Garden Update 2::Ingrid

What a difference a couple weeks make in the garden!! It is crazy how things are changing and growing. I did a garden update two weeks ago that you can see here if you want to be reminded of where we were last time. I told you then that I would do a little drawing of our garden space so you could get a better idea when you see pictures. I’m not the best at drawing things to scale, but it gives you some sense.

Here we are standing at the top of the garden right by the popcorn with the tomatoes behind us and the orchard to the left.  In the distance you can see the boys play area and their pole bean teepee.

I think we are going to have a bumper crop of tomatillos. Tomatillos are like green tomatoes that grow with a husk around them. We make tons of green enchilada sauce with them by roasting them. As I was tending them the other day, the plant reminded me of a cross between a tomato and squash plant. They are prolific growers and I am slightly concerned about the plants that we did not get caged. Supposedly some people just let theirs grow wild, so we will see which plants have more success. Bottom line, if you are in to Mexican cooking, give tomatillos a try!!

Here we have our rainbow swiss chard, kale, green beans/cucumbers, and snow pea corner with herbs.  The swiss chard is for juicing.  We find our favorite way of cooking it is sauteing the leafy parts with garlic and olive oil.  Salt, pepper, lemon, and some chicken stock if you have it.  Cook down.  Can’t say I love eating chard, but it is a SUPER food…SOOOOO good for you.  I will make kale chips with the kale.   Brush leaves with olive oil and lightly salt.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until leaves are crisp.  8-10 minutes-ish.  We will make pickles with the cucs.  And see that basil in the snow pea corner?  That becomes pesto today!  LOVE pesto!  It is awesome on homemade pizza with chicken, fresh mozzarella, and garden tomatoes.

The tomatoes are doing well for the most part. We had a heavy rain and wind this week, so we had to do some repair work all around the garden, including the tomatoes. Things needed to be re-staked and helped back up to standing. I’m anxious to see what the heirlooms look like. BLT sandwiches are in order as soon as some are ripe. You can see “Black Krim” in this pic.

We grow much of our squash along the base of the compost pile. It THRIVES!! My favorite squash is Buttercup. The in-laws like Butternut.  Thus, we have lots of both.  This whole section will be taken over by vines soon.  I think we threw in some mini pumpkins around here too.  (That white building in the background is the barn.  Not used for animals now but maybe some day…  A girl can dream!)

All in all, I think the garden is doing AWESOME! It’s not 100% successful…the straw bales (I’ll tell you about this sometime…)are struggling a bit and the brussel sprouts didn’t like all the rain, but not too shabby around here. Let’s hope I can keep up with the harvest!