Day 202 of 365

Mostly overcast and not as hot.

• Low: 70° F
• High: 82° F

August week 2 rainfall: 1.95"

Harvested:

• tomatoes
• okra
• dried black turtle beans
• sweet basil
• blueberries
• figs
• elderberries
• apples (just a few)

Preserved:

• blueberries, dehydrated
• sweet basil, dried
• tomatoes, frozen
• okra, pickled, 1 pint
• figs, canned, 3 pints
• figs, froze (the ones too soft to can)

The apples were on the ground. I'd sampled one not too long ago, but it still seemed a little green.

Elderberries are starting to ripen but the birds have eaten a lot! I'm hoping to get enough to make some elderberry jelly.

Figs are just coming on but I managed to can 3 pints. I followed the directions at pickyourown.org making the lightest syrup (1 cup sugar to 7 cups water) and using citric acid instead of lemon juice.

Also canned 1 pint of pickled okra, using the recipe from the Ball Blue Book. I know there will be plenty of figs for canning soon, but the okra is troubled with ants, which makes the pods not so pretty for canning. Blueberries seem to be about at an end.

The rest of the fig syrup and okra brine I'll save and add to, when I make the next batches. What I like about water bath canning is that I can mix jars, as long as I keep track of their separate timings. In fact I have 2 timers for that purpose.

Prepared one bed for planting. The soil is still pretty wet but hopefully by tomorrow will be workable and ready to plant. 

Day 201 of 365

Almost like an autumn morning. The air, the sky, even the faint scent of woodsmoke, all spoke of a morning in September rather than August.

• Low: 73° F
• High: 88° F

Harvested:

• figs

Preserved

• blueberries, dehydrated

Trimmed out around the fig trees so I can get to them. Trimmed back a few overhead branches that were shading the fig trees. There are tons of figs, but the question is how many I can get before the birds do.

I sorted the stored garlic and multiplier onions. Some needed to be put in the compost, some was storing well, and some was borderline so I'll use all that first. I'm thinking that my pantry is not a good place to store things like this in the summer; it just isn't cool enough. There's not enough room in the fridge, so I'm not entirely sure what to do about it.

Aug. Wk 1: 31 - 6

Temperature Range:

• lows: 68 - 76
• highs: 89 - 100

Rainfall: sprinkle

Harvested:

• green beans
• okra
• watermelon
• cowpeas
• green nutmeg melon
• tomatoes
• Hutterite soup beans
• summer squash
• elderberries
• fingerling potatoes
• black oil sunflower seed heads
• figs

Preserved:

• dehydrated watermelon, 1 pint
• dehydrated figs, 3 pints
• froze 1 ice cube tray of whey
• chicken/okra gumbo soup, 11 quarts canned
• chicken/tomato soup base, 2 quarts canned
• tomato/veggie juice, 10 quarts canned
• okra, 2 quarts frozen
• mozzarella, 6 pizza's worth frozen
• scallop squash, froze 1 quart

Seeds Saved:

• dill
• green nutmeg melon

Egg Counts:

• Sun: 4
• Mon. 2
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 3
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 4
• Sat. 3
• Week's total: 23

Eating Our Own:

• fresh eggs
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh figs
• fresh cabbage
• fresh carrots
• fresh okra
• fresh green beans
• fresh scallop squash
• fresh watermelon
• fresh nutmeg melon
• goats milk including:
• mozzarella
• yogurt
• sour milk (cake)
• frozen bell pepper
• lacto-fermented dill pickles
• lacto-fermented Swiss chard
• canned pickle relish
• canned blueberry jam

Accomplished:

• Sunday
• day of rest
• chicks hatched
• placed mail order chicks under Mama Hen
• Monday:
• picked
• watered main garden
• started more tomato juice
• made mozzarella from 2 gallons milk
• Tuesday:
• made & canned chicken okra gumbo
• canned surplus broth as soup base
• had to go buy more quart canning jars
• made yogurt
• froze more whey
• veggies through food mill for tomato juice
• watered raspberries, blueberries, elderberries
• Wednesday:
• dug potatoes (2nd bed of fingerlings)
• picked okra, toms, squash
• picked figs
• watered new pumpkins
• harvested BOSS heads
• canned tomato/veggie juice
• froze okra & ate some fresh
• chopped & froze 4.5 qts figs for jam making later
• Thursday:
• grated & froze Monday's mozzarella
• made more mozzarella from 1.5 gallons milk
• Friday:
• picked green beans, okra, soup beans, toms
• harvested dried dill heads for seed
• set melon seeds to soak for saving
• watered popcorn
• watered comfrey
• Saturday:
• helped finish goat fencing
• grated & froze scallop squash

