Hi everyone. Happy weekend to you.
This past Thursday and Friday we had some great gardening weather. Finally.😀
One thing I did was to continue some harvesting. This year I've had lots of tomatoes, even though with all the rain some of them had just rotted on the vine. Still, I've picked a lot of tomatoes.
The cucumbers have grown like crazy. I've made 3 batches of freezer pickles already (they taste and are made just like regular canned pickles but you don't need to process them or sterilize jars). And my plants are growing like something invasive or from something out of Little Shop of Horrors, reaching right out of the garden fence in 2 places. I've never had such huge cucumber plants before.
My sweet peppers have done really well too, but sadly, my zucchini plants rotted in the ground.
I trimmed back my grape vine after I picked my grapes. I didn't get as many grapes as I usually do, not enough to make any jelly this year. Here's Friday's pickings. These are all the grapes my vine produced this year.
This was my first year to ever plant potatoes. I was excited with my harvest.
Next year I think I'll do 2 or 3 grow bags of potatoes, not just 1.
I also spent some time checking out the beehive, and those ladies are doing well.
I'm starting to think about winterizing the hive. The predictions are that it is going to be a long cold winter, which makes me worried about getting this colony through that season.
The wooly bear caterpillar is part of New England folklore when it comes to predicting the winter weather. The more black, the worse the winter. I saw this guy Friday, and the black ends are pretty short, and the brown middle is long, but wait, what's that black stripe along the top of the brown middle? Does that mean winter is going to be long, cold and terrible?
Oh well, the reality is I'll have to wait and see. But first, I'm hoping for a very long beautiful autumn. 👍
Hurricane Lee moved even further east yesterday, so unless there's a last minute path change, it looks like any bad weather should be gone fairly quickly. However, we won't be boating this weekend. With wave heights 6-9 feet near shore and 9-15 feet a few miles out from shore, I think it is much much smarter to stay on land. But if you are in the path of the storm, I hope you are safe and sound.
And I hope everyone has a great weekend.
18 comments:
...your bees look happy!
Impressive results from your garden, Erika. My taste buds perk up just looking at that wonderful food. I expect that you will have lots of honey too, so it’s been a good year. And Hurricane Lee did the right thing and passed you by. The people in Nova Scotia may not be quite as lucky. Hugs- David
I call my sweet pea Audrey 2. And boy, does she spread -- including into areas where I do not want her. I tore out a bunch the other day (and had the back to prove it) but couldn't get the roots for most of them. My neighbor dug up her front garden and had garden folk put in weed barriers and stone. I'm inclined to do the same except suspect it's too expensive.
I'm impressed with your garden. Did you ever post the pickle recipe? I'd love to give it a try!
Great harvest photos ~ and yes, let's hope for a mild winter no matter what the little furry critter says ~ Xo
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Impressive harvest. Lots of things didn't do well because of the wet, hot, humid weather we had. I heard some of the pick your own orchards aren't going to let people do their own picking because the apples didn't grow well this year. Not much rain from Tropical Storm/Depression Lee here in the Worcester area. It is a bit breezy out, but not enough to take down trees. No complaints. I hope you're not right about a long, cold Winter. Enjoy the weekend.
What a great harvest! The tomatoes look great. I hope the winter ain't hard and long, Erika.
Your cucumbers syound like one of those horror films, like the Triffids or something similar. But you have had a wonderful harvest. Your bees look great just now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they survive the winter this year. I hope the caterpillar is telling you that it will be a mild and short winter! Have a good weekend, with lots of time for nice things - like painting, cooking, reading....! Hugs, Valerie
Glad you are able to enjoy a decent vegetable harvest in spite of all the rain.
Stay safe!
Looks like a nice harvest, we love the heirloom tomatoes-so much more flavor, and home grown potatoes are the best hoping your bees survive the coming winter
Happy weekend hugs Kathy
Hey, Honey wants to know how much honey you getting and why are you calling all those bees Ladies, you should only have one? heeheehee Men! I showed him your pics. Sorry to be so late, I think I must have overwhelmed myself on H-Alert, stayed up too long, then slept 13 hours and still feel blah. Or I could be having an arthritis flare, I never really know for sure so taking it easy. Anyway, so happy Lee stayed off your path. And what a nice harvest for two. That's the only thing about growing food, you plant for less than 100% making it, then you harvest a ton. Or, the opposite. Hope it stops raining for ya (but not for me!), xoxo
You have a 'green thumb' how wonderful
😊
Sunday Smiles is HERE
Much🖤love
Big wow on your harvest! And the bees, too.
So this is your Groundhog, a wooly bear caterpillar? Movie, please (I love the one with Bill Murray!).
I hate winter (reckon you know this by now...) - hope it will be a mild one, and from February I simply do not care! ;-)
Here winter hits around February and March, mostly, if at all.
Sad you cannot go for a boat trip, but glad you are hopefully safe!
Have a great Sunday, hugs!
WOW, Erika. You have a great harvest and that is just one day. Lucky you. I love those awesome potatoes and heirloom tomatoes. And so glad that the bees are doing so well, too. Let's hope both hives make it through the winter in good shape.
Your harvest looks like just enough for a day or two. I hope that’s what you get every day, so you can eat what you grow, but that would be a lot to expect, I guess. I envy you those tomatoes.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Hi Erika; i'm happy you linked to Sunday Smiles
Much🖤love
Glad Lee moved further out. I know some places got slammed anyway--hope your area was spared!
Your garden looks great. - Anne (Cornucopia)
I'm particularly impressed with the grapes. Nice!
I hope the bees make it through!
It looks like we're getting an actual Fall this year. Often here we get 100 degree temps all summer, maybe 2 weeks of Fall weather, and then Winter. Right now we've been getting lovely lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s. Pleasant.
Post a Comment