Garden 2.0 Update

Well as summer is in full swing my garden is sort of slowing down.  My squash, zucchini and bell peppers are dwindling but my tomatoes are better than ever. 

 

About every other day I get around 25 pounds or more.

 

This past weekend we were at an annual lake camping trip with friends and I picked over 50 pounds that had matured over the weekend or the past 3 days of absenteeism. 

Although the variety of produce that my garden is yielding has slowed my activity with the garden it's self has NOT. 

I'm still watering, picking, and now processing tons and tons of tomatoes. 

 

So far I've made 2 batches of spaghetti sauce, enough to last us until next season, and also a batch of fantastic salsa.  I have frozen around 20 pounds of just straight whole tomatoes for cooking throughout winter and still have more plans of freezing squash, zucchini, and making another, if not 2 more, batches of salsa. 

 

I'm really enjoying how much my garden brings to our lives.  Hendrik is equally enthused with it's production and is usually right behind me reminding me to water or that he picked some big veggies. LOL  We enjoy harvesting together at least once a week in the quiet just hunting for ripe ones in the overgrowth.  It is also relaxing to get out there by myself and is always a workout with all the twisting and bending over I'm constantly doing. 

I wouldn't mind eventually having a green house to grow my things in solely due to the grasshopper infestation I have.  Grasshopper happen to be the reason the rest of my plants of sort of stopped producing because the grasshoppers have all but killed my squash and zucchini and most of my peppers get holes in them before they reach maturity.  I have several cussing matches each time I'm out there and discover that more and more of my produce is rotten due to those useless insects. 

This is what my garden looks like...it's not the prettiest as grass has poked its way through all the room that is available but thankfully that has kept my squash and peppers from rotting on the ground since it has been an unusually wet summer and also from my excessive watering at times. LOL  As the saying goes...don't judge a book by its cover...my garden may not look like its doing great but great isn't even the word.  Hendrik likes to take full credit for the quality and quantity of produce that it's yielding saying he's the best farmer and boyfriend so that's the reason...I say its my stellar green thumb or maybe just a mix of both of us. 

Stay tuned for a couple farm to table canning recipes that I've worn slap out the past month.