What Does An Icepocalypse And Gardening Have In Common?

If you are like many of us in Michigan and other parts of the country and even Canada, you have been dealing with the catastrophic results of an ice storm that hit a little over a week ago. Many, including myself, had/have been without power for 5-8 days. Tree limbs, power lines and poles have littered almost every street you turn down. People and families have struggled to find places to stay and ways to be warm. My family and I traveled to 3 different cities to stay with 3 different family members. And we were some of the lucky ones. Others have not had those options. And all of this in the middle of what was supposed to be a fun and joyous time during a Christmas break. It's been a struggle and a disappointment.

But in the midst of all of this, I have seen good things. Neighbors reaching out to help each other. My neighborhood in particular has been amazing in it's communication and out reach. We have shared generators, homes with power and we even had a bonfire in a front yard on Boxing Day to help warm up and come together. Another little bright spot, for me, was getting many of the different seed catalogs in the mail. (And there is your tie in)

Full disclosure, I am one of the lucky ones who only went 5 days and then obtained power. I have been able to read my seed catalogs using the lights in my home. This alone is a blessing. Seed catalog time has become a bring spot during gloomy winter months. It allows me to think and day dream about what Spring and Summer might shape up to look like. Looking at all of the fruits and vegetables and reading their descriptions has become exciting. I've heard some refer to it as "Seed Porn."

If you are fairly new to gardening and/or go to your local store and by your seeds on a whim off the supermarket shelves, I highly encourage you to start thinking ahead. Months ahead. Go and sign up for seed catalogs. Who doesn't love getting mail that isn't a bill? Or, if you would prefer, most places have their catalogs available online for you to browse. I still love having the hard copies to hold in my hands. Probably the same reason why I can't get into reading books on electronic devices. I just love the real thing in my hands. But it is an option. Part of the reason why I encourage you to think months in advance about your seed selections is because it will make you start to plan for your garden. It will allow you time to analyze what you are going to grow and where instead of going, "Oh crap! It's starting to warm up. I should probably throw some seeds in ground." But another reason is that the amount of information in some of these magazines is vast and more helpful than the back of a seed packet could be. Jhonny Seeds specifically comes to mind with the amount of knowledge they impart through their seed catalogs and packets.

If you just have a small to average size garden, chances are that you will not be able to use all of the seeds that come in these packets. One fun thing to do is get a few gardening friends together and do a seed swap. Talk about what you are thinking about ordering or already have ordered and see if they have anything of interest to you and vice versa. It is a fun and cheap way to get exposed to and try a certain strain without paying full price. Maybe you have a ton of carrot seeds left over that you don't think you will use. See if a friend has some left over watermelon seeds that you could exchange for your left over carrot seeds. Or ask me if I want to swap some seeds. (Helpful hint: I do and I will) It really is a fun way to come together.

Part of the reason I love gardening so much is that there is always hope. There is always next year. And it is something fun that has real tangible results and uses. If you are not familiar with any seed companies try places such as Jhonny's Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, Burpee and Gurney just to name a few. Read up on which strains you think might grow best in your area with your available sun and soil. And if you have questions ask! Especially if the questions involve asking to swap seeds. Until next time, stay warm. Stay hopeful.

Harvest Recipes and updates

The garden is most certainly dying back. The only things left out there to keep harvesting is some Kale and Swiss Chard. For the last week or two here in Michigan the day time temps are hovering in the upper 40's with the lows right around freezing. I pulled a few items that were left out in the garden. As some of you may recall, it appears I had planted my watermelons too late in the season and they are just now starting to ripen up. A few of them probably could have stood to ripen more but the frost and freezing temps weren't going to be lenient with me.

Along with the watermelons, I actually picked some more tomatoes, peppers and a big surprise, a small head of cauliflower. After my spring crop of broccoli and cauliflower failed to produce anything resembling heads, I kind of planted my fall crop with a defeatist attitude. Granted, I didn't pay them much attention due to expectations but lo and behold, I spotted a white head when I was going through and pulling up plants. The family and I ate it with dinner the other night and it had such a sweet end note to it. Not at all like what you experience with most cauliflower from stores. It actually renewed my interest in them and I am considering trying them again next year. The flavor was that good. 

