80/20

Eighty percent of the time vegetable gardens are pretty. Twenty percent they are a hot mess. The sunflowers say it best. In the inverse relationship category, the garden requires tons of work to transition from summer to fall. Seed packets are all all around the computer in piles to indicate what will be sown. Seedlings cover the garden table and potting bench. I am preoccupied with watering them, moving  from shady to sunnier spots to acclimate for the open garden, and then transplanting. New mulch (wheat straw) has been bought waiting for plants to get a little bigger. We spent most of the day Sunday pulling out, weeding, digging, composting, putting in broccoli and resowing seed that fried in the hot, dry weeks we had. My cabbage seeds failed so I will cave and pay for hot house seedlings.

On the up side, we have Oakleaf, Romaine, Summer Crisp, Red Sails, and Waldmann's lettuce seedling. Kale, Russian and Ragged Jack, are getting true leaves. Curly mustard is ready for picking and eating. Turnips are small but healthy. Behold.

I see salad in our future...

Seeds. Gifts that keep on giving!

Okra, the new superfood. Do not try this in a smoothie. Let me do it first.  

The apples are ours. Organic is not grocery store pretty. Ice cold from the fridge they are a mighty sweet treat. Okra is spectacular. The daily take has been about fifteen. I cut it before the sun gets high because...it is still hot and humid and dewpoint-y in the 70's which makes  our world a great big suana. This, I attribute to a small (all things relative) hurricane blowing it's way between NC and Bermuda on it's way outta here. Okra will bear fruit right up til frost. I will harvest the pods, shuck the seeds (both varieties are heirloom) and grow them again next year. Woo hoo! The green pods are Clemson Spineless. I've seed saved them for years. The purples, Abelmoschus esculentus, (marbles in my mouth, sounds like a skin condition) were a Christmas gift. I like them a lot. Did I mention they are great roasted at 425 tossed with oil, salt, and pepper?

Hot and dry

Yep. It's been hot and dry this week. Not good for seedlings. Even the established plants get wilty late in the day. Use it or lose it. Water, that is. Watering is, hands down, my least favorite gardening task. But I hate losing plants more so I get up early to get it done before the heat and humidity crank up.

Tomatoes, okra and herbs are reliable now. We have a bowl of field peas ready for tomorrow and potatoes from early summer and a little zucchini in the freezer. Keeping things varied gets hard toward the end of every season. Hoping for green beans soon and field peas to follow. Spinach has germinated (yay). I look closely every morning for signs  lettuce is sprouting. Mustard looks good, turnips look good, beets are a bust. Broccoli and cabbage are on go for transplanting soon.

Seed saving. Just do it. These are Celia's seed progeny from the 1940's. Hell yes! If I can do it you can too.  Do. It. 

And that's the news from Biggie's Garden where all the women are strong (in one way or another), the children are smart and interesting, and the man is indispensable.