June 10, 2013

Chickens free-range around the deck.

This wet, wet week has given us a chance to catch up with a long overdue post!  We're enjoying peas and garlic (not together, necessarily), raspberries, cherries, ever-bearing strawberries and garden salads, while blueberries, green beans, and summer's first dill pickles not far away.  Chicken manure is composting with straw bedding to give a nitrogen bolt to future plantings, and it's not smelly at all - actually Confederate jasmine and the creamy fragrance of gardenia are perfuming the yard.  Hope you enjoy this photo tour!

Ozark Beauty strawberries continue producing all summer.

Sour cherry jam, care for a sample?  We made two batches
and canned enough fruit for several pies.

Weeding after 6.5 inches of rain in one week.

Sweet corn reaching sky-ward.

Blueberries hanging in clusters like grapes - ripening soon!

Garlic curing in the barn.

"Look out below!"

August 6, 2012

Our first ripe fig.

The hazy August time of summer settles in for the year.  Days of warm, dry idleness seem relaxing, compared to the busy pace of July.  But this time of year just drags.  Wafts of breeze, that we barely feel, skirt thin clouds through the span of sky at a turtle's pace; the air is torrid and wilting.  The sun swelters on until even nature's greenery, finished with its lush July growth, hangs spun out of energy, dull and plastic.  Some Augusts we don't garden at all.  Weeds and grasses have crept in; plants - many which we started from seed nearly half a year ago - are showing signs of advanced age.  Even the emerald green foliage of our fruit trees seems listless.  This is last chance to take a vacation before school days set in.

Fig, cut open to reveal its sweet center.

We picked 150 ears of sweet corn - these we blanched and froze whole - and left a few on the stalks to keep maturing.  The other steady producers continue to be tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, melons, and carrots.  Cucumbers may yet surprise us with something, but broccoli plants are ready to be pulled.  As soon as our melons ripen, we plan to pull up our soaker hoses and mow the entire patch to the ground.

A rewarding surprise this week was our first fig.  It was very sweet, soft, and fruity-flavored.  We've never had anything like it before and hope it continues to surprise us at a time of year when we are looking to enjoy something exotic.

New England Pie pumpkin curing.

We received 4.5 inches of rain last week; pumpkins continue to swell, though many New England Pie variety are already orange.  Hot weather turns pumpkins orange before they are truly ripe sometimes, and we solve this by covering the large ones with old rags and t-shirts to keep them shaded.  If we leave them on the vine too long bugs tend to bore in, but if we cut them too early they don't cure well.  Deciding that just-right time to cut can be tricky.  Generally, if a thumbnail can't pierce a pumpkin's skin by the stem, it's ready to cut.

The garden in August.

Our pumpkin patch is showing signs of crisping leaves; corn in the background.

July 30, 2012

A 'Superfreak' warted pumpkin grows to 20 pounds.

Rich tomato sauce.

It's true, gardening has numerous health benefits, but to us it's also an excuse to enjoy a touch of something special.  We would probably never buy so much fresh organic produce, or make gourmet recipes featuring garden vegetables if we did not grow them.  We're willing to work hard on the gardening end, because we like the product.  So when we pick a bushel of paste tomatoes and process them into fresh, thick juice; then reduce it down in a stock pot to rich organic tomato sauce, we're usually thinking of pizza sauce, garden spaghetti, skillet barbecued pork chops (see Note 1 below), and the like.

Cicada and its molted shell.

Fruits of harvest are ripening as cicadas buzz from tree to tree, signaling that midsummer has gone, and late summer is come.  The end of July is time to take stock of all we have brought in during the last four months.  Summer 2012 has been wilting, but copious (abundant) thanks to sufficient rain.  Our pantry and freezers are stocked to capacity.  We know much of the country can't say the same, and due to extreme drought, the price of food is going up.  Interestingly, weather sources are saying an El Niño will take hold by December.

Bumble bee on a pumpkin flower.

It's our traditional time to start mixing up salsas, and this year we may try some corn salsa.  Our second crop of sweet corn is ready to be enjoyed as individual ears reach maturity.  By this weekend, we will pick the whole corn crop and freeze what we will not be eating fresh.

Sweet corn ready to harvest.

