Life Update

I apologize for the lack of posts this past week.  Life is hectic and stressful these days.

1) The crickets have again taken up home in my basement.  I don’t know how they are getting in or what it is about late August - perhaps the fear of the cold of autumn, but this year, it seems no amount of Home Defense Bug Killer can take out the mutant crickets because my husband and I had to chase this humongous (and super fast) cricket through the living room the other day.  In the battle for territory, I WON!

Mutant Crickets attempt to take residence in my house

2) My garden has pretty much bit the big one this year.  It has been so hot that my corn completely dried up after only giving us 3 crappy pieces of corn, my tomatoes have had a terrible case of stem rot all season from the heat and rain extremes and my cucumbers just never seemed to thrive after the first few heat spells in June.  The only things that seems to be holding on well are the paprika and banana bell peppers and the leek.  With the last batch of half-way tomatoes I picked, I’m going to make bruschetta in a jar (for Xmas gifts - recipe and details to come soon).  But hey - at least the kids are enjoying the peppers!  The Destroyer ate 2 raw banana bells peppers and a cherry tomato last night.  He’s our champion (and healthy) eater!

Yummy Peppers from the Garden

3) My husband is still unemployed, but is learning the ways of frugality (I’m so proud!).  These are his basement shoes - the ones he uses to work around the house or in which he’ll run out to take out the garbage.  Men truly can fix anything with duct tape!

Men can fix ANYTHING with DUCT TAPE!

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Early August Harvest - CORN!

Early August Garden Harvest

Tonight after my WW meeting, I headed out to the garden because it was plentiful with vegetables.  I picked our first corn of the season and in a complete turn around from previous years, this year’s corn is ripening at different paces.  So, we were able to harvest 9 pieces tonight and perhaps next week, there will be another 9 or so - this all from 4 corn plants.  That was a nice surprise because usually there is one corn harvest and then it is all done.  We also picked our first batch of tomatoes.  I don’t know how plentiful the tomatoes will be this year.  There has been so much rain which has been great for the plants, but horrible for my soil.  I just can’t seem to keep any of my stakes up.  The soil is so moist that the weight of the plants continues to drag down my stakes.  I’m trying to keep a watchful eye on the plants to keep any tomatoes from rotting as they hang low or on the ground.  We also picked some more banana bell peppers, paprika peppers and 2 cucumbers.

The Great Pumpkin

Is that the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown???  I transplanted this pumpkin plant from my front yard to the garden.  I suspect this little treat was due to the local squirrel population.  I wasn’t sure this little guy was going to make it at first as he didn’t have strong roots.  However, he hung in there and now looks fabulous.  There are several blossoms and about 4 or 5 small pumpkins growing already.  The above is the largest of the pack.  I’m very excited about this.  2 years ago, we got about 30 pumpkins from 2 plants.  Last year, we had 6 pumpkin plants and only got about 8 pumpkins.  Frankly, I’d just be happy with pumpkins for the front steps at Halloween, but it sure would be nice to share this bounty from the garden, too!

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The Harvest Continues

PEPPERS!

This is what I picked from my garden TODAY.  Generally, I try and harvest every few days.  We’ve had a ton of rain in our area the past couple of weeks and it sure did the pepper plants good.  We also picked 5 beautiful cucumbers.  The corn is looking great - silks are sprouting.  And we’ve got a ton of green tomatoes and leek.  I’m also waiting for our paprika peppers to start turning red.  It’s looking to be a very bountiful summer!

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Our Garden

This weekend, we finally had decent enough weather to plant our garden.  As much work as it is getting the garden ready, I just love that we get to eat things we’ve grown, saved the family money and since we grow our garden organically, helped the environment.

First, my husband (with some help from CheezWaster) tilled the garden.  This is the hardest part of getting the garden ready.  I’ve tried to do this and I honestly don’t have the power in me to get the shovel that deep into the dirt.  My job is to even everything out after the tilling.

Tilling the Garden

 Then, my husband had the fine pleasure of digging his very own hole to China finding 2 more fence posts in the garden.  We dug one up last year.  There must have been an old fence there years ago.  It was never part of the house from the point we purchased it.  These posts were about 3-4 feet in the ground.

Digging Out the Old Fence Posts

 Not only was the post about 3 feet down, my husband still had to yank that monstrosity out of the dirt.

Old Fence Post Finally Removed

 There is something about gardening that soothes my soul.  I always feel very peaceful when tending the garden (despite sweating like a pig).  It is like my own little patch of heaven.

My Garden Patch

It doesn’t look like much now, but in a few months this patch will be overflowing (I hope!) with corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, paprika peppers, banana peppers, cabbage and leek.

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