Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Around the Garden













It's a jungle out there...well, pretty close. Things are getting a little wild and crazy in parts of the garden. The tomato plants are starting to lean over, heavy with tomatoes to ripen, the pole beans are reaching out looking for more trellis to grow on, the cucumbers, zucchinis, squash and pumpkins have left their individual raised beds and are spreading out far and wide, and we keep harvesting greens, beets, and carrots, but can't seem to put a dent in what is out there. It has been a pretty good gardening year. Yes, some things did better than others, that happens every year, but really we have nothing to complain about. The pantry shelves are filling up, over 100 jars of food have been put by so far, and the freezer is filling up fast.

I am still fighting the cabbage worms in the garden, and with all the rain and cooler temperatures, powdery mildew has hit the squash, zucchini and pumpkin. This happens pretty much every year around this time, but this year seems a little worse. I have been spraying them with my trusty water, dish soap, and baking powder mixture, and trying to control it. The plants are still producing, and sending out new leaves, so I am hopeful I can keep them around a little longer. The cucumber plants look brutal from all the hail damage, but the cucumbers keep on coming, and the pole beans are coming along great and providing us with lots of beans, for both meals and putting by.

The strawberry plants are getting close to giving us some late season strawberries, and as soon as they ripen, I will be taking them all out. This is their third year, and production is dropping. I am planning to move them next year, and will start fresh with some new plants. This bed will be worked over, amended with some compost and fresh soil, and will wait for garlic to be planted in late October.

The fall and winter beds are doing great. Seeds are sprouting, and this week will see a little bit of thinning here and there. We are hoping to get the tunnels up on the two raised beds this weekend, and then once the cooler weather hits we can get the covers on and protect our precious food for the fall and winter.

I moved a little soil into the empty potato beds, getting this area ready for berries next year...blueberries and raspberries. We are also adding some blackberries in another area of the yard, and will have the new bed of strawberries.

The harvests keep rolling in. I head out at meal times to pick a little bit here and there, and Justin usually hears me yelling from the garden to bring a few bowls out. You would think after all these years of gardening I wouldn't be surprised at how fast everything grows and ripens in the garden during these late August days, but here I am again, surprised and loving it.

The chickens were out, roaming about, when I snapped photos of the garden yesterday afternoon, so you get a few photos of them, free ranging around the yard.

How are things around your garden?

37 comments:

  1. Garden looks awesome!! :) The blonde chicken is beautiful what kind is she? My garden is almost finished so sad to see it ending already, but I have filled the pantry well.

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    1. Thank you! She is a polish top hat chicken, and she is awesome! Yay for filling the pantry.

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  2. I really do love your chickens Kim, they are the sweetest little faces.
    I can't believe you are getting strawberries, STRAWBERRIES in August!, amazing.
    We are still hot during the day, but early each morning this week I have noticed a shift and a smell in the air that lets me know fall will arrive, I love it.

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    1. Thanks Tracey, we love them too. They are so much fun, and each have their own personality. We have everbearing strawberries, so they produce early summer and late summer/early fall. Highly recommend them. We are getting much cooler mornings and evenings now, have to admit, I kinda like it :)

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  3. Love your chickens- I want some Bantam in the worst way. I think Foghorn is gearing up for next year he can't stop talking about them. The carrots look so fresh and delish- nice job Kim- you have a green thumb for sure...green hands for goodness sake!!!!

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    1. Thanks! Foghorn would have so much fun, and so many wonderful lessons come with raising them. The carrots are so sweet, and so beautiful on our plates. Awe, thanks :)

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  4. If it's a jungle then it's an amazing one, it all looks so good still. And those carrots are my new favourite!

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  5. It looks great. I love your chicken's hair do!

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    1. Thanks, she comes like that. Believe it or not, at the beginning of the summer it was gone. Our rooster pecked it out over the winter. It grew back amazingly quick and looks even better than it did before.

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  6. Those chickens are great! My look so boring in comparison!

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    1. Thanks! I don't think I have ever met a boring chicken, they are always so interesting to watch.

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  7. the chickens are gorgeous... and so are your carrots !!!

