Monday, July 23, 2012

Harvest Monday: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly


 I'm back from my week in Haiti and trying to get back to normal routine in the home and garden. The trip was one of the amazing experiences of my life and I will post a little about it later in the week. Meanwhile, it's Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions so I'll talk about the good, the bad and the ugly this week! Don't forget to check out all the other great harvests there.
Let's start with The Good: My husband took great care of the garden, harvesting, watering and even some weeding! He blanched and froze veggies for the winter! What a guy! He kept a record of weights too so I would have no gaps in my log.
 Things are coming in like gangbusters. We are experiencing the zucchini glut!!! Yes, we are! I've had more than enough to freeze and I'm scrambling for more recipes to use it in.
 Green beans are coming in strong. My main variety is called Fresh Pick, from Johnny's Selected Seeds. What I like about it is I get a great harvest now, and when it stops, just wait about 2 weeks and a second blossoming begins and I will get another good sized harvest. We love green beans so it is good to have lots to put up.
 Carrots are sizing up, but very slowly. My second planting of broccoli is producing and I am actually able to put some in the freezer. This is a first and very welcome since broccoli is by far our favorite veggie.
And then, my first pattypan squash ever. I imagine you prepare it like any other summer squash and I look forward to trying it out tonight. In the photo at the top of this page you can see my first eggplants of the year and my first Sungold tomatoes along with some peppers. Bring on the fruits of summer!
OK. Now I have to go on the The Bad and The Ugly. I hate this, but it's the reality of gardening. The Bad: An awful lot of my plants, most notably my tomatoes, are exhibiting disease. The tomatoes are loaded with green tomatoes so I hope I can keep them going til they ripen. I prune the diseased leaves agressively and that seems to help slow things down a bit.
But I'm far less concerned about that than about The Ugly: I noticed the carrot tops seemed to be munched on and saw that a number of my melon plants had been denuded. Roh-roh! Then I found it. Or them...two huge holes dug deep and under the fence, irrefutible evidence that a groundhog has found its way into my garden. I filled the holes with dirt, but that won't stop it. I have to do something pretty drastic and I dread going down there today to find more damage. I'm still recovering from a pretty exhausting trip and have to dredge up the energy to deal with things, but I'm sure I will very soon.
All in all I'm very happy with things, despite the negatives. It's hard to leave a garden at the height of the season. My first day back I harvested over 21 pounds of produce and spent the whole afternoon putting it up for winter. This week I'll spend my time getting back to normal and reflecting on how much we have here after seeing first hand how little the people of Haiti have. I am so blessed and need to be grateful despite The Bad and The Ugly which by comparison to the sufferings of so many people in the world are nothing!
Have a great gardening week and enjoy the fruits of your labors with gratitude!

20 comments:

  1. Your good far outweighs the bad. Ground hogs are a real problem though as they will quickly just dig another entry once they know your garden of goodness exists.

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    1. That's the truth! There are lots of groundhogs in our area and I'd really hoped they wouldn't find my garden. This year people have been spotting a lot of them, maybe due to our unusually mild winter.

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  2. My condolences on the groundhog! We've been battling them this week for the first time -- very anxiety producing how much damage they can wreak. We've relocated one and are now on the lookout for the other... And growing tomatoes is often simply a race against disease. We've been lucky so far, but have given up completely on growing slicing tomatoes. Still, a lovely harvest you've pulled in!

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    1. Thanks! I try to look at the positive versus the negative. It's always something anyway. Last year voles took out a lot of my plants, this year it's Mr. Groundhog. Disease is always a reality here too.

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  3. I am so pleased to get your advice re the beans from Johnny's. Thank you. Great harvest!!

    Sorry about the negatives, but as you say, they are a fact of a gardeners life, a reality.

    Will look forward to a post about the people in Haiti.

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    1. Yes, if you happen to get Fresh Pick beans it's good to know they produce twice. Two years ago I was just on the verge of pulling the plants when suddenly they started blossoming profusely and I got a very large second harvest. Last year too, so it is my bean of choice! Haiti was an incredible experience and for a gardener, seeing all the fruits and veggies was great fun too.

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  4. What a lovely harvest and what a great guy your hubby is! lots of guys wouldn't have a clue what to do with all that produce!

    for the groundhog, if you can get some wire fence, doesn't have to be perfect, used is ok; wire it to the outside bottom of the existing fence, then bend it out flat to lay on the ground. But some rocks or dirt over the top. Helps keep digging animals out.

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    1. Thank you Mary! I will certainly have to come up with something to deter that critter. And I do appreciate D's willingness to deal with the harvest!

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  5. This sounds like a great suggestion for green beans to me, too. My family really loves green beans, and would like to get a bigger harvest than this year.

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  6. Yes, nutmeg, we all should be grateful for what we harvest. Sorry about the bad. Glad you arrived safe home! Wow, what a guy to harvest, weed and put up your produce. He deserves an A plus! My Patty pan is not ready yet but I planted it last year and mine was yellow. Enjoy your produce! Nancy

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    1. Thanks Nancy! It's good to be back in the garden and D does deserve an A plus! Never did get to that pattypan today, we had zucchini au gratin instead. Tomorrow I hope!

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  7. Beautiful harvest - though I can sympathize with disease and pest problems. Though we all know it is the reality a gardening, it is still so very frustrating. Best of luck with the ground hog!

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    1. Thank you! It's always something, so I guess I've just got to roll with it.

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  8. Nice harvest, and welcome back home! Sorry about the groundhog. :-(

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    1. Thanks Granny! It's good to be home again, gardening and catching up with everybody's blogs.

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  9. Great harvest! You have to love that zucchini glut!! I look forward to hearing about your trip to Haiti.

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    1. Coming soon! So much to process emotionally, I won't know where to begin!

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  10. How amazing to come back to 21 pounds of harvest! It is very hard to leave the garden at high season, and even harder to realize something is munching on all your hard work...but you are very right...there are so many gifts in the garden :-) Rest up!

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    1. Will do! But the weeds are threatening to take over now since we've had rain and heat. Have to get to work soon.

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