Another thing that I had harvested was the heads from our Mammoth sunflowers. The stalks grew over 12 feet tall and the heads of the flower were bigger than dinner plates. I gave a sunflower head to my neighbor who actually planted the seeds and helped grow them throughout the year and another to our neighbors on the other side who had expressed interest. I still had 3 giant flower heads for myself. 

I'm not even sure if this does them justice or not but they are certainly large. So what to do with all of those seeds? Roast them and eat them, of course! Actually, I did save a few seeds for replanting next year. Although, I have heard that the 2nd generation of the mammoth seeds do not grow as big because they revert back to some of the original genetics (assuming that the mammoth seeds are hybrids). We shall see! Here is a fun site that shows you how to roast the seeds. 3 ways to roast sunflower seeds. There are also fun flavoring suggestions in there. I just did mine as a salt and pepper mix. Here is my finished product. There are a lot of them. 

Tasty!

And with harvest season also comes Halloween which for most households in America includes carving pumpkins. But before you can carve, you have to clean out the pumpkin. I always wait in anticipation after cutting a hole in the tops of the pumpkins because I want to see how seedy the pumpkins are. The seedier the better because I love to roast and eat the pumpkin seeds! And why not? They are a nutritious and quick snack and super easy to make. By taking them out of the pumpkin, you are already doing half the work. This year I made one batch of cinnamon and sugar seeds and one batch of salt and pepper. But there are many different flavor combos and I suggest you experiment to find which ones are your favorite! Easy pumpkin seed roasting instructions found here. 

Unfortunately our pumpkins didn't yield a lot of seeds this year. That is ok, I will enjoy what I can get. And just for fun, here is a picture of the pumpkin I carved! 

I hope I encouraged you to save more of the seeds in your yard and garden for eating and snacking. They are readily available and a good for you snack. Until next time, happy snacking! 

It's been a month. I apologize.

What has happened this past month? No blog posts after doing at least one a week for most of the summer? It can be summed up with two thoughts. My garden has been pretty slow and I've been lazy. That's about it. Oh sure, I've still been picking some green beans, tomatoes and peppers here and there. But outside of that? Not a whole lot happening. Until this weekend that is! 

About a month or two ago I had ordered a bunch of bulbs (flower and garlic) and seeds (flower) for the yard in spring. This past week I received the garlic bulbs (Early Italian) and 3 sets of my flower bulbs. Those included 100 wildflower bulbs, 20 Royal Tulip bulbs and 6 Purple Allium bulbs. This past Saturday was gorgeous with sunny and 75 degree weather so it was a perfect time to get out in the garden and plant some things in prep for the spring. 

The first thing that I did was clear out the old and dead squash plants from the summer. In their place, I dug some trenches to plant out some garlic. 

This is just one trench of 4 filled with garlic. Each trench has 10-12 cloves of garlic which should each turn into their own bulb. In other words, if things go right, I'm going to have a lot of garlic. Yay! 

Now, before I filled those trenches back in and covered the garlic with the dirt, I went over to my leaf pile and compost pile with my big 50 gallon bucket. My leaf pile has sat for a full year. I had a pile that was about 6-7 feet tall and 3-4 feet across last fall. Over the course of a year it has reduced down and formed something called leaf mould. Or this. 

Now that may not look like anything special to you but that black dirt under the layer of leaves is like black gold to a garden. And after a years worth of waiting, I finally get to use some! I filled half of the bucket with the leaf mould and half with my compost that I made over the course of the summer. I have a nice pile of that as well. 

With my bucket full of some of the best stuff you can give your crops, I put a layer on top of each garlic bulb before I filled the dirt back in. I used this same process when I put all of my flower bulbs in the ground. Every thing gets a healthy boost of compost/leaf mould. This should get the plants off to the best start they can have come spring. 