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  8. I love that picture of the chicken with the feathered head! It made me giggle. I wish I could take a gardening class with you or have you walk through my garden with me. But desert gardening is so different from temperate weather gardening....

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    1. Thanks KC. That would be wonderful, one day I will give you a tour of our garden :) And yes, totally different gardening here than where you are.

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  9. It is just beautiful Kim! We too have a lot of tomatoes this year, but other than that, my garden is hoplessly ill treated this year, so next year I have to plan something else...

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    1. Thank you. Hey, at least you got tomatoes :)

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  10. we have a bazillion tomatoes and no cucumbers. pretty dismal but we are okay with it. You know I am living the dream garden through yours, right??

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  11. Wow wow wow! Kim your garden is amazing. Good job my friend! I have ordered those carrot seeds this year. Enjoy your bountiful harvests, you deserve them! I so wish I lived next door to you so we could help each other in the garden and have endless cups of tea. xo

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    1. Thank you so much Julie! You will love the rainbow carrots, so sweet and fun to grow.

      Wouldn't that be wonderful my friend, walking in our gardens and chatting over tea. We might not live next door to each other, but we still might get to have that tea and a chat one day....

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    2. I hope so. My hubby is really keen to go to Canada one day. Hopefully you come to Australia too. xo

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    3. Well you know Australia is on my list of places to visit :) And if you ever get to Canada, you must come for a visit. xo

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  12. There's something profound about carrots (and every other vegetable or fruit) that are so many colours, shapes and sizes. Lovely work!

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    1. I agree. Every time I bring these beautiful carrots into our kitchen, I am amazed. Thank you.

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  13. Lovely to see everything so lush and alive. I think our gardens really did not bounce back from last week's single digit nights. We have yellowing leaves and sad looking plants. Ah well... we will have gotten quite some veggies this year, even if some beds will be pulled up shortly.

    Question : What is the white tarp material on you fall/winter beds?

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    1. Thanks Yanic. We have the yellowing, and curling leaves too, it comes with this time of year. Glad your harvest was a good one.

      Those are row covers. They help with germination, keep the bugs off the new seedlings, and can offer some cold and frost protection. These particular ones are not rated for frost, but we will get the frost protection ones for the tunnels for the winter. They allow both light and water to pass through.

      I order them from here http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/indoorseed/floatingrow

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    2. Thank you! Definitely on the purchase list for next spring!

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    3. No problem. They are awesome, and make this stage of gardening so much easier :)

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  14. I would love to see a photo of your pantry, maybe you could tell us some of your preserving recipes/techniques too? Our garden is a little bedraggled and windswept at the moment, we now have a greenhouse so next year we are on it!

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    1. Here you go :) http://www.motheringwithmindfulness.com/2014/08/abundance.html The shelves are completely full now, and jars are making their way into the basement. Gotta love this time of year. This photo is just of the top three shelves, where I store the canned goodies, the other shelves have beans, popcorn, etc on them. Will try to get a full shot soon.

      A greenhouse...how exciting! Can't wait to follow along with that.

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  15. Goodness I wish my garden looked as clean as yours does! Mine really is a jungle. I realized that weeding in the 3rd trimester is just not for me :-) We still have greens going strong, but powdery mildew hit our one surviving squash plant this past week. Hoping to get everything cleaned up this weekend!

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    1. I kinda think it would be for me either :) Good luck with the clean up.

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  16. I love all your garden plans! It looks like you're reaping many beautiful harvests too.
    The chicken pictures made me chuckle.
    I see you have fabric over the beds! What is your earliest frost date?

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    1. We are enjoying our harvests, they always taste so much better when you have grown them yourself, as you know :)

      Thanks, big plans for sure, but I think they are manageable. Only time will tell.

      The fabric is to help speed up germination and keep the bugs off my fall/winter seedlings. These particular ones offer no frost protection. We will put the heavier clothes on, and some greenhouse plastic once we get the tunnels built. First frost usually early to mid October. Heard the weatherman say the other day though that we can expect our first frost in September this year. We shall see.

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  17. I'm so jealous of your berries! I'm hoping to start some strawberries when we get a little closer to fall here.

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    1. I will be picking strawberries tomorrow...wish I could share.

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