I was walking through the garden yesterday morning when something yellow caught my eye. I walked closer to my row of Minnesota Midget Melons, thinking there were some weeds growing around them. Turns out the melon vines are blooming, already! I bought these seeds because the catalog description described them as “extra early producers with vines that rarely exceed 3 feet.” The vines are short, just over a foot currently, but healthy looking. Obviously they’re healthy, they’re blooming.
The snow peas are producing like crazy, we’re harvesting some every day. They continue to flower as well, the shelling peas are almost ready to harvest and continue to flower. The tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and all of the bean varieties are flowering.
All of this flowering is such a welcome sight. Soon, there will much to harvest and I will be busy preserving my garden’s bounty. I’ve been nervous about the garden, frankly. Last year, our garden area was lawn and very neglected lawn at that. I know it takes several years to build up good, garden soil; but I didn’t want to wait. I figure I can build up soil and suffer fewer yields in the meantime. The weeds, too, are out of control – I expected that but I still find it a struggle. I’m going to continue working on the soil: feeding it, pulling weeds, etc. and not stress out about it being “perfect.” In a few years, I know it will all have been worth it.
Independence Days Challenge – Week 11
Plant Something: Nothing was planted
Harvest Something: radishes, lettuce, beet greens, whole beets, onions, snow peas, carrots
Preserve Something: Dehydrated blueberries
Reduce Waste: Nothing special beyond the usual
Preparation & Storage: We found some free hay bales that had gotten wet and brought them home for next summer’s garden mulch. Wood for winter heating has been chopped and stacked.
Build Community Food Systems: Taught another canning class and ran an ad on Craigslist offering to trade processed / preserved food and nuts in exchange for keeping some for myself (we’ll see what happens).
Eat the Food:A salad every day from the garden, steamed snow peas, roasted beets, stir-frys from garden produce. Smoothies from frozen bananas.
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Your root crops look amazing! I’m always too impatient and pull them when they’re tiny.