June Harvest Tally
I’ve been keeping track of just about everything we’ve been harvesting from the gardens this year with my handy dandy Garden Harvest Spreadsheet that I made up. It’s been great to watch all of my totals add up.
So far strawberries are our winning harvest, totaling over 25 pounds (and we’ve still got some more ripening). When I was at the grocery store I saw organic berries for $4.99/lb, that means we’ve saved over $120 – WOW. We froze some to make jam later, enjoyed a strawberry pie, some strawberry rhubarb crisp and strawberry pancake syrup, as well as a good amount of strawberry shortcake.
I’ve also been harvesting peas from the few plants that the deer didn’t find. Not as much as I had hoped, I have none tucked away in the freezer because we ate the 2 pounds (both shelled & sugar snap) harvested. We also harvested a half pound of herbs including: lemon thyme, thyme, chives, basil, oregano, and mint. A pound of lettuce is also on my tally as well as 2 pounds of sour cherries we picked at my mom’s house.
My mom also invited me to pick some wild black raspberries are her house yesterday and I was able to pick 3 pounds. And the final exciting thing that made it in our June tally was 1.5 pounds of honey!
One of the frames in the hive was drawn out weird so we removed it and added a fresh frame, it happened to be about 1/3 filled with honey, so we harvested it. I must say, our bees make some pretty good honey!
What’s been in your harvest basket lately?
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Do You See What I See?
Need I say anything today?
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Worms in the Garden = Good Soil Health
When we bought our house and first started gardening we didn’t see any worms. That was our first clue that the previous owners had used too many chemical pesticides and fertilizers. We weren’t really in to gardening the first 3-4 years but we always added good mulch and manure to the garden beds, because we knew it was good for the soil. Seven years later we’re starting to finally reap the rewards of our efforts.
I’ve been working in the front flowerbeds and every time I dig I find worms, which means my soil is much healthier (at least in the parts of the garden I’ve been working on for 7 years). Worms are so important to the health and vitality of your soil. They help increase the amounts of air and water in the soil, they help with the decomposition of organic matter and they leave behind fertilizer in the form of castings. They’re kind of like little tillers in your garden. I’m super happy to be seeing them in such quantity.
What about you, are you happy to have worms in the garden? Or do you have lots of work to do to get them to move in?
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Baby Cucumbers on the Vine
This is my first year for growing cucumbers, mostly because I don’t particularly like eating cucumbers. I do however like pickles, so I decided to grow cucumbers to make pickles. I chose Boston Pickling Cucumbers from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They’re described as: an old heirloom dating back to 1880, vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles, very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the century.
I love the tiny little cukes that are at the base of the female flowers, of course these won’t become cucumbers unless they’re pollinated. I’m looking forward to a good harvest to make pickles. I don’t have a favorite pickle recipe since I’ve never really made them (only zucchini cucumbers), so I’m looking for one of those. I have dill growing in the front garden for the pickles, and I’ll be using some of my homegrown garlic as well.
Anyone have a great pickle recipes?
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Scrubbing Up
Now that Mr Chiots and I are in our busy season for our business (if you don’t know what we do check out 2nd Mile Productions). Since we’re going to weddings most weekends I have to look professional and presentable, that means no dirty gardening fingers.
So, on Friday evenings I take some time to scrub up my hands to get all that dirt out from under my fingernails. I don’t have one of those nail brushes, I just use an old toothbrush and a bar of all-natural non-toxic gardener’s soap I got at the farmer’s market. I also use some baking soda to get rid of the dry patches on my hands from so much hand-washing during the week and I finish with some good non-toxic lotion (and occasionally a few drops of olive oil).
Do you have any trip & tricks for cleaning up your hands from all those gardening chores?
