Let me catch you up......

So the last few weeks have been CRAZY!  Last Tuesday I had sinus surgery.  The third one, the last being 15 years ago.  Everything was going great until I heard after surgery the hospital pulled the plug on part of my treatment.  Not sure what happened and why but I WILL find out.  I'm kinda really pissed that up until my doctor walked into the OR that she thought everything was a go and then during the operation found out otherwise.  Nice for them to let everyone else in on that little detail.  Especially since I was unconscious.    And don't get me started on the last nurse I had to deal with.....there is a letter going to be written!

So the garden is planted with the exception of beans.  I tried to get everything done before surgery but it didn't work out as planned.  And now it is hotter than hot!  Ugh!!!

Our growing season lasts into October so that still gives me about 4 months of growing left.  I'm going to plant the beans anyway.  Crossing my fingers we don't get an early cool down this year.   I think the majority of the beans are 50-60 days so I still have time.  And I want to get some more corn planted.  Late sweet corn is a highly sought after thing around here so maybe I can capitalize on that.  :) 

Tomatoes are looking good, peppers....so-so and same with eggplant.  I need to get them some fertilizer since they are looking a bit yellow and not growing too much.  Maybe it's the mulch bed?  Who knows.  I haven't watered at all this year unless it was a new plant in the ground and so far they are all surviving well.

Oh and the sunflowers are up....let me tell you this much....don't buy cheap seed!  I had 2 packs of Burpee sunflower seeds that almost all of them sprouted and the pack of cheap mix flower sunflowers....well.....not so much.  Interesting factoid.  Won't buy them next year for sure.

When this heat breaks or I get out before night and it's cool I'll take some pictures.  Maybe a video.....we'll see.

  

Celery Update.....

I wanted to give an update and show you how fast this celery is re-growing in the dish of water.

Here's what it looked like 4 days ago...

And here it is today....

There are no roots to speak of and I'm not sure if it will root but in a few days or so I am going to plant it in a pot or in the garden. 

Re-growing celery from store bought...really?

I saw a lot of people using the bottoms of store bought green onions and celery to grow new plants and I finally remembered to try this before the end of the stalk made it's way to the chickens or garbage disposal.

What I have here is an organic celery end.  If you are going to do this you may as well invest in the organic produce.  If it works then you get multiple growth from a single purchase.  Stretching the dollar!

All I did was score the bottom lightly with a fork, you could use a sharp knive, and put it in a dish of shallow water.  Keep an eye on the water.  As it evaporates and the plant draws it in you need to add more.

The little sprouts in the middle are new growth!  Amazing.  The bottom should sprout some roots and then it can be planted in the garden or pot.  It should be a fun experiment.

Garden Update - those pesky deer.....

Yesterday was a race against the rain.  I had a ton to plant and get picked and try to fence things in....those darn deer! 

 

My poor lettuce.  Good thing this variety will grow back.

I started my day running something to school for my son and then decided to hit up the greenhouse next to the school.  Ugh why do I do this to myself?  Bought MORE plants.  Oiy!  I HAD to get more lettuce thanks to the deer and I picked up a few celery plants.  Never grew celery and what the heck, may as well try right?

And I replaced the plants I had on the brink of death and thought I resurrected....to no avail....again the deer.  Ate the leaves right off the little buggers.  But I see they don't like watermelon or basil.  They were right next to the plants and not a nibble.  Good for me!

I also picked up a few herbs....cilantro (my absolute favorite herb), oregano and dill for my pickles.

After this torrential rain we are supposed to get I'm getting the bean T-Pee erected and strings run and then plant the beans and peas.  It's the last day of school here and I really need the help of an older sibling.  Hard to harness a 4 year olds attention for very long.


Here's a photo of one bed of tomatoes.  These are the San Marzano, 12 of them.  Just beyond them are the Amish Paste and the lone Tim's Black Ruffle.  Another bed has my yellow Brandywine and Cherokee Purple and the final "tomato" plants are the Tomatillo.  I know they technically aren't tomatoes but I put them in that category for my garden's sake....

 

 

Breakfast - Local, organic, sustainable.....and cheap!



There is nothing better than going out your back door and picking all the ingredients for breakfast.

 

Today I harvested some of my baby spinach, pulled a sweet (candy) onion and some asparagus from the garden and hijacked 2 eggs from the chickens.

 

I par-cooked the asparagus and cut into about 1" pieces.  I then cut the onion to just above the white part and sautéed with the asparagus in a little olive oil and butter.  Added my eggs scrambled and the spinach.  Just let cook on medium heat slowly.   I had a piece of toast with homemade strawberry jam to complete the dish.   

 

The cost for this meal....pennies.  And I literally mean pennies.  Maybe 5 cents.  Try to get something like that out at a restaurant for that price!

 

 

 

Ingredients - simple.

 

 

 

In the pan...

 

 

All done...and it tasted delicious.

Finally some rain and planting!

I did finally get some of my plants in.  I thought I got all the peppers planted....then I found some more!  Whoops! 

I got the mulch in place for my faux raised beds although I may have put a few inches too much.  I think I had to dig down about 6 inches or so to find the dirt below.  Note to self, don't try putting mulch down then planting right away.  The dirt was SO DRY!  I did make holes in the two beds where the tomatoes are going so hopefully with the rain last night there will be some moist dirt under there!

I have the cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes and tomatillos yet to plant and the rest are getting started by seed.  Beans, cowpeas and squash. 

I want to get them all done this week.  I'm crossing my fingers!  And hopefully the deer stay out!  Then it's time to sit back and wait for everything to grow.....  :)