Another thing that was done this weekend was harvesting all of the basil from the garden. And there was a LOT! I didn't get a picture of all of the basil on the stems but I did spend a good hour or so stripping leaves off. But I did take a picture of what I spent all morning making with it. 

First, all of the picked leaves.

Second, a couple POUNDS worth of homemade pesto. 

I would post a recipe for all of you but there really isn't an exact one for me. My recipe consists of: A few handfuls of basil, some olive oil, fresh grated Parmesan and some nuts. Repeat as necessary while blending and everything breaks down to create more room. And freeze. Pretty good stuff right there. 

I'm still eagerly awaiting my other flower bulbs so I can get them put into the ground. I'll try and keep everyone updated a little better! Until then, Happy Gardening! 

Recipes from the Garden: Hot Sauce V. 2 The Global Warming

Some of you may remember my first batch of hot sauce called Red Dragon. It was a mild to medium flavored hot sauce made by boiling peppers, vinegar, water and other vegetables like carrots and onions. It was good but lacked some of the kick I have grown accustom to when eating hot sauce.

With my boon on peppers, I decided to try my hand at a new hot sauce recipe. This one was a bit different as it didn't use vinegar (only water) and it relied on time and fermentation to give it that hot sauce flavor. I stumbled across it while browsing the internet and decided to give it a try despite me being a bit wary about fermentation, how it works and what to expect.

I found the recipe at FrugallySustainable.com. You may want to click on the link to check it out yourself as it does a much better job at presenting and explaining the recipe. If you have any questions, there is a great comment section below the article with a few people chiming in to answer any concerns.

This recipe is different than the first in many ways, one of them being that something could go wrong here. If your jar is not filled to the top and the seal is not air tight, mold/scum could potentially seep in. I personally didn't have that problem. I filled the water to the top, screwed the lid on tight and let it sit on my counter out of direct sun for 2 weeks. You may want to slightly burp the lid every 4-5 days so the pressure doesn't build up and do anything bad. You'll see the carbonation from the CO2 rise up when you do this. Just a quick release of the gas should be fine. No need to take the lid off all the way. I only did this twice on mine but I did have some liquid bubble out and escape before I opened the lid. The pressure found a way to force some out.

I know I just made it sound like a dangerous science experiment but its really not. Those are just cautionary things. Essentially it is more of a waiting game by letting it sit for 2 weeks. I blended mine up this past Friday, exactly two weeks after I put it together.

I have named it The Global Warming as the heat spreads across the surface of your mouth with little hopes of reversing it. It is much hotter than the Red Dragon but not in a way that you want to throw yourself in a pool of milk. It is flavorful and creates a warming effect. It is actually very similar to Sambal Oelek made by Huy Fong Foods (aka the Rooster people who make Sriracha). I will definitely be making this hot sauce again. Now if only I had a recipe for those pesky little Ghost peppers....

Anyone out there have any Ghost pepper recipes? Preferably for hot sauce as I can't imagine a dish being made with them having any redeeming qualities and I would prefer not to waste money on the other ingredients.

As always, if anyone has any questions, please let me know! Happy gardening (and cooking!)

Peter Piper has nothing on me

My garden is dying. Not all of it. But most of it appears as yellowish brown and wilted. Despite this, there is still fruit to be bore. The plant that is showing the most evidence of demise is my squash. I believe it is being helped along by the striped cucumber beetles that have taken up residence there near all season long. I am still getting a few squash from the plants but the growth rate has slowed. It's to be expected. This is September after all.

But wait. Is it? I just did one of my last few harvests for the year in 90 degree weather. This is supposed to be harvest season where the air is starting to become crisp, the breeze cooler and the wearing of summer shorts more sporadic. At least that is what I am used to here in Michigan. But no. Instead, I have come in from a picking dripping with sweat. But that is OK because this IS Michigan after all and if you don't like the weather you just wait for a bit. This case is no different. Yesterday it hit 93 here in Lansing. Friday the high will be 60. The low a mere 40 degrees. That is a 53 degree difference in 4 days. Yikes. I digress.