July Wk. 4: 24 - 30

Temperature range:

• lows: 69 -74 F
• highs: 93 - 98 F

rainfall: 0.2"

Harvested:

• watermelon
• green nutmeg melon
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• cowpeas
• okra
• scallop summer squash
• green beans
• green peppers (2 small)
• oregano
• thyme
• rosemary
• sweet basil
• figs

Preserved:

• pizza sauce, 18 pints canned
• okra, 3 quarts frozen
• okra & tomatoes, 6 qts canned
• mozzarella, 7 pizzas worth
• green nutmeg melon, 1 pint dehydrated
• 1 ice cube tray of whey

Eating our own:

• fresh goats milk
• yogurt
• ricotta
• mozzarella
• sour milk (pancakes)
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh eggs
• fresh herbs
• fresh watermelon (not quite ripe)
• fresh green nutmeg melons
• fresh green beans
• fresh summer squash
• fresh cucumber
• lacto-fermented Swiss chard
• lacto-fermented sour dill pickles
• canned pickle relish
• canned pizza sauce
• canned figs
• frozen bell peppers

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 2
• Mon. 3
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 5
• Thurs. 3
• Fri. 3
• Sat. 4
• Week's total: 26

March Wk 4: 20 - 26

Temperature range:

• lows: 35 - 67 F
• highs: 52 - 81 F

Rainfall:  2.05"

Planted:

• sweet pepper seeds (indoors)

Potted:

• horseradish root
• Dan's olive tree (into larger pot)

Transplanted:

• 1 sassafras tree
• 2 redbud trees
• 1 Sargent crabapple
• violets
• daffodils
• strawberries
• 1 crepe myrtle
• forsythia

Harvested:

• beets
• lettuce
• broccoli
• carrots

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 6
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 5
• Fri. 6 plus a stash of 5
• Sat. 3
• Weekly Total: 39

Eating Our Own:

• fresh beets
• fresh turnips
• fresh lettuce
• fresh carrots
• fresh broccoli
• fresh eggs
• stored potatoes
• canned strawberry jam
• canned blueberry pie filling
• canned dill pickles
• canned cucumber relish
• canned applesauce
• canned tomato relish
• canned blueberry jam
• frozen hash browns
• frozen blueberries
• sauerruben

Feeding to chickens and goats:

• amaranth
• sunflower seeds
• cabbage leaves
• Swiss chard
• overripe buttercup squash

Accomplished:

• measured & staked new permanent garden beds
• pulled cabbage plants except those going to seed
• moving strawberries to new double dug rows

Observations:

• Sprouting:
• St. Johnswort seeds 
• Roma tomato seeds 
• Spearmint 
• creeping thyme
• pyrethrum
• volunteer calendula coming up 
• strawberries flowering
• fig tree beginning to leaf out
• blueberry flower buds forming
• azaleas blooming
• robins everywhere
• lots more rain on Saturday

Summer Totals 2009

Dates - June through December 1st

Rainfall - 17.83"

Acorn Squash - Table Queen (heirloom)

~ planting date - June
~ planted amount - 2 hills of 6 seeds each
~ harvest dates - Sept 14
~ harvest amount by count - 1 small
~ harvest amount by weight - 6.8 oz
~ problems - pickleworm destroyed all but one
~ treatment - need to research!
~ preserved - 1 saved in pantry
~ seed saved - 0.2 oz

Blueberries - rabbiteye

~ harvest dates - July 27 - Aug. 19
~ harvest amount - 16.25 pints
~ preserved - 7 pints dehydrated

Butternut Squash - Waltham (heirloom)

~ planting date - June
~ planted amount - 2 hills of 6 seeds each
~ harvest dates - Sept 12 - 27
~ harvest amount by count - 7
~ harvest amount by weight - 5 lbs 3.5 oz
~ problems - pickleworm destroyed several
~ treatment - put on bricks to get off ground
~ preserved - 7 saved in pantry
~ seed saved - we'll see!

