What's Up Wednesday

Laundry is up (literally)! I only recently discovered the joy that is line-dried laundry.
For me it falls into that 'retro and awesome' category, along with canning and apron-wearing.

The tomatoes I started in the spring that weren't doing well are now finally starting to ripen-

I guess I'll have a sort of staggered tomato season!

 My one lone sunflower this year, getting ready to bloom!

 Prize Choy! A new addition to the garden for Fall.

 'Parade' Bunching onions, and pumpkin plants in the background

 The canned goods shelf is starting to fill up!

Apricots, Blueberry jam, Raspberry jam, Corn, & Green beans!

Tell me- What's Up in your Garden this Week?

What's Up Wednesday!

Peppers are blushing and slowly turning Red!

Ah Speckles, my old lettuce friend :)

If anyone knows what this is, input is appreciated. 

This is what I get for not labeling things until July. A squash of some kind?

Cukes! These are on the top of my list of "Things that I don't like from restaurants 

or big groceries but are delicious when grown at home". 

Garden Peach tomatoes are so pretty, and just the right amount of acidic!

What's up in your Garden this week?

Friday Favorites

Good morning! Here are some of my favorite things this morning- things I'm loving, and things I'm thankful for!

Tomatoes!

Tomato basil & mozzarella salad- lunch or dinner every day this week!

Canning- it is pretty awesome.

The garden is still looking green, despite the heat. 

I think the straw mulch is helping!

Happy Friday! What are your Friday Favorites?

What's Up Wednesday

My first Cherokee Purple tomatoes are ripe!

 Cucumbers! Now I have two plants producing- twice the harvests :)

 

First batch of coriander seed is dried and ready 

to be harvested and put on the spice rack

New fall seedlings are germinating nicely- 

swiss chard, onions, broccoli, pak choi, and more

 Yum :)

What's Up in your Garden this Week?

Silent Sunday

The tour went really well!

Peppers are very productive now-a-days

First yellow pear tomatoes

Happy Sunday :)

What's up Wednesday + exciting news!

Cukes are getting big now- harvesting 1-2 each day!

Sungold tomatoes are ripening up nicely

I planted several acorn squash a few weeks ago, and they've established well despite the heat

Today's pre-dinner snack harvest :)

Also, in exciting news:

My garden is being featured on Tour de Fresh this year, my work's annual tour of urban gardens and healthy food systems! One of the tour stops had to drop out 2 weeks ago, and a nice co-worker suggested that I could fill in! I'm pretty geeked out about it, and I've been working hard in the garden all week to pretend like I have a higher standard of garden maintenance than I truly do. Mike has been helping a lot too, and he might even get to be a tour guide once or twice. If you're in the Metro Detroit area and you'd like to check out some amazing Ypsi Gardens and Food stops on Saturday, here's the info.

What's up in your Garden this week?

Friday Favorites

My favorite things about this Friday include:

Pollinators in my garden this morning

Tomato time!!!

Spacemaster cucumbers- you rock my world!

Local blueberries for breakfast

Happy Friday! What are some of your favorites today?

What's Up Wednesday

Heirloom tomatoes are freaking gorgeous!

Whoa- onions are popping out of the ground! I'd better tuck them in.

Ole' Faithful a.k.a. kale

These Yolo Sweet peppers are cherry-sized right now , 

but getting bigger each day though.

If you are looking for a cucumber variety, 

Spacemaster are fairly compact and they are dang good.

I see some empty spots for more veggies, don't you?

What's Up in your Garden this week?

Tuesday Takehome + a Recipe

I haven't picked up my CSA share this week yet, but I DID shop at the Farmers' Market, of course.

I came home with:
2 quarts cherries
1 quarts blueberries
1 pint sungold cherry tomatoes
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Nom nom nom nom! I need to get out there and do some serious fruit picking for my canning plans. In the mean time, this amazing stuff will definitely do.










I've also been harvesting a good deal out of the garden lately. Here's a photo of yesterday's harvest- 3 leeks, and handful of Provider green beans, 7 Yukon Gold potatoes, 2 giant kale leaves, some sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and oregano, and a pinch of the first dried cilantro seeds of the summer (called corriander)!!

I'm patting myself on the back- I've been doing a good job of picking what I need for dinner each night, rather than harvesting a whole bunch just because I'm excited to see it all laid out. It's helped me get more time out of each crop I've grow.
I'm starting to have post-harvest holes in the garden- I'll need to fill those in with fall veggies! I've already planted some acorn squash as well as several cucumber plants and a watermelon, but it'll be time to seed carrots and spinach and fall greens before we know it.






I'm too inspired by fresh fruits and veggies to share a recipe today. My recipe for today is simply this-

• Go find some locally grown veggies and fruits
• Cut them up and prepare as minimally as possible
• Eat :)

Here's a photo of my plans for dinner on the right.

What have you been harvesting out of your garden lately or enjoying most from your local Farmers' Market?

What's Up Wednesday

I re-seeded more Speckles lettuce. Not sure how it will do in the heat but its growing nicely so far! 

My backyard raspberries are ripening, right on schedule! 

First green tomatoes- Sungold cherry tomatoes, of course. Can't wait for these guys to ripen up! 

Kidney bush beans and Provider green beans are going wild!

It's like a jungle every time I step outside! Potato plants that are 3ft tall, tomatoes growing bigger every day, tall crazy cilantro that's gone to flower.

Each day I enjoy it and each day I'm thankful for it.




What's Up in your Garden this week? Share some pics!

Make your window into a Greenhouse!

 Last year, I discovered by accident that the plastic that you tape around your windows to seal them up actually creates sort of a mini-greenhouse effect between the plastic and the window! I decided to put some of my plants in that space, and they enjoy the warmth there. It also allowed me to save some money on the electricity I would have had to use to put all these plants under lights.

Last week I decided to put up some of the window plastic, and put some of the dinky tomatoes out there. I think it's helping them to perk up a little bit- hopefully they'll start to grow!



I don't currently have a greenhouse or any hoops over my beds, or even a coldframe outside to transition warm season plants. I think those are all projects for the future, but right now, this will do!


What kind of season extension do you utilize at your house? 


How are your plants growing so far?

Silent Sunday

Frog weather vane in the garden

Aloe plant drinking up the sun

63 tomato plants, 9 varieties

"Parade" bunching onion starts

Cilantro we started from seed!

Seed potatoes hanging in the window to encourage sprouting