The plant that I am still picking from at a ridiculous rate is my black cherry tomato plants. I can barely keep up with them. So prolific. I have to believe I have picked 2-3 pounds a week for the past month or two. At least. This is from 4 or 5 plants. Oddly, my Italian heirloom tomatoes did not produce like crazy. I probably only harvested about 25 tomatoes this year so far. Which is a complete switch from last year. Last year, I was probably taking in 25 tomatoes a week from July onward. Enough to make lots of sauce to freeze. And my black cherry tomatoes were in low supply. Obviously this years weather made my tomato crop low but I have to wonder if it in turn made the cherry tomatoes more abundant.

Also, you may remember a month or so back that I had to pull many of my pole beans due to bean rust. Well, I let a 3-4 of the healthier plants stay just to see if they would grow and produce. They have. I have been picking beans off of the pole bean plants for the last few weeks. Glad to see I still managed to get something from them despite it being an off year.

And last but not least, my peppers. It is a good thing I love peppers and eat them with a lot of my food. Because holy wow. Just a few plants has kept me in full abundance all summer long.

And now for the pictures. These are just what I picked today.

Just one harvest. I've gotten this amount every 3-4 days for the last month or so.

Three more acorn squash! I have to admit, I've yet to eat the original 3 or 4 I picked a few weeks back as I've been waiting for more autumn type weather to eat and enjoy. And would you look at that pile of peppers?

Mix of pole and bush beans. Probably one of my last decent sized harvests for the year as most of my bush beans are done. 

There you go! In the next week or two, after I clean out the garden bed, I will do a year end reflection blog entry and further explain what you can expect out of me and this blog during the winter months. Thanks to everyone who reads this. For me, it is more than just a hobby and I love sharing what I do. And again, as always, your comments and questions are always welcomed here!

Bookend of Summer = Harvest Season

Today is Labor Day and caps off the 3 day Labor Day weekend as well as the end of summer. Not officially but in the minds of a lot of Michiganders, Labor Day is the last hurrah for summer. My wife and I tried to make the most of it ourselves. We were married 3 years ago on a Labor Day weekend so we celebrated by having a night away with each other. Afterwards, we met up with my Aunt who had our son. We ended up spending the night and camping with them. I was able to relax and kick back. For the most part. 

I say for the most part because always in the back of my mind was, "I need to get back to my garden. I bet there are tons of things ready to pick." Upon my arrival home last night, I found out that I wasn't wrong. I was able to pick a couple of tomatoes and yellow squash before deciding to hang it up until I could get in there and see everything better the next day. 

I knew when I went to pick things in the garden that there would be a lot but I didn't realize just how much. I had to make multiple trips to empty my bowl I was using for harvesting purposes. The black cherry tomatoes were so abundant it was like picking berries. The green beans were also getting quite large. I imagine that I picked a pound or two today. 

Another fun point to note: Almost all 3 or 4 of the Ghost peppers are red and ripe. I have one spoken for but that still leaves two or three left for the taking. Same with my basil. I have a half field of that yet to harvest. 

Here, take a look. 

I'm very serious about giving some things away though. If you live in the Lansing area and are interested in the basil or the Ghost peppers, let me know. I'll set some aside for you. 

Recipe from the Garden

The first thing I want to show you is another haul I made from my garden two days ago.

All of those peppers pictured above? They are just the ones that were ripe and ready. I have another bunch that will be picked in the next week, I'm sure. That means I am making more hot sauce. Although, this next recipe I will try involves a fermentation process that takes two weeks. I'll post it after I have put it together.

The real reason why I am writing this post is because of my dinner from last night. I made a Tomato Basil soup and paired it with a good old fashioned grilled cheese. It was so delicious and garden inspired that I had to share it with all of you.