Note 1 -- SKILLET BARBECUED PORK CHOPS

4-6 Bone-In Pork Chops
1 T. Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Chopped Celery
3 T. Brown Sugar
2 T. Lemon Juice
1/2 t. Dry Mustard
3/4 t. Salt
1/8 t. Pepper
16-Ounce Jar of Tomato Sauce

In large skillet with tight fitting lid, brown chops in oil over medium heat.  Pour off excess fat.  Sprinkle celery, brown sugar, lemon juice, and seasonings evenly over chops.  Pour tomato sauce over all.  Cover, simmer over low heat 1 hour or until tender.

Skillet Barbecued Pork Chop with corn and melon.

July 9, 2012

Sweet corn - what we've been waiting for all summer!

First everbearing 'Ozark Beauty'
strawberry of July.

We harvested our first sweet corn on the 4th of July, what a treat.  Last summer, corn ear worms were in most of the ear tips, but this year we haven't seen any.  In addition to disking the field well to turn up overwintering cocoons, we planted a different, resistant variety.  Every ear is beautiful and filled to the tip.  Of everything we grow, we have the best success with corn.  We have perfected our growing technique: rotating fields, using a nitrogen-fixing cover crop, planting when soil is warm, and cultivating until plants are knee-high using a hilling technique that helps plants stand up to wind storms.  Lots can still go wrong, animals for example, and we have live traps if we need to transport a critter to the next county.  What we cannot eat fresh from this year's first perfect crop is being blanched, cut from the cob, and frozen for winter enjoyment.  A second crop is just now tasseling out and will be set to harvest around the first of August.

'Granddaddy' tomato, a little bigger than the bun!

July is reaping and preserving time in our little homestead; we've already canned dozens of quarts of green beans and dill pickles, and we have frozen bell pepper halves and chopped pepper pieces.  Beans, cukes, and peppers are slowing down as summer heat rages on, and a couple of our zucchini plants are turning yellow - they must have been hit with vine borers; we have two more. 

Tomatoes are really coming in now, and melons are swelling for a late-July harvest.  We will be appreciating the first everbearing strawberries joining our summer ensemble as peaches continue through this month.

Pumpkins, the latest crop of our summer garden, are just getting a growth spurt and are opening fruiting flowers for pollination.  Want brussels sprouts for Christmas?  Now is the time to plant seeds indoors so they are transplanting size by September.

The garden in July.

The pumpkin patch is just getting going; fruiting blossoms are open.

June 25, 2012

Tomatoes Opalka paste (top, bottom); Amish paste (left); and Big Beef (right).

I don't remember needing to can green beans this early last year.  No, I checked; we're a full two weeks ahead of schedule.  Fourteen quarts are put up for winter so far, and that's just the beginning.  We also picked the first vine-ripened tomato - four of them to be exact; and, the first nectarine. 

14 quarts of green beans canned for winter.

The humid days of summer are here where that settled regularity of temperature--low 70 F and high 90 F--and sunny with hit-or-miss afternoon showers forecast makes everything grow with wild abandon in South Carolina.  In June, we love the settled weather; by August, we're itching for a change.  Sweet corn is fully grown and silked out; we are expecting first corn harvest around July 10.

Juicy, home-grown nectarine.

We're really pleased with the progress our pumpkins are making so far.  Vines are stretching out five to seven feet and will begin flowering soon.  We're still hoping for that 100-pounder by September.

Next Monday July 2, we will take a break from blogging to get our hands dirty: look for our next post on July 9. We wish y'all a happy and safe Independence Day USA!

Sweet corn is silked out.

July 18, 2011

The Almanac called for a wet summer, and it’s been wetter than many years in recent memory.  We received nearly three inches of rain this week, making the garden appear rather jungle-like.  None of our large melons split, thanks to consistent watering even during dry spells.  This week has been much like last week, only more so.  In about one month’s time, we rake in enough food to last our family all year.

We gave up canning extra green beans in order to harvest the first half of our corn crop.  Bryan picked more than 100 ears of sweet corn, which isn’t even half of the first planting.  There is more than twice this much still to come.  We blanched it (and helped ourselves to some fresh), cut from the cob, and froze it - 12 quarts!  We made such a mess in the kitchen; corn kernels and spurts landed all over the floor from one end to another and up the refrigerator door.  We had to mop and wash everything down before it dried into a sticky mess.  What are we going to do with all the corn that's still coming!  We've never seen a harvest like this - many of the stalks have 3, 4, or 5 ears growing on them, and many produced side shoots that are bearing sizeable ears themselves.  The only difference this year was the incorporation of “green manure,” a red clover cover crop.  That stuff really works! 

