Garden Update

Garden Update

Achieve1dream asked about my garden—I really didn’t think anyone cared! I am happy to do a garden update.

So far, things are looking fantastic—and I can hardly believe it. Some of the tomato plants are getting yellow, lower leaves, and I am concerned that I might have the blight, but since I planted 27 plants, even if the yield is a little less, it won’t make much difference—I am only one person. I am confident there will still be enough for me and plenty for my brother—the tomato obsessed one in the family. I have already picked a dozen cherry tomatoes.

Some of my peppers died—I think it was the greenhouse blight. Not much that I can do about that. I still have enough plants left. I have already picked one and put it in the chili I made last weekend.

The eggplants this year are black fingerlings. That is all the greenhouse had left. They are very healthy and I already picked one. I plant them amongst my lima beans. They make terrific companions. I haven’t had a bad crop of eggplants since I learned how much they like beans. Good thing I planted them in the lima beans last year instead of the green beans! They would have been lonely eggplants—thanks to the rabbits.

The rabbits haven’t snuck under the electric fence this year. Last year, they decimated my green beans. I know it was them—I saw one. This year, the beans look terrific. I even picked a handful to go in my rice casserole this week. In a few days, I am sure I will be freezing them.

I didn’t get the greatest germination with my lima beans, but I still think there will be plenty. I like them better than green beans. I freeze them, too. I also planted little black beans for dried beans. I haven’t done that for years—wait I did try last year, but the rabbits got them. So far, they look good. They just started to bloom. I like them in soup.

My squash and cukes look great, but I haven’t’ picked any, yet. I will do a whole post telling about my squash project once I see the results. It is just so nice to see such vigorous plants.

I planted some beets—even though I don’t like them. They are just so nutritious. I put them—beets + greens—in casseroles. It looks like I will definitely have reddish casseroles, soon. They let me make pink potato soup, too.

Last but not least, I have the best basil crop, ever. I dry basil in my dehydrator so I can use it the rest of the year. I just finished last year’s basil. I also dehydrate my cherry tomatoes to make sun dried tomatoes. I like them a lot better than fresh. If I have extra peppers, they go in the dehydrator, too. Oh, when I freeze my beans, I toss in a few stalks of basil in the package and freeze them together.

So that’s it, so far. I should really learn how to take pictures from my phone…