Tomato Basil Soup

2 large diced tomatoes
1 (11.5 ounce) can tomato-vegetable juice cocktail (or you can juice a few tomatoes if you have a surplus
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
20 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 cup heavy cream (I used whole milk)
1/4 cup butter or margarine

In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, vegetable juice, basil and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. At this point, you may puree the soup if you wish. I recommend you do so either with a stand up blender or a hand blender (what I used). Add the cream and butter; return to medium-low heat, and stir until butter is melted. Serve immediately.

Seriously, this is one of the freshest and smoothest tomato soups I've ever had. Highly recommended! Also, feel free to add in any salt or pepper or anything else as needed. I didn't because I felt it tasted wonderful without any other additions but that is not to say it couldn't be improved on. 

Try it out and let me know what you think! And if you need any fresh basil, ask me. I have PLENTY. 

Giddy from Gardening

This morning I took my son out for the 2nd time in 4 days to do some blueberry picking at a local farm. The first day the whole family went along. A lot of fun was had and we got about 12-13 lbs of blue berries for under 25 dollars between the two days. Amazing deal! They are very sweet and I have no complaints other than I wish the season wasn't so short. There is maybe another week left before they become too soft for picking.

After we came home and I put Jack down for nap, I went out to see what my own garden had in store for me. I wasn't disappointed! Squash galore, a least a half pound of green beans and tomatoes!!

I started moving branches around in my jungle of tomatoes and among the green unripe black cherries I saw the vaguely familiar glint of purplish red that would indicate ripe (or nearly ripe) black cherry tomatoes! I popped the first one I picked right in my mouth. Couldn't help it. It was big, juicy and sweeter than I had remembered. It made me do one of those audible mmmm's of appreciation. It was that good. I'm a happy gardener today!

Red Dragon Hot Sauce

I made homemade hot sauce! For those who know me pretty well, this is pretty exciting as I love hot sauce and salsas of many and all kinds. Here is the recipe that I used.

1 lb blend of Cayenne and Serrano peppers (I didn't measure exactly, just used whatever had ripened up at that point. I think I used about 5 or 6 of each pepper )
2 medium carrots (I used my Purple Dragon carrots from my garden)
1 medium onion, quartered
1 large garlic clove
3 c of water
2 c of white vinegar
2 tbs salt
1 tbsp of ground ginger
1/4 cup of liquid pectin, found near the canning section.

1- In a stainless steel non-reactive pot add all ingredients except for the pectin. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until the carrots are soft

2-Turn off heat and add the pectin, stirring well to incorporate

3- Let mixture cool to room temperature then place in blender.

4- Blend on high for about 2 minutes or until fully blended

5- Strain Mixture into a clean container, use a ladle or spoon to press out as much of the liquid as possible and discard the solids.

This hot sauce should keep well in the fridge for about a year.

Here is how it looks!

I have officially named it Red Dragon hot sauce. 1, because it is red from my Cayenne's and has my purple dragon carrots in it. And 2, because it's kind of a bad ass name for hot sauce. It has a pretty good bite to it but is also very flavorful!

If anyone wants some, I have plenty to share. Let me know in the comments and we'll work something out!

Also, I was thinking of sharing a recipe or two a week on here, especially as the season slows down into the fall and winter. What does everyone think? Is that something you'd be into?

Harvest Update

Went out to mow the back lawn and discovered some things were ripe! Found my first and only ripe tomato but a few more are on their way to turning, including my black cherry tomatoes. My mini acorn squash looked about ripe to me due to the orange spots that had previously been yellow and the ease at which they snapped off the vine when I was inspecting them. I picked a few more peppers, both cayenne and serrano. Hot sauce is going to be made this week! And last but certainly not least is the mammoth 2 foot long squash that had been hiding under masses of squash leaves and vines. Not that it takes long for them to get that big. A day or two really. I wonder if it will be at all salvageable for food or if it is beyond good eating status. Oh well! Pretty excited to try all of these new treasures from the garden.

On Composting. A Readers Question.

I've recently received a question from a reader and decided to answer it in blog form in case anyone else has the same questions.

Catherine has asked "I'm using raised beds for my garden that up until this spring were just rock beds. Do you add anything to your soil after all of your crops are done to get them in shape for the next growing season?"

