Whew!!! It has been a busy summer… so busy that I really haven't had the energy at the end of the day to post anything to the blog for months. Since the last post about putting in the Spring Garden it's been go! go! go! non-stop To say this year's garden was a much better success than our first year garden is an enormous understatement.
So …. how do you define garden success? - yield, of course. Countless delicious meals and salads straight out of the garden all spring and summer - and all the yummy food put up in the freezer and canning jars to be enjoyed in the coming months.
Here are a few numbers to shock and amaze:
30 lb. of eggplant
640 lb. of tomatoes
125 lb. of peppers
13 lb. of broccoli
27 lb. of cabbage
42 lb. of carrots
9 lb. of spinach
27 lb. kale
70 lb. onions
32 lb. beets
382 lb. cantaloupes
52 lb. summer squash
34 lb. green beans
24 lb. peas
10 lb. swiss chard
plus absurd amounts of lettuce we didn't weigh
plus mountains of fresh basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, marjoram, oregano
We blanched and froze broccoli, kale, cabbage, peas, basil pesto, and green beans until the freezer was stuffed and we have canned 282 jars so far this season.
1/2 pints: 31 jars
pickled jalapeño slices
tomato paste
caramelized onions
sweet pepper relish
bruschetta topping
pints: 126 jars
beets
baby carrots
sauerkraut
green chile enchilada sauce
tomato sauce
ketchup
bbq sauce
dried tomatoes
diced New Mexico chiles
tomatillo salsa
peas
sweet red peppers
cayenne hot sauce
1 1/2 pints: 32 jars
tomato sauce
Quarts: 91 jars
sweet banana pepper rings
pickled beets
cut green beans
tomato sauce
whole san marzano tomatoes
diced san marzano tomatoes
whole rutger tomatoes
tomato juice
summer squash
dill pickles
The fall garden is going in right now. We have planted broccoli and cabbage seedlings started back in late June. We have flats of lettuce seedlings about be transplanted into the garden. Direct sown peas are growing nicely now and we will plant fall carrots, kale and spinach this week. Oh - and the sweet potato vines are running vigorously now and will have a crop ready for pulling around Oct 15th.
And to think - we have finished building a new fence along the west property line so next year we will expand the growing extravaganza even more by planting beds of sweet corn, watermelons, pumpkins and maybe some peanuts.
Stay tuned!