Corn - Sweet Sunshine (hybrid)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - in 3's, one 31 ft row
~ harvest dates - Aug. 29 - Sept. 4
~ harvest amount per count - 23 ears
~ harvest amount per weight - 0.5 oz corn silk (dried)
~ preserved:
~~~~ 5 ears frozen
~~~~ 1 pint cut, frozen
~ problems & solutions:
~~~~ corn smut - discarded infected parts
~~~~ ear worms - discarded
~ seeds saved - none. Not saving hybrid seed

Cucumbers - National Pickling (heirloom)

~ planting date - June
~ planted amount - 4 hills of 6 seeds each
~ harvest dates -Aug. 20 - Sept 29
~ harvest amount by count - 77
~ harvest amount by weight - 15 lbs 12.2 oz
~ problems & treatments
~~~~ powdery mildew - 1st baking soda solution then copper solution ~~~~~~spray, both unsuccessful
~~~~ pickleworms - noted late, will need to research
~ preserved:
~~~~ 7 pints bread & butter pickles
~~~~ 7 pints dill pickles

Figs

~ harvest dates -Aug. 10 - 26
~ harvest amount - 12 lb 4.2 oz
~ preserved:
~~~~ 4 pints jam (used this recipe - low sugar version)
~~~~ 5 pints canned
~~~~ 1 qt dehydrated
~ Problems - competition with birds, trees too tall
~ recommendations - prune trees back to an easier reach height

Green Beans - Kentucky Wonder (heirloom)

~ planting date - June
~ planted amount - 75 feet
~ harvest dates - Aug 1st - Oct. 18
~ harvest amount by weight - 5 lb, 10.3 oz
~ problems & treatments:
~~~~ Mexican bean beetle - Pyola spray from GardensAlive! Worked very ~~~~~~well
~~~~ probably nitrogen deficiency (yellow leaves) - fish emulsion spray for ~~~~~~nitrogen
~ preserved -
~~~~ 3 quarts canned
~~~~ 1.25 quarts dehydrated
~ saved for seed - 12.7 oz

Green Pepper - plant, unknown variety (actually I forgot)

~ planting date - June
~ planted amount - 1 plant
~ harvest dates - July 22 - Dec. 1
~ harvest amount by count - 17
~ problem & treatments:
~~~~ blossom end rot - sprayed with EnzRot from GardensAlive! Success
~ preserved - 3 cups chopped, frozen
~ saved for seed - none

Okra - Clemson Spineless (heirloom)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - 21 foot row
~ harvest dates - Aug 6 - Oct 28
~ harvest amount per weight - 4 lb, 14.3 oz
~ preserved - 8 pints, frozen
~ problems - aphids

Pecans

~ Harvested -6 lb 5.9 oz (not shelled some still in husks)

Pumpkins - Small Sugar (heirloom)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - 2 hills (4 plants each)
~ harvest dates - Sept. 12 - 27
~ harvest amount per count - 1 small
~ harvest amount per weight - 1 lb 3.2 oz
~ preserved - tried to save one which later went bad
~ problems & treatments:
~~~~ powdery mildew - Initially tried a solution of baking soda in water to ~~~~~~control the powdery mildew. This seemed a losing battle, so I ~~~~~~switched to Soap Shield antifungal copper solution from ~~~~~~GardensAlive!. It still got out of control. At one point I picked off ~~~~~~all the~infected leaves thinking I couldn't do any worse. Amazingly ~~~~~~the plants survived and produced all new leaves, which still had ~~~~~~powdery mildew.
~~~~ worms in fruit - need to research solutions
~~~~ all flowers & few pumpkins - according to Dick Raymond, most of the ~~~~~~flowers were probably male. Need to learn how to correct this ~~~~~~problem too.
~~~~ the 1 harvested pumpkin later rotted - saved seeds
~ seeds saved - 1 oz

Straightneck Summer Squash - Early Prolific Straightneck (heirloom)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - 1 hill (4 plants)
~ harvest dates - Aug 1 - 21
~ harvest amount per count - 16
~ harvest amount per weight - 5 lb 8 oz
~ preserved - 1.5 pints dehydrated
~ problems & solutions:
~~~ powdery mildew - Soap Shield antifungal copper solution for ~~~~~~powdery mildew. Poor success.
~~~ pickleworms (in fruit) - discovered too late.
~ seeds saved - none. Plants expired abruptly, probably due to squash vine ~~borers

Sunflowers - Mammoth Gray Stripe (heirloom)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - 1, 25 ft row of 12 plants.
~ harvest date - Sept 17
~ harvest amount per count - 8 heads
~ harvest amount per weight - 2 lbs of seeds
~ preserved - all kept for seed
~ problems & needed precautions:
~~~immature seeds - harvested too early
~~~mold during drying - had to discard some of the seeds. Take ~~~~~~better care!

