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Tag: garden

  • The Best Pickles EVER

    Yes, these are the best pickles EVER!  Not because we made them, but because the recipe is the best one I have ever tried.  And of course the best pickles come from home-grown cucumbers.  For the first time in my garden, I was able to grow perfect cucumbers!  I planted them by the trellis thinking they would climb…and boy, did they ever!

    The one problem that I have always had is powdery mildew. I can’t seem to keep it away. I found some organic spray that actually seemed to work fairly well, but if I missed a spraying, the leaves were covered again.

    From the vines, I was able to get about 5 quarts of pickles before we went on vacation.

    The recipe is as follows:

    1qt jar
    1 jalapeno
    1″ wedge of onion
    1 clove garlic
    cucumbers (as many as will fit, cram them in there because they shrink)
    1 teaspoon dill SEED
    1 tablespoon canning salt

    BRINE
    1/2c sugar
    1/2c pickling vinegar
    1c water
    Mix until sugar dissolves. Microwave JUST until boiling (about 4 minutes). Pour over jar contents to the top and seal. Store in a cool dark place for 2 weeks.

    ***The original recipe from a friend said to put the brine in cold, then place in a hot water bath just until the pickle color changes (10-15 minutes).  I have not been successful doing it this way, as my pickles always get too soft.

  • The Weeds Take Over

    The weeds have officially taken over.  Who knew that when you tilled weeds, it is like giving them a reason to multiply???  Yes, I did not know that if you chop them up into little pieces, they just make more baby weeds…that grow into monster weeds and take over.  Like this:

    So I spent the entire day pulling weeds from the garden. I had to carefully remove the plants that had already been placed in the garden and they went in a bucket of water.

    To prevent weeds from happening again (at least as much as possible), I put down weed block. DUH! I am not sure why I did not think of that sooner, but after 16 years, I am getting smarter about those kind of things.

  • The garden adventure continues

    Since my new found love is Pinterest, I am THRILLED that there is a gardening section on there.  I have gotten so many good ideas for improving the black thumb I have.

    And btw…if the weeds in your garden are any indication of how much you have sinned, then forgive me Lord because I sinned A LOT last year.

    I decided not to grow louffa this year since it just takes over the back of the garage. If the world comes to an end and we have to survive on what we can grow…I KNOW I can grow louffa to eat! Instead we are going to try chayote (a green Mexican squash that is supposed to be easy to grow) and cucumbers in this area, along with onions like I did last year.

    We finally invested in a “tiller” that attaches to the weed-eater motor.  Let me just say…this is NOT the easiest thing in the world to use since you have to hold it and till.  I took the tiller to the weeks and it worked pretty well.  I did have to stop and untangle the AWFUL Bermuda grass that would get wound up in the blades.  Every once in a while I would take a break from tilling to work on the garden project I found on Pinterest.  Basically it involved building an a-frame and attaching PVC pipes to it to grow stuff.

    The a-frame kicked my butt since I did not want a 45 degree angle.  In the end, I did a 20 degree angle, but started in the middle so the cut was not as sharp. (I had to use a circle saw for the cut.)

    I used a metal plate on one side and a 6″ x 6″ block on the other side to attach the two pieces together.

    Next came the PVC pipe. I bought 10′ drainage pipes with holes in the bottom. I did not want root rot from the soil, so I thought this would allow the dirt to breath a little and drain. I cut those in 1/2 so they were roughly 5′ long.

     

    I made a 2″ hole every 8″ for the plants, using a doorknob drill.

    I permanently glued on 1 end, so that the dirt can be emptied and refilled. Painters tape covered the holes so that I could fill the pipes and I tapped the pipes every few scoops since I wanted as little settling as possible.

    The girls helped get our starters into the new pipes.

    This is the finished product. We have the lettuce and other small plants off the ground and room for viney stuff underneath (yellow squash). I planted radishes in the front and will also plant a row of carrots as well.

    Wade’s plan is to build an irrigation system for the garden! That would help so much!!!

  • The rats are back

    Well, the rats are back in our garden.  We have not been able to pick a red tomato yet this season.  Just as they ripen, we find teeth marks in them.  {{{sigh}}} Since I don’t want a repeat of 2 years ago, they can just have them.

  • Herbs- again

    I also am attempting to grow herbs again.  I have been successful at chives and that is it.  Wade uses them all the time to cook…I would love to pull them out of our own garden.

  • The Garden 2011

    I say this every year, but here we go again.  This is like my 14th year planting a garden.  Hopefully this time we will actually get some produce this time!  We got some dirt from the soil supermarket.  This was a first for us, as we usually get bagged dirt.  Wade heard it was “cleaner.”  Clean or not, dirt from the soil supermarket is cheap…and we will buy from there again!

    Not exactly a before picture…this was after moving almost a yard into the garden.  (And no we never did level the garden out).

    The random cabbage is Sydney’s.  Never in a million years would I have thought that we would be able to grow cabbage.  Every 3rd grader got a cabbage plant to take home and grow.  The biggest cabbage gets $1000 for their school to start a garden.  Sydney’s plant had 2 in it and now, even after the frost, we have 2 cabbages growing.  I can’t wait for April to turn these in!  (And in the fall we might try to grow some on our own!)

    After our luffa experiment last year, I figured out that the bees did a great job of pollinating (as much as I hate the stingy things!!!).  In an effort to attrack {{{cringe}}} more bees, we bought flowers to put in and around the garden.  Not sure if these are the bee attracting types, but it is worth a shot.

    I also broke down this year and actually bought tomato plants to start.  I did start a bunch of seeds as well, but the plants will get us started and they already have fruit…so that means I have succeeded in some ways!  🙂

    Stupid me for thinking Daisy would stay out of the garden this year.  I had to put up the fencing again…she was already knocking down my mounds!

    One of the things I have thought is that this area of the yard is very shaded in the afternoons (one of the reasons we picked this lot…we have a wonderfully shaded backyard in the heat of the day!).  I am going to experiment this year and put some pots of tomato plants on the patio that will receive full sun the majority of the day.

    I bought just cheap plain white pots and some red and yellow plastic spray paint.  I must have done something wrong because the paint scratches of EASILY! I am so disappointed in it.

    One last thing…we planted onions…and lots of them.  I found a bunch of 1015 bulbs at Home Depot and was pumped to try my hand at them!  I love 1015’s (an onion that A&M came up with) broiled with a little sugar and Worcestershire sauce.  Yum!!!


    Wish us luck!!!