Thanks Catherine, both for reading and for the question. I have in fact worked to make sure my soil has plenty of what it needs in terms of nutrients. I have gotten into composting in the last year. I put anything in it that is bio-degradable and will break down within about 6-12 months. For our house, there are a lot of fruit and vegetable scraps (rinds from melons, banana peels, strawberry tops, etc etc) and we put all of our coffee grounds in the compost as well. Maggie has even brought the shredded paper scraps from work and I've thrown a few garbage bags of shredded paper in there to help even out the moisture content. I keep the scraps in an old coffee bin or those plastic ice cream buckets. Re-purpose those to hold your compost until you take the bucket out to dump it. Anything with a seal-able lid and is easy to clean out would be ideal. Just make sure not to put meat or dairy scraps in the garden. They will spoil and attract animals.

Now as far as where to put your compost. I keep mine in a pile behind my garage. I'm lucky that the back of my yard is framed in by a garage and a shed so it's fairly out of view and protected. Others may not have the space or opportunities to have a pile of compost in their yard without it being unsightly. There are composting bins available as well. A few different styles are available at varying costs. A quick search on Google will give you some ideas of what you will be looking at. Rate of decomposition is a matter of preference as well. My open ground style takes a little longer but I turn it from time to time (once a week or so) and I usually have a nice pile of usable compost in 3-6 months. I have two piles. One I start in the late summer when I pull up my crops and throw the tomato plants and squash vines and other crop scraps onto the pile. And I add onto it through the winter. By the time spring rolls around and you are getting ready to plant, that pile should be broken down pretty well. At that time, you start your new pile and since things break down faster in the summer heat, a good chunk of that pile should be broken down by the time the end of summer summer rolls around. You then can either spread and use that for fall crop planting or just to condition your garden beds before winter.

Another thing that I have next to my compost piles is a leaf pile. When I rake my leaves, instead of sending them to the curb, I dump them into a pile and let them compost and break down for about a year. What will form on the bottom of the large leaf pile is a thing called leaf mould. This is a great page to do a quick read up on it. Either way, the main thing is it is great for your soil and in turn, your plants. I have even asked my neighbors to give me their leaves. It works best to have them chopped up a bit before adding them to the pile but if not? Not a big deal. It might take a little longer to break down and you may have to turn the pile a little to keep the decomposition going but it will still happen. In the fall after I have collected leaves and cleaned out my garden beds, I spread a layer of leaves about 6-12 inches thick. It might look like a lot at first but it will settle over the winter. The leaves will also break down while on your beds. They will provide protection to the soil from the harsh winter and also draw up the worms to help work your soil. (Hint: Worms are one of the best things for your garden. If you find a lot of worms in your garden soil, chances are that is good soil). In the spring, I rake them off with a garden rake onto a blue tarp. I then drag the remaining leaves back onto the larger leaf pile and let them continue to break down through the summer. By the time fall rolls around, just before its time to start over and collect more leaves, your leaf pile should have a good layer of leaf mould on the bottom. Spread that on your garden before you cover it with new leaves from the new fall and repeat the process. Very cyclical. It makes nature happy.

And the last thing that I tend to do is add some organic fertilizer during the season about every 4-6 weeks. Make sure the package says organic and be sure to read dosage instructions. (The different kind of nutrients you'll find in different fertilizers is worth a whole other post).

Soil tends to settle and erode over the years, especially in raised beds. If you find or think that you don't have enough soil, be sure to add some top soil as needed.

I have detailed my own processes but composting can be variable depending on your own situation and your needs. There are a lot of good books on composting out there. Your local library may even have some. Read a few to try and get a feel for what would work best for you and to get even more information.

I hope this has helped. It sounds like it can be complicated but really it is as easy or as complicated as you want to make it. The process, decomposition, is the same in the end!

Home gardeners continue to be targeted

Can you tell the difference between Marijuana plants and Tomato plants?

