How hard is it to have your own fresh food--nearly into fall--uh--it's not, if I can do it, anyone can. . . seriously. All this as a result of getting spring fever, stopping by the local Home Depot, grabbing some soil and seeds and laying down a few layers of newspaper, some compost and some potting soil and other detritus layered again--I did not till the ground once! We live in a rocky, clay soil part of the the state--so much fun to stick a shovel in the ground and hit a rock every-single-time. I thought I'd share some shots of what the garden looks like now as we "eek" into October. I am amazed at this output! Check out the size of the green onions! And my Swiss chard (I have not been in a chard mood--no worry, these girls will be there when I am ready for some--the plant is amazing!). Plus for winter crops I've planted some cabbage, broccoli, purple cabbage, some romaine lettuces and sugar snap peas. I am not an experienced veggie gardener by any stretch of the imagination--even after completing a Master Gardener training program. This year was my first launch into experimenting with growing my own grub in the ground. (I've worked the soil, don't get me wrong--potting many veggies in the past--growing herbs year round as well--very easy!). My learning curve has been huge! I dedicated myself to growing organic--no pesticides--which is why you see some bug bites on my chard, and a squash bug on the pumpkins! I am eagerly anticipating next spring where our lawn will become even more overtaken by veggies. Less mowing for me! As for the green beans, well, I am not a green bean fan, though I planted about six plants (why??)--from bush beans to pole beans. This plant is always full of beans! (Maybe that's where the saying "a hill of beans" comes from, because that is what I have right now!) What I don't harvest, the deer quickly consume--but still, there are many a beans to be had. This last harvest provided me with some very long beans, larger than I have ever encountered in the grocery store. I have had to construct this crazy maze to keep most of the deer away, but somehow, their little heads fit in between these structures leaving me the dead tips of new bean vine growth and yet, I still find myself going to the local "Y'all Come Back" outdoor supply store for corn feed for the deer and recently, a salt lick--a great big giant square of salt that almost killed me to lift! The deer love it! I love watching them, too.
My tomatoes are still on the vine, very slow to turn. If we don't have a freeze by mid October, I am sure I will still have fresh tomatoes at Christmas. How cool will that be. I read that if you simply remove the green tomatoes from the vine--as the weather cools, you can place the greenies in a box, cover with newspaper and set in the basement--which could keep you stocked with fresh tomatoes maybe through February (better known as the "hungry" month). Then, there are my pumpkins! I loved growing these! It was a no-brainer--these things are the easiest squash to grow--it is a sin to pay for them at any price--seriously! Look at mine--from three seeds--I yielded five pumpkins, not bad. As you can see in the photo, I do have a "squash bug" problem, but hey, that is the cycle of life, it's not like they are going to consume an entire pumpkin, now is it?
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