Manna from the garden

So after a huge tomato success last year there are still plenty of bottled goods in the pantry and we decided to take a break from the summer garden to allow time for other interests. However, we are enjoying six different varieties of tomatoes and a few cucumbers that volunteered. All I had to do was leave the water on and they have spread to nearly cover the whole garden. Also, we like butternut squash and planted some of those, which now cover maybe half the garden. About twenty of the squash are ripe along with a few acorn squash. One of the acorns was absolutely the sweetest we have ever eaten. Wonderful blessings coming from the garden this year and we are grateful for the harvest given so little effort this time around.

Tomato season

This has been an early tomato season. We have picked about 400 pounds of tomatoes already! The pantry boasts 130 jars of tomato juice and three different batches of salsa. In coming weeks we will be putting up pizza sauce, and a bit more salsa.

Tomatoes and Apricots

We picked another bowl full of tomatoes yesterday, and weeded out several that had blossom end rot. We've nearly always had blossom end rot at the beginning of the season and this appears to be no exception. The good news is that the next tomatoes on the same vines do not suffer from that malady so in a couple of weeks we should be picking substantially more. Pictured below is one of the mortgage lifter variety tomatoes - about four inches across and heavy.

We also harvested about a three gallon bucket full of apricots, with many more to come in the next few days.

Tomato update

The tomato plants that are in cages are now over five feet tall. That's up to my nose high, and covered with green tomatoes.

Grapefruit harvest

After eating all the grapefruit we wanted, and giving some away, we picked three full wheelbarrows of it and made about 75 jars of bottled grapefruit juice. Amazing how much one tree can yield.

A Garden Teaches Patience and Planning

So for those who think a garden is for food, here's a news flash. It is also for learning things like patience, and planning. Look at the difference one month makes in a tomato patch along the right side of these photos.

Sprouting tomato seeds

This was a first for us. Tomatoes from the store developed dark bumps, which when cut open turned out to be little tomato seedlings trying to push their way out. The skin is pulled back so you can see the seedlings.