I'm always baffled by stories like the one in the link above and yet I'm not sure why. It has happened at an increasing rate in the last decade. People who are using their small space to grow food are being targeted and their food supplies are being destroyed under the reasoning of "code violations." Code violations... really. Yet we see no violations when big corporations spray our foods with poison and then ship it out to millions for consumption. No codes broken except for the (oft forgotten in big business) moral code of "Thou shalt not poison the masses." I know some may think this is not a huge deal but it does happen often. I suppose I could link a few more articles showing my point but right now I'm too upset and frustrated and I don't feel like furthering that feeling by revisiting more articles on the same topic. But if someone out there reading wants more information or examples, I'll get it to you.

I guess from all of this my point is simply this: educate yourself and be aware of small liberty violations. Bottom line: It is our rights as humans to grow our own food on our own property. And it's horrible and scary to think that others are threatened enough by this basic desire and right as to destroy something as peaceful and harmless as another persons garden and food source.

You say tomato, I say ripen up already

Seeing red? Not quite yet. 

Yes, it is true. It is the middle of August and I have yet to harvest a ripe tomato. Oh, I have plenty of big beautiful green ones that have just been sitting on the vine. But none that have ripened to that big, robust red we all know and love. It makes me a sad panda. Last year at this time, my tomatoes had been going strong for a few weeks and I was still waiting on my cayenne peppers to ripen. Actually, I had to pull my cayennes at the end of the season before a frost and let them ripen hanging up in my basement (they did, rather nicely too). But as of today? Cayennes are turning red left and right. And my tomatoes are as green as the day they appeared on the vine. Oh sure, logically I can tell myself it is due to the weather being so cool. But screw logic! I want some 'Maters!

Cayennes ripening in the background. 4 have already been picked up to this point

More tomatoes

Black Cherry tomatoes with some Serrano peppers.  

Small tomatoes, big tomatoes. 

Well, in the meantime, at least I can focus on some of my other crops that are ripening up. Remember those Ghost Peppers I was telling you about? 

Boo

If the plant looks bad, it's because it is. The tomatoes have smothered out the sunlight and are slowly killing off the plant. BUT the peppers seem to be making it through at this point. I have recently made the mistake of looking up videos of people eating ghost peppers. Yeah... here's the thing. I like hot and spicy things. But I'm not stupid. With that being said, who wants some ghost peppers!? Seriously, they are yours. I just clear my name of all responsibility. And I will give you a small run down on handling them before I hand them off to you, dear reader. Then I wash my hands of said responsibility. And of hot pepper oil. 

Other things are coming along nicely as well. What you have here is some nice Rainbow Swiss chard along with some Holy Squash Batman!! I can't complain at all about my squash plants. From day one they have taken to their spot in the garden and have made themselves comfortable by filling in any of the empty spaces. Whether it is summer squash, zucchini or acorn squash, they have all been bountiful. 

One small (or big, depending on how you look at it) tragedy is some of the things I have found due to the cool and wet weather we've been having. WARNING: What you are about to see is foul and grotesque. 

F'ing gross

That right there is one of at least 4 slugs I found after a rainy day. That thing in the top left corner? That is one of the other 3 or 4 slugs I found and consequently crushed. Little known fact: Slugs are really really hard to kill under shoe. They just squish and slide and rebound back to form. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Hey lets get back to something pretty! I mentioned earlier in the season that I had planted some wildflowers in my front yard and I would show you what they looked like when fully grown. Well, the time has come! 

I know, I know. The lighting is horrid here. 

Just to give some perspective on how tall these things are getting, I'm about 6'2... minus 4 inches...

So really, they have turned out quite beautiful. Even more then these pictures can show. I'm pretty happy with all of it. I'm excited to start to plan next year as flowers are a fairly new adventure for me but I'm starting to appreciate them more and more. 

I will leave you with a glimpse of some things that are currently growing but not quite yet ready for harvest.

Bush Beans

Moon and Stars Watermelon

Brussels Sprouts

Thanks for hanging in there and reading, especially after that slug picture.