Saturday, July 31, 2010

It’s A Jungle Out There

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I snapped some photos of the jungle in the back yard I used to call my garden! It’s a tropical mess. The tomato and cuke plants are getting buried by the gourds and giant pumpkin and butternut. I can’t get to the sugar snap peas because I planted them too close to the corn!DSC04847

DSC04848 It was so hard to find the little tags on the twigs I put beside each plant that I made new signs that stick out of the ground about 5 or more feet! I made them out of old bamboo rods with paint sticks taped to the tops. I wrote on the paint sticks with  a permanent marker…the name of each vegetable….like large pumpkin, small pumpkin, regular cukes, pickling cukes…etc. After I stuck them all in the garden and stood back away from the garden, I took a good look. It reminded me of a Democratic Convention!!!!! Instead of IOWA or some other state it says CORN or  GOURDS! It  was   pretty funny.DSC04845

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The butternut is coming along well and I found a giant pumpkin today! That was exciting because it’s hard to get underneath all those leaves without the bees getting you! See the bee inside that squash blossom above? They are all through the garden and very aggressive. The copper beetles are becoming less of a nuisance lately. The bees took over their job, but at least the bees are good for the garden!DSC04851

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  See the ARC shaped gourd hidden in the above photo? We have been picking 4 to 6 cucumbers every other day. We eat salads every day and what a difference with the added freshness of those juicy cukes. My popcorn leaves are keeping right up with the regular yellow corn. Can’t wait to see if it matures and what it looks like. Harvesting should be interesting. It’s always fun. It’s my favorite part of growing a garden! Finding all those hidden treasures under the massive leaves!! You never know where a vegetable is going to end up or what strange form it will take.DSC04855 My next project is to make some old fashioned sour pickles in a large wide mouth jar. No canning….just drop them into the vinegar, solution. I have two recipes. Both are from elderly ladies here in my town and are almost identical. I have another one for dill pickles. I will share with you all when I do it.~..~ How’s your garden doing?

                       heathercatface1

12 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i am so jealous you have a pumpkin. groundhogs have eaten all of my pumpkin blossoms! i can't wait to see your recipe for dill pickles. i am a bit time pickle lover. i would take a pickle over a piece of chocolate any day! did you plant popcorn corn?

Claudia said...

Your garden is looking so great, Debbie! You must be thrilled. I love what you said about the signs reminding you of a political convention. You're hosting a vegetable convention right there on your property.

Thanks so much for the comment about Don's music. He's really good, isn't he? He writes wonderful lyrics. We're hoping someone will record one of his songs one day. There are several that I think could be recorded if the right person heard them. Keep your fingers crossed. He's written well over 100 songs and what you hear on his site is just the tip of the iceberg.

Congratulations to your nephew for all his hard work and his producing career!

Have a great weekend.

xo
Claudia

Dawn said...

Debbie, Wow! Your garden looks wonderful! Mine seems to be giving up, we've had some tomatoes and 2 peppers but a few varieties of the tomatoes died not being use to the fertilizer I guess. Lucky you with the pumpkin! I keep waiting on mine. Yum! Pickles are the best.

Debbie said...

Jaz:...Yes I planted popcorn too. On one side of the garden is regular yellow corn and the other side is popcorn. They are little 4" to 6" ears that are multi-colored and can be used for fall decoration or popcorn! I will share all 3 recipes when i do those pickles.
Claudia:...I love that! A vegetable convention! Now that's pretty cool! Wow...I can't believe Don has written 100 songs. My dad wrote a hand full but only published one. It was called Arizona Moon. A beautiful old melody. You are so lucky! I will pass Don's name onto my nephew and my brother.
Dawn:...I guess I had better get a photo of that pumpkin soon. Last year I grew only the small pumpkins and swore I would grow bigger ones this year as well as the small and I did. The only problem is I think this big guy is taking all the juice from the plant! I don't see any others yet? I am so sorry about your garden but all is not lost i don't think by the sound of it? Mine is so crowded Dawn that I can't find anything. My poor tomato plants are smothering. Don't fret about your garden...there is next year as they say and you have a NEW craft room!!! Yay!!

Michelle said...

You are too funny! That convention thing cracked me up! Your garden looks great! The more the merrier, I say. My girlfriend and I just pickled some cucumbers and OMG they are delicious! We even pickled green beans!! Good luck with that jungle of yours. :))

Claudia said...

Debbie, I forgot to add that Don was just saying the other day that "The Ghost of Avalon," one of the songs on his ReverbNation site, would be perfect for KD Lang to sing - what a coincidence! Maybe your nephew would give it a listen? It's rather haunting and the kind of song that someone with a voice like KD's can sing beautifully.

By the way, my garden (not a vegetable garden) is looking like it is mid-August rather than July. This hot summer has taken its toll. But today is one of those spectacular summer days with no humidity and lower temps. Heaven! Have a wonderful weekend.

xo
Claudia

Anonymous said...

What a garden! Fantastic! Comes latter August, you'll have so much veggies to eat, freeze and bless other with! Truly, a healthy, full-bodied growth of delicious food to be proud of. I think the health of your productive garden can be attributed to the many years you and Bob made certain the garden was cleared, fertilized and covered till the following Spring and fertilized once more and look at your pictures to see the results of caring for your soil which is rich and potent. All those years of nursing and 'vitimin'izing' your garden plus (and as importantly) organizing what plants would go where so to not exhaust the soil. It's all paid-off! I love your garden! Well done, Deb and Bob! Love, GeeGee

Lola said...

Wow, Debbie I wish my garden looked half the 'jungle' yours does. All is co put here. Maybe I'll get another pepper or two before winter kills it. Tomatoes did their thing 1 time & that was it.

Debbie said...

Michelle...Thanks for coming by. Oh those fresh veggies are just so good aren't they?
Claudia:...Oh my...what a coincidence! I will try and mention that to him. I already sent a link of Don's music to my brother. They are on vacation so haven't heard anything. I must say though that Adam is a shy one and very guarded about his business. I'll be spending some time with him today. Maybe I can drop a hint in there. You are right about the gardens looking like mid August! What does that mean...August will be September and on and on? I think I may need to start planting in mid to end of June now!
Alice:..Oh you are so darned sweet!! You ALWAYS make me feel so good my friend! It LOOKS good...but I can't FIND anything out there!! Yikes!!
Lola:....So far Lola..the only thing producing are cukes and squash. Tomatoes are slow because they are so crowded! My carrots and beets are constricted with weeds I could never get out...but there will be plenty of squash and ghords and pumpkins I guess! Good luck with yours Lola.

Kathleen said...

Well don't you have the green thumb. My gosh Debbie, I can't believe how lush everything is. I too, love the "convention"analogy. It looks just like that, and really made me laugh. Looks like your harvest will be incredible.
Hugs & Luv, Kathleen

Anonymous said...

Hi Debbie! Oh, look at your garden! It's amazing to see all of the different produce you have! Yummy!
Thanks for popping in to see me.
I hope you're still feeling well.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

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