Twiggybet1's Blog

We spent the 4th and the weekend out of town visiting relatives.  While we had a very enjoyable time, it still is good to be back home.  I could hardly wait to get back to check on the garden.  Only another gardener would understand...

Before we left, the green beans and peas were just starting to ripen.  This is what I picked today:

The peas are in one of those cartons you get at the U-pick strawberry farms.  We had picked strawberries while we were away.  I spent a good portion of the morning cleaning them, and getting some ready for jam.  Anyway, it must have took me nearly 2 hours to shell the peas (but, then again, I had a few little interruptions).  So, we had peas with dinner tonight.  The beans were put away, I will deal with those tomorrow.  I imagine we will have beans with dinner tomorrow, and I will  can a load.  I also picked more broccoli. 

The potato plants are getting blossoms.  LOTS of blossoms:

As I recall, the potatoes I planted last year seemed to have a lot fewer (and smaller) blossoms.  I suppose that doesn't matter, since it is the roots I'm after.  I will take it as a sign that this is a very healthy crop...

 All the other vegetables seem to be progressing as expected.  The tomatoes are overflowing their cages, and the corn is just past my knees now.  I am finally getting a respectable amount of rhubarb, and I made 2 batches of rhubarb bread before we left town (I brought them to share).  It seems I will have enough to make a batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam, and possibly a couple of pies  after all.

Elsewhere in the yard, the orange lilies are in full bloom:

I have heard those orange lilies called tiger lilies, Michigan lilies, ditch lilies, and probably a few other names that escape me at the moment.  Regardless what they are called, I like them.  I realize some people consider them a weed or nuisance plant, but I love the fact that they are native, and don't require any special care.  They are reliable.

After dinner, I made my jam.  I did two batches, one regular strawberry jam, the other low-sugar strawberry jam.

I had picked up some "no sugar needed" pectin by mistake a while back, and since I had enough strawberries to do two batches, I thought I would try it.  My daughter and I did a taste test with the skimmed foam and left over not-enough-for-another-jar jam.  Tasting them side-by-side, we could detect a slight difference, but if you were unaware it was low-sugar, you probably wouldn't be able to tell.  So I might buy more of the "no sugar needed" stuff in the future. 

Until next time, Happy Gardening!!!