Garden update

We have peppers; jalepeno, bell and banana. Slowly, very slowly, tomatoes are ripening. Is this one of those 'watched pot' things? Squash are still alive and producing sporadically. I'm blaming the heat/drought. We are back to watering as often as we can. Sunflowers are moving on up and there was a hummingbird sighting yesterday supping on our bright red zinnias. My second round of parsley and basil are thriving. The last canteloupe was harvested today.
Winning in the fruit category are the figs again. No suprise there. What is surprising is that I caved and made Spicey Orange Fig Microwave Jam. Oo-la-la. Delicious.

Here's how:
Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar, 3Tbs. lemon juice, 8 to 10 cut up figs, one peeled and chopped orange, 1/2 teaspoon of butter,1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Toss in some orange peel. Let it sit for 30 minutes. (you will have about 3 cups of stuff) Microwave on high 6 minutes. Stir. Microwave in 2 to 3 minute intervals stirring between each time. Microwave for a total of 15 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups. That's it. Makes to 8 oz jars if you want to put up or one large jar for the fridge. I see jam in someone's Christmas stocking...

Hand to hand combat in The Garden!

Ok. I tried the toilet paper roll and the aluminum foil and the squash borers came anyway. Which, I knew they would. So yesterday, in the blazing midday heat, in a fit of frustration, I pulled out a small paring knife and went after those bad boys. First you find where they've bored into the plant and, with surgeon-like precision, slice upward. Probe the slit much like the surgeons probed Lincoln's brain for Booth's bullets, and you will get the offending critter. Just like Lincoln, the plants are going to die no matter what. My logic follows that I should get some satisfaction. Altogether I killed six of the ugly bugs! The really cool thing is, the plants were still alive this morning and I'm still getting squash. A small victory in the garden for G-unit.

Volunteers

Volunteers in the garden are a crap shoot. One year we had a fabulously funky squash that we nursed along until the bitter end. It was a combination pumpkin, patty pan squash thing, the shape of a flying saucer, that was mostly seeds. This year we have a bed full of volunteers: a tomato, cantaloupe, zinnias, and a white periwinkle. The flowers are beautiful, the tomato lush and green of a determinate variety, and the cantaloupe taking over, full of fruit. At the far end of this bed are the Swiss Chard plants I seeded way back last August still producing gigantic leaves. I etched Scott's name into this elevated melon with a kitchen knife to see if it could be done and to honor it's protected status. Scott put it on the stool to keep it safe. Way cool, the etching works! Gotta grow some personalized pumpkins next.

Garden update

Finally, I have squash plants. My first go round I used old seed. They germinated the most pathetic, sad, little miniature versions of real zucchini. This is proof that the young should produce. There's vigor in youth. So I bought new seed and ka-ching! they germinated within a week. I am so not out of the woods on this squash thing. There are squash borers out there gunnin' for my plants. I've launched a pre-emptive assault including Neem oil, toilet paper rolls and aluminum foil. It's complicated but I'm hoping to confuse them and thereby delay the inevitable.
Dare I say it? Our tomatoes are setting fruit. Tomatoes are mystical. I have no answers. The mythology that surrounds the care and keeping of them makes me act like a fool. I resisted planting tomatoes this year because of the crash and burn event of last year's crop. Scott prevailed. We have many plants now.
I germinated basil and parsley from seed, neglected them for 24 hours, and they sizzled in the heat of late May. I'm giving them another go.
Bottom line is we are potato rich which caused Katie to complain that we eat potatoes every night. True. But there is hope in the garden.

Tater Salad

That's right. With a plentiful rain, a perfect Spring, and good luck, you can call me Tater Salad! I never cease to be amazed and astonished at the produce we produce.

Gibson's Easter Pig

"Well, what can I say about this pig that hasn't already been said? I know a lot of you folks have come out to the farm and you've seen the words, and a lot of you have asked me, 'how could this have happened?'. I don't know, but it has happened... at a time when we really don't see many miraculous things. Maybe we do. Maybe they're all right there around us everyday, we just don't know where to look. There's no denying that our own little Wilbur... he's part of something that's bigger than all of us. And life on that farm's just a whole lot better with him in it. He really is some pig."
Homer Zuckerman
Charlotte's Web


This year's Happy Easter picture special delivery from Gibson, NC. Hope it gives you a smile.

Green All Over

I'm browsing the NY Times Well blog this morning with some time to read and find three articles of interest. The first a long term study that shows pesticide exposure to a pregnant mom causes IQ loss in the baby. Ouch. Second,UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Public Health is conducting a study to see if eating locally produced food yields better health. Cool. Can I be in it? Third, a New Yorker tries to make it on the 100 mile diet. That one has to be hard because I've tried it and we grow year round Down South. It gets really tough in January when it's greens, greens, greens on the plate and you know that's all there is in the fresh vegetable category.

And green it is in the garden. Everything is up and reaching critical mass. Too much lettuce not enough people, so I'm giving it away. Too much broccoli so I'll be freezing it. Too much mustard, kale and swiss chard so it's already frozen. Onions are blooming so those going in with the mixed greens.

Two cool things: The apple trees are apple-ing and, for the first time ever, the pomegranate is flowering. Lots. And just now I'm wondering if pomegranates and pyracanthas are cousins-thorns, narrow leaves, orange fruit...