Tomatoes - Celebrity (hybrid)

~ planted, date - June
~ planted, amount - 8 purchased plants
~ harvest dates - Aug 8 - Dec 1 (picked green ones due frost warning, then ~~~covered plant. More grew!)
~ harvest amount per count - 188
~ harvest amount per weight - 51 lb 14.9 oz
~ preserved - 5 pints spaghetti sauce canned
~ problems & solutions
~~~blossom end rot -sprayed with EnzRot (GardensAlive!)
~~~blight - sprayed with copper solution
~~~bird pecks - oh well
~ seeds saved - none, hybrid

Weekly Totals: Aug. 23 - 29, 2009

Temperature
Avg low - 66 ° F
Avg high 84 ° F

Rainfall: 0.1"

Harvested:
~ corn - 4 ct
~ cucumbers - 18 ct, 3 lb 11.8 oz
~ figs - 12.2 oz
~ green beans - 2 lb 2.2 oz
~ green peppers - 1 ct
~ okra - 9.9 oz
~ tomatoes - 38 ct, 13 lb 14.6 oz plus the tomatoes Dan sold on Friday

August 29, 2009

Temp:
~ low 65° F
~ high 85° F
Fog and drizzle early, clearing later in the day.

Harvested
~ corn - 4 ears
~ cucumbers - 3 ct, 9.8 oz
~ green beans - 3.5 oz
~ okra - 2.7 oz

Watered:
~ corn
~ green pepper
~ green beans
~ and a few tomato plants.

Notes:

• Figs are done. Only a couple of unripe ones still on the trees
• Compost has not been doing well, needs to be watered more often
• Need to finish fall planting & tend weeds in fall garden! Needs mulch.

August 26, 2009

Temp:
~ low 67° F
~ high 89° F

Harvested
~ cucumbers - 13 ct, 2 lb 12.5 oz
~ figs - 7.1 oz
~ green beans - 14.7 oz
~ okra - 5.1 oz
~ tomatoes - 33 ct, 12 lbs

Notes

• Discarded 6 acorn squash due to pickleworm. Set butternuts, seed cuke, and the one uninfected acorn squash on bricks as suggested by The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect & Disease Control
• Found squash bug eggs on winter squashes, sprayed with Pyola
  

August 24, 2009

Temp:
~ low 66° F
~ high 83° F
Mostly sunny with some clouds

Harvested:
~ figs - 5.1 oz

Notes

• See Garden Progress Reports for the latest garden photos & details
  
• Blueberries seem about done. Only a few random berries remain for ripening.
  

August 22, 2009

Temp:
~ low 67° F
~ high 85° F
Cloudy in the morning, sunny later

Harvested:
~ cucumbers- 2 ct, 5.1 oz
~ figs - 6.2 oz
~ okra - 3.7 oz
~ tomatoes - 7 ct, 2 lb 2.2 oz

Preserved:
~ Figs - 4 pints jam (used this recipe - low sugar version)

Watered: - squash, peppers, beets, broccoli

Notes:

• 3 lbs figs yield 4 pints jam
• straightneck summer squash done - worms noted in last squash. Discarded squash & plants.
• raked more roots from next year's garden
• beets are starting to come up
  

August 21, 2009

Temp:
~ low 68° F
~ high 86° F
Rainfall 0.15"
Mostly cloudy, clearing in the afternoon

Harvested:
~ cucumbers - 7 ct, 1 lb 1.8 oz
~ figs -1 lb 3 oz
~ straightneck summer squash - 1 ct, 9.4 oz
~ tomatoes - 4 ct, 1 lb 1.7 oz

Notes

• Sprayed squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers with Soap Shield (copper solution) for powdery mildew and whatever else ails 'em
• Sprayed tomatoes with Soap Shield for early blight
  

August 19, 2009

Temp:
~ low 71° F
~ high 88° F
Sunny early. Increasing cloudiness throughout the day with a sprinkle in the late afternoon.

