Small Garden

Usually by this time of year the garden is in full swing and we are getting ready for the fair. There are piles of tomatoes and zucchini and we are canning like crazy and giving the stuff away. This is not the case this year. This past weekend we finally had a break in the hot weather, Sunday was overcast and cool so it was time to work in the garden. The main goal was to move the irrigation hoses around to only water where there were still plants. We also cleared out the weed and dead plants, this resulted in showing how truly small the garden is this year.

So what do we have left...well there is the kale

...and a tomato plant.

Here is Katie with the kale.

Katie with the peppers, there are three plants.

There is a random volunteer tomatillo that hasn't produced yet but looks healthy.

The corn is doing good and getting quite tall. This is all popcorn so we are in the drying out phase.

The pomegranate tree is doing good but no blooms yet. The near by peach tree did have three peaches but the birds ate them before we could get them. 

And here is the wide view of the garden. There are two watermelon plants and a cantaloupe but so far the melons are really small and I don't hold out much hope for them producing.

I had thought last year the garden was low producing but this year makes last year look like a great year. I have not found anyone who has had a good year. There are a variety of possible factors including the severe drought, usually hot weather, etc... Given the current state of water in California if there isn't rain this winter we may not be doing a garden next year just to conserve water. 

Garden is Going

We got a bit of rain this last weekend, not nearly enough to make a dent in the drought but it gave the yard a little boost. I have been taking pictures of the progress but failed on the posting them part. The weeds also got a boost so don't mind them in the photos.

 Here is the peach tree, it had a few peaches on it! Katie is keeping a close eye on them.

Here are the rows of beets and kale.

Here are two rows of tomatoes, that is the artichokes there on the end. We already harvested those a few weeks ago.

Here is the side yard, our new addition this year. The hoses show where the rows are. Today the corn and popcorn seeds were planted.

There are still a few shelves of baby plants growing in the garage, they will be moving out to the yard in the next few weeks.

Vegetable Broth

I recently had an abundance of veggies in the refrigerator, this means its time to make some broth. Everything gets cut up and put in the pressure cooker. Throw in some herbs and water and it cooks for about 20 minutes.

The pressure cooker quickly cooks it all up, the solids get strained out and the liquid goes into the freezer. It is an easy way to use up scraps and veggies you do not have a use for.

Pumpkin and Squash

I have posted about our pumpkin adventures here and here. We have updated and refined the process over the years. This year we only had a few pumpkins but also had banana squash, hubbard squash and butternut squash. We cooked and combined all of these for our "pumpkin" this year. Most store bought canned pumpkin is not actually pumpkin, many other squash have similar flavors but smoother consistency.

In our usual routine we de-seeded and cut up the squash. 

The best and easiest way to cook the pumpkin is...in my pressure cooker! Usually used for canning we have found it is great for cooking large quantities of things like potatoes and squash too. The pan is large and it cooks easily.

Once cooked we run it through Kitchen Aid mixer food mill attachment (I love this attachment). We can then freeze the puree and are set for another year.

Canning progress

Time to update what has been canned but I will start with dried. When we had an abundance of zucchini we made zucchini chips. They were slices and then mixed with onion soup mix then dried, pretty tasty. 

Blueberry Chutney You Can Can

Sweet and Tangy Gerkin Slices The Complete Book of Pickling

Bread and Butter Pickles The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Sweet and Tangy Zucchini Pickles The Complete Book of Pickling

Strawberry Jam from the pectin box

Zucchini Fennel Seed Relish The Complete Book of Pickling

Strawberry Jalapeno Jam

How is the garden growing?

I have had several people ask how the garden is doing this year. I keep taking pictures intending to post but then more changes and the pictures feel out of date. I took these pictures last Monday and it has grown since then.

This is what we got out of the garden on Monday. The beets were ready so that is about 30 of them, quite yummy. Of course lots of squash, it is growing well and I have it everywhere in my house. We pick it almost daily.

This is the largest tomato plant. We planted a lot less tomatoes this year but they are growing well and have small green tomatoes we are waiting on to get ripe.

Something new this year was planting garlic, that is what these thin plants are.

There are peas growing up the netting along the fence.

The kale has done well and is huge.

Here we have cucumber and some other plants. We have them climbing the cages to help save on ground space.

The pepper plants have been attacked by bugs this year, only a few have survived and they are quite small but there are peppers growing on them.

Here are the squash, a wide variety are growing and they are all doing well. No pumpkins yet but the hubbard are going a little crazy.

We have already harvested and eaten the artichokes.

Here is another looks at the peas and garlic.

Not pictured is the corn with has grown about 5 inches in the last week. They are planted around the peach tree and rhubarb on the other side of the yard.

Getting the garden going

This year I want to use the unused side yard for some planting, probably corn and maybe some squash will go over here. First though it has to be cleaned up. The very tall juniper trees that were in my front yard when I moved in and were removed as well as the cottonwood trees that were growing here have all just been stacked in this area. 

It is sort of a brush pile.

We began by using loppers to cut some of the smaller branches so the would fit in the green waste bin.

Of course moving all this stuff around unearthed various bugs that needed to be examined.

The larger branches are going to need to be sawed down so for now I pulled them into a separate pile.

Meanwhile the tiller has come back out and the main garden area has had its first tilling. The soil is nice and dark and smells great. The work put into in over the last two years had definitely paid off.

And how can any four year old resist a whole lot of fresh dirt.

Katie ran around in it for quite awhile, exposure to dirt is supposed to strengthen a child's immune system  plus this exhausted her so it was a win win.

In the garage this is happening

Seeds have been planted for broccoli, kale and cauliflower. So far so good....

Fair Time

This year we entered more items in the AV Fair than last year. I entered two quilts and we entered canned goods and fresh vegetables. Warning lots of pictures!

Here are my two quilts:

Cartwheels Quilt

Easy Strawberry Fields Brick Quilt

In fruit and vegetables we had 15 entries.

Japanese Eggplant 3rd place

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes 1st place

Large Tomatoes

Yellow Pear Tomatoes 3rd place

Tomatillos 3rd place

Sunflowers

Roma Tomatoes

Red Pear Tomatoes on vine

Red Cherry Tomatoes 1st place

Yellow Zucchini Squash

Cantaloupe 1st place

Hubbard Squash (very ugly) 3rd place

Zucchini Squash green

Watermelon 2nd place

Pumpkin

Canned goods we had 8 entries

Apple Butter

Tomatillo Salsa

Nectarine Jelly 2nd place

Orange Marmalade 

Pomegranate Jelly

Applesauce 1st place

Apricot Jam

Raspberry Jam 1st place