peas.  It cools them down quickly if you don't have much time.  Then I got a gallon size zip lock baggie and lined it with two dry paper towels, put in the wet peas, and zipped it shut.  When I got to work, I put it in the fridge and ate out of it all night long.  They were fantastic.  This also works with lettuce.  I can keep lettuce out of the garden for  a week or more, and it stays crisp.  As long as the paper towel stays damp, the lettuce will stay crisp.

I have to say, I have never tasted peas quite as good as these.  Fresh from the garden they are indescribable.  I admit that I have had some darn good peas from the farmer's markets, but it must lose a bit of flavor after a day or so because these are just like eating dessert.  The minute you bite into them there is this explosion of flavor from the pod, and then when you bite into a pea, another burst of sweet freshness.  I cannot believe that I can get so excited about a pea pod.  Maybe I need a hobby or a life? 

 One thing that is puzzling to me is that the popcorn grew about 4-5 inches immediately after we planted it.  It has not grown another centimeter since.  Doesn't look like we will get popcorn.  The chili's are starting to ripen also....woo hoo.  There are quite a few tomatoes also, and they will hopefully be ripe soon.  I know nothing about potatoes because I can't see them, but the greenery is blossoming, and the bushes are getting quite large.  I read somewhere that the potatoes can be harvested as the bush starts to wilt and die.  I will watch and hope I get it right.

We have plenty of lettuce, and it also looks like we will have yellow onions.  I have no idea what happened to the green bunching onions, but they are not doing well.  I wonder if it is our soil.  It is really clay-like and heavy.  I maybe should have grown them in the green house.  I have big plans for that greenhouse this fall.  I am planning on planting more lettuce, and more bunching onions and some herbs.  I will be experimenting through the winter.

The sweat peas (flower) are blooming on the front porch.  We started those from seeds and they climbed up the trellis and are now sprouting a variety of colors.  They smell so good and beautify the front deck.  The geraniums are also in full bloom and since I have stopped feeding the raccoons and have been throwing rocks at them every time they come around, they have not eaten any of my geraniums.  I imagine this admission will bring down the wrath of animal lovers everywhere.  Be assured that the rocks don't hit their mark, (well maybe once in a while), and they are small and are accompanied by a lot of screaming and yelling.  I haven't hurt a raccoon yet, hopefully just scared the s*** out of them so they don't come back.

I don't know where the summer has gone.  Oh wait, we haven't had summer yet.  I just can't believe it is already August.  Soon the harvesting will be over.  Then I am going to be figuring out ways to store the food.  Then I plan to move on to my passion and talk about books.  There is no subject I love more than books.  I read voraciously and am always happy to discuss my latest find.

Until next time.

Karen