The Garden is Coming Along

Tonight I found my first and only red tomato! I don't know why the tomato plants look like they need water with their leaves curling up.  I gave them more water, but they weren't dry.  I have zucchini that are steadily maturing and green beans that are close.  Plus, I have rows of onions and peppers for my canned salsa.  I am happier with my garden this year because we installed a timer with zones for automatic watering!

It's that time of Year Again

I have had a slow start to the gardening season.  I just barely got the two rows of peas planted yesterday along with some raspberries and blackberries that I planted last week.  I did get the black plastic out and covered the ground until I get my tomatoes planted.  Last year I was so upset that I had to weed the ground before placing the plastic on top because the weeds came up.  This time I am giving the weeds no chance to grow.  I love using plastic because it's 99% weed-free.  This year I am using twice as much plastic.

Now I am waiting for Paul to install some kind of watering system, because hand watering is the pits.

What to do with my apricots?

Apricot Tart

I discovered that I have apricots that will be ready soon.  They are a surprise to me because last year the tree didn't bear any fruit.  Here are some things I've been thinking about making.

 Fruit Leather

 Apricot Grunt

 Apricot Jam

Seared Chicken with Apricot Sauce

Apricot Syrup

APRICOT BASIL DRESSING:  makes 1 cup
    1.     Combine 2 fresh, ripe apricots (pitted), 2 tbsp white wine vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar in blender; whirl until blended.
    2.     With blender running, slowly add 1/4 cup vegetable oil until thick and smooth.
    3.     Stir in 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil.

Gettin' the Garden Ready

 Paul is man handling the rototiller to get the garden ready!  I had him widen it by a row - so we will see how it goes this year.  Last year my top vegetable producers were red potatoes, green peas, and zucchini.  For some reason many of my tomatoes didn't ripen...I think I will get them a trellis to climb (I would like to can them next year).  I am hoping for more pumpkins, also. 

What else should I grow?

 

 Craig is caught planting some raspberry plants, some starts from his garden.  I can't wait to have a raspberry patch that is thriving.  We all love them.  Thank you, Craig!

 Thanks to Craig for bringing the rototiller out to our house - you were a great motivator to us in getting this done.

FHE - Harvesting & Pie in a Jar

For FHE, we each made our own pie in a jar - totally from scratch (the filling and crust)!  The kids had a lot of fun. We put the pies in the oven and then harvested the rest of the onions and red potatoes out of the garden.  By the time we were done, our pies were ready to be eaten!  The lesson was on the law of the harvest as well as Porter's message of bringing others unto Christ.  Last week Corbin gave out another Book of Mormon to a friend at school (he plans on giving out another soon) - he is our example of sharing the message of Christ with others.

 Looks like I caught Porter in action.  We had fun making our pies.

 Even Jr. was helping us in the garden.  I grew broccoli, but never harvested it...it all went to seed!

 I have some acorn squash still growing.  Aren't they so cute?

 We have Roma tomatoes galore.  I am going to can them!  Any ideas?

 Porter and a chicken

Olivia and Jr.  He wasn't being cooperative for the photo, I couldn't get him to look at me.

 The pigs are enjoying the corn stalks.

The Garden is In

At our last Relief Society meeting, I learned about using black plastic and tires in my garden to keep the weeds under control.  First you need to make your rows with furrows as dividers to be able to water it underneath the plastic. 



 Then you make a cut in the plastic and plant your item.  I planted all my tomatoes in tires and then a middle row of watermelon, zucchini, and a cucumber plant. I am hoping that this works!  I still have some more work to do to finish off this plastic area (as you can tell from the photo below).

 So here is the garden - it is surrounded by weeds that need mowed and then killed.  I have a beautiful row of peas, many red potato plants, 100 onions, some strawberries, herbs, and peppers.  I still need to plant pumpkins.

I love garden peas!

Square Foot Gardening

Have any of you seen garden seeds on sale? I need to buy some....please share your deals with me.


Okay it's that time of year to get your garden ready. Last year I didn't get mine planted until the beginning of June (late). We went on a long family trip the last part of May and I didn't want to burden anyone with watering or worrying about it. This year is my year to get this done right. This will be my third year of square foot gardening. This is how Marne explains Square Foot Gardening in a nutshell...."basically, you plant in boxes, use grids so you can plant per square foot (it keeps everything orderly & maximize your space), use a special soil mix, and get more food from one 4x4 box than you ever thought possible. SFG is by far the easiest way to garden. If you hate gardening because of the work involved, then SFG is for you".


With SFG there is:

*no weeding
*no rototilling
*no fertilizing
*no over watering
*better plant growth
*perfect for small yards or apartments
*more yield from one small box that in a large ground garden
*ONLY enjoyment!

Click here for the official square foot gardening website.

Vivian loves harvesting strawberries from the garden. We have one whole 6' x 6' box of strawberry plants and everyday she is looking for ripe berries. One of my favorite things to grow is basil - oh, it smells so good and makes the best pasta dishes!