A Good Start - First Year in the Garden

This one is for you, Dad!

When it's chilly out and the forecast is calling for snow, it's a good time to remember the summer garden. Hard to believe, but just a few months ago we were getting up early to beat the midday heat, sweating and watering and weeding and harvesting. But what rewards we reaped!

When last I blogged about the garden, we had yet to install the pavers under the patio furniture. Bruce did a great job...

This became my spot. I love the smell of tomato plants in the morning!

Speaking of tomatoes, we started off with about five varieties in the 10' x 5' bed.

Then I remembered we had some plants we'd started earlier in the barn. Then we bought two yellow pear plants at the hardware store. Then our friend, Kati, gave us two beautiful heirloom tomato plants.

And have I mentioned how much I hate to thin?

We ended up with hundreds of gorgeous, green tomatoes. Green, green, green. Summer started to fade away and they were still green. Then the frost hit.






We lost almost all of them. We were able to save some yellow pears, and Bruce picked others that didn't freeze and let them ripen off the vine. We made some delicious marinara sauce. But, oh, what could have been! Next year, we'll start the plants even earlier and get them into the beds sooner. But you never know what Mother Nature is going to dish out!

The squash and pumpkins were very happy with their new digs.

Nice autumn decorations...

and good eats!










We got about 30 apples off of our little Haralred tree...

and Bruce pickled our plethora of golden beets.

This was just one of many harvests!

Mmmmm, pickled beets!

My lovingly grown cucumbers were transformed by Bruce into refrigerator pickles.

Dill Pickles (he also pickled some yellow pear tomatoes, broccoli, and other veggies).

Sweet Pickles and, my favorite, Bread and Butter Pickles. They are all super crunchy and full of flavor. Excellent!










One of our favorite crops was kohlrabi. I'm not so crazy about actually eating it, but I love its wacky, spaceship-like appearance.

Huge smiles and applause greeted the first flower to burst open on the pea plants.

So tiny and delicate - and a harbinger of good things to come!

It wasn't long before I was pickin' peas. The plants didn't flourish as much as I'd hoped. Apparently, peas are pretty fussy about their watering schedule. But we got enough for many suppers and some for the freezer.











Big, Fat Sugar Snaps!

Radishes flourished and are definitely a do-over for next year. My favorite thing to do with them: serve them sliced on top of baguette toasts covered with herbed cream cheese.

We had so much Slo-Bolt lettuce, we gave it away to friends and neighbors.

It was quite hardy and prolific, but I think I'll try to grow Romaine next year. I like the crunch!









Even though we got a little bit of a late start and the first frost came early, we harvested a Great Plenty and were very pleased with the first year in our new garden. I kept a garden journal so we know what worked well, what could be improved, and which crops are no-repeats or do-overs. We look forward to next year when we have more full pails lined up at the kitchen door!