June 4, 2012

Peas on the fence in the foreground, followed by sweet corn, and the main vegetable garden.
Cinder blocks to the top left mark where our lofted barn will be built.

A volunteer sunflower growing
in the pumpkin patch.

We're just sixteen days away from the Summer Solstice, which usually marks the beginning of peak harvest in our back yard "hobby farm market;" right on schedule, green beans and cucumbers are flowering and will produce this week.  We added zucchini to our list of vegetables in harvest.  Broccoli, peas and berries continue to fill our buckets.  Tomatoes and peppers are loading up with fruit that should ripen before the end of this month.  Melon vines have started to spread, and pumpkin sprouts are putting out their first true leaves.

A gladiolus flower framed by green beans.

June first's planting of sweet corn and sunflowers marked the end of planting until July (when we start brussels sprouts and cabbage indoors for fall).  We're trying to be vigilant with weeding, but for the moment we are preoccupied with the soon arrival and construction of a lofted barn on the property that will give us comparatively unlimited space to dry herbs, cure garlic and onions, and store winter squash.  Speaking of, dill weed was at its peak this week, so we cut and dried enough to last a few years.

Cooler weekend mornings were the perfect opportunity to cook up a country breakfast featuring blueberries and raspberries.  Anybody up to home-churned blueberry waffle cone ice cream?

The vegetable garden in June.

May 14, 2012

Organic broccoli harvest.

Broccoli is in season; though cabbage worms and other pests have chewed holes in the leaves, nylon hose "socks" pulled over these developing crowns have organically protected the harvest for our enjoyment.  A hoticultural extension agent told us that broccoli, more than any vegetable in the supermarket, absorbs pesticide and stores it.  Supermarkets provide pest-free broccoli at a cost.  This organic broccoli is worth all the effort we put into it; from this harvest alone we froze six quart bags for future use and enjoyed all we could eat fresh.  This particular variety will continue to produce sizeable crowns all season long.

Sour cherries frozen for later use.

The rest of our sour cherries all ripened at once.  We picked, pitted, and either ate them fresh or froze in quart bags for future use.  It's a lot of work picking and pitting, but we think the result is worth the effort.  Next year, we will plan ahead for cherry jam.

Pea pods are growing from abundant flowers, the first set of sweet corn is about four inches tall, and the main summer vegetable garden is growing up.

The summer vegetable garden.