Squash | 365 Days of Me

One of my favorite things to do, usually, is walk through the garden in the morning. I love the cool of the morning, the dew on the ground, and the quiet. It is a real source of enjoyment for me. However, I do NOT like walking through the garden at 7:00 AM when the humidity is high and the temperature is already warm. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes, and Saturday was no exception. I knew I had some work to do in the garden, and I was so hoping for a cool morning, but alas, that was not to be.

The tomatoes seem to be on their last leg now. The plants are looking quite haggard, and the tomatoes themselves are not even as appealing. In fact, the chickens were able to dine on several of them today.

The corn is getting most of my attention this year, and today I harvested several ears I hope pop well, as I would love to get their coloration worked prominently into the popcorn seed. Let me show you four of them:

Look at this beautiful white kernel licked with flame-like colors!

More of the flame-licked colors on this cob, and I love the variety of colors.

I am confident this one has some glass-gem corn mixed in with it, and I like it. I love the greens – they are a rare treat in my seed stock.

More flame-licked colors. This one looks a lot like some seed stock I saved last year, which I am sure is what has pollinated all of these. I sure hope this pops well.

Look at that last picture a little closer. See the red kernel just to the right of the middle? See the spots? I wonder what they are. If you look at the one below it, the purple one, it has the same spots. Even so, these kernels are things of beauty!

Believe it or not, we have a winter squash plant that is growing like gangbusters! I doubt anything will come from it, as it has yet to set fruit, but it was a late starter, and it happens to be the only winter squash I have that survived the squash bugs and squash vine borers. I sure would love to get some seed stock from it.

Sweet potatoes are a new crop for me, and even though I grew some last year, I cannot remember for the life of me when to harvest them. I think it may be after the first frost, but I need to look it up. I am so hopeful that I have a good crop of sweet potatoes. I grew purple and white sweet potatoes, which taste very similar, though the purple ones are generally more dry. Even so, I enjoy them.

Usually at this time of year I am not yet thinking about next year, but it sure is on my mind this year. I think it is because I didn’t do such a good job getting the garden out on time this year, and I am hoping to redeem myself a little next year. 🙂 It won’t be long until I start planning. Until then, I have a few other projects I am working on which I will be sharing here, including a homemade smoker and a homemade dehydrator.

This has been a slow garden year for us. First of all, spring arrived late this year, and, second of all, with my work travel schedule, I was hardly home to work on the garden. I also started a new garden spot this year which didn’t account properly for the position of the sun in the spring, and the new chicken coup is partially shading a garden. In short, we have struggled with our garden.

We have yet to harvest peppers worth speaking of, and while we have harvested some great tomatoes, the crop has been small. I have only harvested my first cucumber in the last week or so, and the summer squash, while being one of the plants which was out as early as possible, has already stopped producing. Speaking of squash, my winter squash was hit by vine borers while on the mission trip, and there is nothing left. My okra landrace project is coming along, however, it isn’t producing quite like I had hoped. Oh, and let’s not forget the sweet potatoes! The deer are having a hay day with the leaves. 🙂 I still expect a good harvest from them though. The corn has done well, I think, other than the possible cross pollination issue. Even so, the corn looks healthy and I am expecting a good harvest.

It may sound like I am whining about the gardening year, but I am not. I consider every year a learning opportunity. I have several good take-aways from this year that I will be sure to implement next year, and if the Lord so blesses me, next year this will happen on a proper homestead property.

Speaking of vegetables, last Friday we stopped off at The Farmer’s Market in Nashville, Tennessee. If you haven’ t been there, you have really missed out. This is a true joy for me. Let me share just a few pictures:

Heirloom Tomatoes

Huge Onions!

Colorful Bell Peppers

My family is really blessed though, despite the lackluster garden year. My father-in-law also gardens, and he has blessed us with an abundance of melons, peppers, tomatoes, and more.

Speaking of peppers, we have already smoked a good amount of peppers, some of which are already dried and ground. Others are in various stages of processing, but I should be able to share a picture soon.

The chickens didn’t work as hard for us yesterday, and only produced two eggs: one blue and one brown. I did eat the first of the eggs last night, and wow, were they tasty! Hopefully there will be three more today. I had to smile at my first egg issue yesterday. One of the ladies laid her egg in the run below the cage, which is not fun to get into during the day while they are playing. I could have just waited to get it, I suppose, but I was impatient.

I have to wonder, am I the only person out there who is already thinking about next year’s garden? The growing season is not even over yet, and I am sitting here dreaming this morning of what I will do different next time. Don’t worry, I am sure I will share the plans here as the days roll on.

Tag: squash

Happenings Around the Homestead

Happenings Around the Homestead