AngelsGarden's Blog

Weird Times......
Aug 10, 2007 | 6:40 PM PST
Tags: Cantaloupe , cucumber , heat , peppers , fall garden

    What a weird time it is.  It is so hot right now.  I feel like I am hibernating indoors.  It has been upper 90s and its just too hot for me to be out.  Right now its 8:30pm and its still 87F. 

   Even though I haven't been doing much out in the gardens, things go on without me.  Either good or bad, lol.  The veggie garden in seriously weedy!   

   I planted a second crop of cucumbers awhile back, they are doing good even in this heat, climbing and flowering.  Maybe soon we will start to get some cukes.  Hope the heat doesn't affect that too much.  I also planted some cantaloupe later than normal.  That now has babies on it. 

   The peppers are producing a good amount for us.  We don't use a ton of peppers but it seems they never go to waste.  We know alot of people that love to have our extras.  I am going to try to freeze a few after I chop them up so I can use just a little when I need it.  Some of the hot peppers I can dry or pickle.  I would also like to try roasting some and blending them into some tomato sauce, then if I can freeze it  in small portions.

   Some really  cool things are happening in the flower beds right now.  The hardy rose has produced one bud.  Yipee!!!  Now I can see what color they are.  Also the Dr. Ruppel clematis has sent up a new shoot that has shot up to the top of the trellis and has at least 3 flower buds on that.  Its so exciting.  I really hadn't expected these clematis to produce any flowers until next spring. 

   I am starting to think of what veggies I want where for the fall crop.  I want to plant onion, peas, some herbs, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, salads, cabbage....what else...I know there is more!  I am also consulting my info on companion planting.  I will have to cover some of the crops with fabric row cover to keep them a bit cooler until more 'fall like' weather comes along. 

   I am collecting seeds along the way as I can for next year.  So far it has gone really well.  All of them have dried out really quickly because of the heat.  Its exciting too knowing that I don't have to buy some things next spring.

   I am anxious to get back to work on all of my 'projects' outdoors!!!  I can't wait.  For now I am trying to keep up on housework, reading through the info on Companion Planting and organizing seeds and things like that.  Not to mention that the kids go back to school starting Monday. 

Hope everyone is staying COOL!!!  Be Careful!

Garden Updates II
Jul 9, 2007 | 10:28 AM PST
Tags: weeding , baby trees , Bonsai , mole , sunburn , spaghetti squash , zucchinni , butternut squash , beneficial insects , beneficial nematodes , lacewings , preying mantis , lady bugs , Squash Vine Borers , cucumber , green onion , melon , straw , Brussels Sprouts , fabric row cover

Saturday was a great day.  Hubby and I went out in the morning, great temperatures, light breeze and teamwork.  Thats a recipe for a nice day.  He mowed, I cleaned up and weeded.  I took a couple of buckets of the weeds to the "dumping ditch".  Its a low spot so anything organic that will decompose and help fill it in goes there.  I had to weed carefully because there are baby trees growing amongst the weeds.  Some of them are pretty and they will be great for pots and some people want them for Bonsai.  All of the rains and the mole racing back and forth makes it easier to weed.  Thats the only thing a mole is good for!!  I got a sunburn on my back from leaning over and weeding, my shirt kept pulling up.  That makes me think of those wooden cut outs I have seen in peoples yards, they look like a view from the back of a lady bent over.  LOL  At least I was sitting in a chair most of the time.  Then we sat in the shade and enjoyed the breezed until I got too hungry to just sit there anymore.

All of the spaghetti squash and zucchini have been pulled out.  We only got 3 zucchini and 4 spaghetti squash.  Not very much for the amount of plants that we had.  With all of the bug problems we had on  those plants this year we have been doing some research to find solutions.  There are a few things that we can try.  The one that I think will help the most is to buy a beneficial insect pkg.  It would have things like beneficial nematodes, preying mantis, lacewings and ladybugs.  The nematodes will prey on insects that have a larvae stage in the soil.  Some of the insects that we are having problems with do pupate in the soil, like the Squash vine borer.  If we get a pkg. a little later in the summer and again in the spring I think it will bring the balance back to a better place.

The butternut squash is doing OK inspite of the onslaught of insects.  The fruit we are getting isn't huge but they look good and the plants are still putting on more babies.  Looking forward to making pies!

In one place that I took out squash I planted some melons.  We should have long enough to get some before the fall.  I also cleaned out one of the beds that can accomidate the climbers.  I replanted some cucumbers with new seed.  The last ones didn't do well at all.  WE MUST HAVE CUCUMBERS!  I also seeded some green onions where there used to be salad. 

I spread out a bale of fresh straw under the pepper plants and in some of the aisles, in the areas where I had cleaned out all of the weeds.  That should help to keep the roots cool in the coming heat waves.  The chickens also got a good chunk of fresh have to scratch and in their nesting areas.

My next project for the garden is making some wooden frames that are about 12inches tall and maybe 3ft.x3ft.  I am going to staple fabric row cover to them and seed some cool weather crops for this fall.  Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts.  Last year I had the cover over them in the hot summer.  Part of it wasn't hooked down very well and kept blowing off of the sprouts.  The ones that stayed covered grew much better.  I took the covers off when the weather cooled down and they did well.  We really like Brussels Sprouts and I think if I get more this year we can freeze some.  I would like to have this done by the end of the week so everything is ready.

Oh, its raining again and the radar even shows us clear!!!

 

Pickles
Jun 7, 2007 | 4:19 AM PST
Tags: pickles , pickled eggs , cucumber
 I made pickles yesterday for the first time ever.  It was good practice for later in the summer when I hope to can tomatos.  I ended up with 6 pints of pickles and 2 pints of pickled eggs.  I didn't process the eggs though.  I couldn't find anywhere that would give times for that.  Most sites that talked about it either said it was unsafe or it makes the eggs rubbery.  I don't know about it being unsafe....you can buy canned pickled eggs at the store.  Since I only ended up with two I just put them in the bottom of the fridge.  When they are ready to eat they will dissapear rather quickly anyway. Only some of the cucumbers were from my garden.  One of my husbands customers gave them some long cucumbers.  They weren't too bad on seeds to I decided to use some of them.  We couldn't eat that much before they went bad anyway.  The long ones were great for cutting into spears, they were real straight.  The jars look great, they all sealed and the liquid is not cloudy....they actually look like pickles.LOL  Now I will have to wait and see if they taste like good pickles.