We ended up canning green beans after all – our winter pantry should thank us.  Hate to admit it, but weeding is long overdue; we haven’t had time.  When does the resident gardener come to do chores?  We’ll put it on his list.  Garden mulch is the only thing keeping weeds from growing with wild abandon.

The first 12-ft.-tall sunflowers are blooming, fruits of harvest are ripening, and cicadas are buzzing from tree to tree as midsummer winds down.  All nature is preparing for the harvest to come.  These cute mini pumpkins now decorate what was our Spring pea fence.  They will ripen no larger than the palm of your hand, and as a true C. pepo are delicious to eat baked in their own jackets.

July 11, 2011

Welcome to the dog days of summer--we're feeling it.  The first of July brought red ripe tomatoes and a bushel of bell peppers; sweet corn was not long behind.  Harvest baskets like these are becoming a daily event--the culmination of summer rain and sunshine, organic practices, and season-long planning.  Organic is not always as romantic as vibrant photos appear:  we could have pictured the dozen or more bell peppers with insect holes that were relegated to our compost bin; some insect damage is tolerable for the sake of a balanced ecological environment.  (Insecticides kill both bad bugs and the good kind that provide natural pest control and pollination).  Palmetto Acres Garden is producing much more than we can consume fresh, and some planning for the winter-to-come will enable us to enjoy our surplus when the garden is a frozen heap.

 

The bushel of bell peppers were halved or chopped, frozen, and individually wrapped and freezer bagged.  Cucumbers were pickled with dill and garlic and canned in jars.  Green beans are pressure canned in quart jars.  We ensure that everything is harvested at its peak ripeness when it is preserved.  For the present time we are keeping up with corn fresh on the cob and tomatoes in garden spaghetti sauce and salsa.

 

Carrots remain fresh in the ground through winter, so we pull up only what we need.  Still waiting on that first melon, but our first tree-ripened peach was a sweet treat.  Dill seed heads are turning brown and will be saved to plant new dill next year.  Gladiolas are adding to the riot of summer color, masking some of the garden's lush and overgrown appearance.  Pumpkins are setting fruit, soft and green now, but swelling with purpose toward a September harvest. 

 

Too early to think about Fall?  Not if we want brussels sprouts, cabbages, and root crops to enjoy later.  Brussels sprouts take on average 120 days to harvest, so add that up:  it's time to start seed indoors now.  These are one of the few vegetables that can be harvested all winter long.

May 30, 2011

Norms are averages of the extremes, as the weather saying goes, and so it is that while Northern farmers are receiving too much rain, we have seen too little.  But thank the good Lord we have also been spared so much extreme weather that came with it.  Thursday evening, upon stepping outside, Bryan remarked to the family, “Hey, It is raining.”  And that was remarkable since we ended a dry month with showers that dropped 1.3 inches on our eagerly-waiting vegetable patch.

Peas were priority on the weekend, and we picked this 5-pound shopping bag full.  With the help of our children, we all became pea pod poppers and shelled out 3 quarts.  What we did not eat fresh we blanched and froze for later.  Pea plants look like they haven’t been touched, however, with the volume of pods still filling out, making this harvest look small compared to what’s yet to come.  And we are still getting spinach; after picking peas, Bryan brought in a sizeable bag full.

One of our tomato secrets comes from the Amish – they sprinkle Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) around which act both as fertilizer and natural deterrent to slugs and snails.  About 1 Tbls per plant (4 sq. ft. area) is sufficient.  Many plants respond well to extra trace minerals as they come into flower. 

Sweet corn is shooting up in this warm, humid environment, but is still small enough to cultivate with a Mantis tiller without disturbing its shallow root system.  Once leaves touch, we will use a hoe to hill up each plant, which gives it mores stability and resistance to wind, and which encourages the development of auxiliary roots.  Now is the time to pamper corn, because cells that will become the ear form when the plant is a few inches high.

Tomatoes and peppers are blooming, red raspberries are in season, and the first blueberries are coloring up.  Wishing everyone a happy Memorial Day, also the traditional beginning of meteorological summer – happy growing, y'all!