Harvested:
~ blueberries - 0.5 pint
~ cucumbers - 6 ct, 10.6 oz
~ figs - 5.8 oz
~ green beans - 12 oz
~ green pepper - 1 ct
~ okra - 4.7 oz
~ tomatoes - 6 ct, 1 lb 12.1 oz

Notes:

• raked more roots from next year's garden

August 18, 2009

Temp:
~ low 70° F
~ high 87° F
Mostly sunny

Harvested:
~ figs - 8.5 oz
~ tomatoes - 1 ct, 9.5 oz

Notes

• Continued to rake roots from production garden
• Planted more buckwheat
• Put more mulch on green pepper & tomatoes

August 17, 2009

Temp:
~ low 67° F
~ high 86° F
Rainfall - 0.2"

Harvested: [NOTE: picked cucumbers & tomatoes to give away and did not count or weigh]
~ blueberries - 1/4 pint
~ figs - 12 oz
~ green pepper - 1 ct
~ straightneck summer squash - ct 2, 1 lb 3.4 oz

Preserved:
~ cucumbers - 7 pints dill pickles

Weekly Totals: Aug. 9 - 15, 2009

Temp:
~ Avg low - 69°F
~ Avg high - 86°F

Rainfall: 0.4"

Harvested:
~ blueberries - 1.5 pints
~ cucumbers - 19 ct, 4 lbs 3.3 oz
~ figs - 8 lbs 4.5 oz
~ green beans - 1 lb 11.5 oz
~ green peppers - 1 ct, 7.8 oz
~ okra - 2.5 oz
~ straightneck summer squash - 3 ct, 1 lb 3.7 oz
~ tomatoes - 13 ct, 3 lbs 12.2 oz

Preserved:
~ figs - 5 pints canned
-------- 1 qt dehydrated
~ green beans - 1.5 pints dehydrated
~ straightneck summer squash - 1.5 pints dehydrated

August 14, 2009

Temp:
~ low 67° F
~ high 84° F
Mostly sunny

Raked more roots from production garden.

Planted:
~ more buckwheat in production garden

Harvested:
~ figs - 13.4 oz

Preserved:
~ figs - 1 qt dried [Note: 3lb 5 oz fresh figs yields 1 qt dehydrated]

August 13, 2009

Temp:
~ low 66° F
~ high 84° F
Mostly sunny

Soil Test Results - for 2010 production garden




Sprayed
~ Green beans, pumpkins & squashes with Pyola for squash bug & Mexican bean beetle

Harvested
~ blueberries - 1 pint
~ cukes - 5 ct, 12.7 oz
~ figs - 3lb 5.3 oz
~ green beans - 13.4 oz
~ green pepper - 1 ct, 7.8 oz
~ okra- 1.9 oz
~ tomatoes - 4 ct, 1lb 13.4 oz

August 11, 2009

Temp:
~ low 72° F
~ high 94° F
Sunny and hot in the morning.
Cloudy & windy in the afternoon.
We need rain.

Harvested:
~ figs - 2 lbs 0.8 oz

Preserved:
~ figs - 5 pints canned in light syrup
~ green beans - 1.5 pints dehydrated

Noted:

• 2 qts fresh green beans = 3 cups dried
  

August 10, 2009

Temp:
~ low 71° F
~ high 94° F
Sunny in AM, some clouds in the afternoon

Planted:
~ broccoli (2nd row)
~ beets

Harvested:
~ blueberries - 0.5 pint
~ cukes - 6 ct., 1 lb 2 oz
~ figs - 2 lbs 1 oz
~ green beans - 10.4 oz
~ straightneck summer squash - 3 ct, 1 lb 3.7 oz
~ tomatoes - 4 ct, 3.3 oz

Sprayed:
~ tomatoes & green pepper with Enz-rot
~ cucurbits with copper solution for powdery mildew

Preserved:
~ straightneck summer squash - 1.5 pints dehydrated

Noted:

• Tomatoes are cracked & one with blossom end rot. Hopefully that's the last one.
  
• One tomato had been pecked!
  
• No blossom end rot noted on any more peppers
• Soil is thankfully still moist from our previous rains
• saved a week's worth of green bean pickings, which ended up only being 2 quarts. This is from 3, 25 foot rows. Not enough to can, may try dehydrating them.