Celebrating the Harvest 2013

 

As a gardener, the most important outcome of the garden season is the harvest.  That is what all the digging, weeding, planting, sowing and weeding is about; the harvest.  I'm always amazed when I begin to fill bowl after bowl of vegetables from a picking - it's really gardening "nirvana."

So I decided to put together a post featuring some Instagram snapshots that captured this years harvest.  It's a quick look at why we do what we do in the garden.

This past 2013 season was certainly no disappointment either.  Besides the fact that we had so much rain and cool temps, we still managed to bring in haul after haul of garden produce.

 

Sure our peppers languished for the early part of the season, but September proved to be a great month with nice mild temperatures; more sun and less rain.  All of a sudden our peppers really began putting on lots of fruit. 

 

We have scores of them and mostly hot peppers at that.  I'm not sure when I'm going to learn how to not plant SO many hot varieties.  Yes, we love them hot, but we do have our limits.  

By the way...if you ever want to learn how to eat hot peppers - start growing them and you'll soon find ways to use them.  I never ate a hot pepper 20 years ago, now we have a slight addiction to them.

 

Sadly, our tomatoes didn't fare as well.  They always suffer from Septoria Leaf Spot (a fungal disease which affects the plant) in our garden at home, but I usually still get a decent crop.

We did manage to get enough tomatoes to can this year, but many were under-ripe and very small.  All the rain and cool temperatures wreaked havoc on those temperamental Mediterranean plants.  It may not make the best sauce this year but at least it's our tomatoes with no added pesticides; thank you very much!  

Despite a bleak outlook in the beginning, most everything did well and we had more than enough to eat, preserve and share.  Which, I think, is really what it's all about.  I really love the harvest, it makes me feel so wealthy and successful.  I guess that's what it's supposed to do. :)

How was your harvest this year?  Blessings! 

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Seed Packets: Packages of Promise

 

There has always been something very enticing about a seed packet.  Whenever I see them in a store or in a catalog, I have to stop and look at them; almost as if I've never seen them before.  Maybe it's because they only make their appearance once a year.  Or maybe it's the rows of enticing pictures and colors that pull me in. They seem to stand out like picture postcards foretelling of happy times to come.

Whatever it is; I'm always drawn to them.  They scream out life in the middle of winter,  speak of hope for new seasons, and forecast great things coming my way if I'll only bring them home.

  

 It's not just the pictures that draw me either, the names are compelling as well.  The old timers who named many of the heirloom varieties were very creative and descriptive.  No Green Bean No. 17 here.

 With such names as "Green Tiger," "Red Russian," and "Dragon's Tongue," I feel as if I'm in the middle of a fantasy story itself, anxiously waiting for the story to unfold.

 Each packet holds the key to a new life in the recesses of it's paper shell.  Tiny seeds of promise, hope, life and renewal.  Promises that if you carefully follow its instructions, you will reap a harvest of fruitfulness and abundance.  I really like that...

All this in a 98 cent packet + good soil and water + a little hard work + faithfulness and hope = Abundant Harvest.  Wow.  I'm in!  Guess that's why gardening is such a rewarding way of life.  

Here's hoping all your promises come true this year...blessings!

Are you seed packet addict fan? 



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My Top Four Garden Vegetable Picks for 2012!

I really don't like to share garden photos this time of year because the garden itself looks REALLY overgrown and wild...however, this is a sign of lots of vegetable activity and this year was a bumper year for produce.  It was the perfect gardening summer; lots of sun, hot weather and decent rain (supplemented by our rain barrels) made for all around great growing conditions.  I always try new vegetable varieties every year, and this year I found four stellar performers that will definitely be making it back to my garden next year...

These plants were chosen because of taste, ease of growing, and how much it produced.  

My first fave is the Hot Hungarian Wax Pepper (the yellow peppers pictured in the middle.)  It's a garden classic, not a new variety, but that doesn't stop this plant from putting out pepper after pepper!  It's tops in productivity and taste!  It's a medium-hot pepper, the heat is anywhere from 1,000 to 15,000 on the Scoville rating list.  We found them to be hot enough for our eating tastes; they were great in chicken fajitas, quesadillas, chilis, tacos...you get the idea.  If the heat isn't enough for you, you can certainly bump it up to jalepenos and such, but this is a great beginner hot pepper for anyone.  We froze all the ones we didn't eat.  I may possibly pickle the last of the lot as they are excellent for canning and drying as well.  Any way you dice it, this pepper is a winner.

Next on my list is the Japanese Eggplant.  Now, I've grown eggplants for over a decade.  However, mostly in the the traditional egg shape.  I like the larger eggplant for parmesan and to grill up for an eggplant panini, but to be honest, my other eggplants didn't fare to well in the garden this year.  It could have been the location, but thankfully, these two Japanese plants gave us LOTS of delicious eggplants and in a compact size we could use up faster.  So, for a quick growing, versatile variety, you may want to give this kind a try.  Try these sliced up in a stir fry for something a bit different.  This plant was a favorite.

When it comes to zucchini, I'm a bit picky.  I don't like the type of zucchini that is really watery, I prefer a dryer, meatier variety and this heirloom round zucchini is perfect.  It grows ideally to about a softball size or smaller for the best eating quality, but of course, we would inevitably miss some or not get to the garden and ended up with bowling balls.  However, if you cut out the seeds in the middle and peel the skin, this zucchini was still tops to eat.  Nice firm flesh and mild flavor made it a great squash to have on hand.  I stuffed half a dozen of these and roasted them in the oven...fabulous!  The extras, I grated, drained and froze.  AND I managed to dehydrate many more as well for mid-winter soups and stews.  These are a great zucchini to have on hand and they keep a long time in storage if they've gotten bigger.  I've stored them in the pantry for a month and was able to use them after peeling.  Try this one out...it's a Spanish heirloom variety  and I found the seeds in a local grocery store, but you can find some here.  Oh, one more bonus, these plants keep a nice bush form which makes them a space saver...perfect!

Yes, I'm on a squash kick and if you know winter squash, you'll know these are the basic butternut type.  The big difference with this one though is the fact it's a bush variety, more specifically called, "Burpee Butternut."  I have a very small garden space and bush varieties are of vital importance if I'm going to grow squash.  So, this one was perfect for us.  Relatively small plants put out many large squash with a sweet full flavor.   We got about a dozen from only a few plants.  A nice amount for us and these will be perfect diced up in our winter beef stews, pureed in soup and diced and roasted in the oven.  I love this variety and if you are looking for a space saver, this one will satisfy.  I found these seeds in our Walmart, but you can find them online here.

Well, there you have it, my top four faves!  Hope this is helpful!  If it is, pin this so you can plan for your garden next year.  I know these lovelies will be growing for us in 2013.

What were some of your top garden favorites this year?  Blessings!

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