Winter Berry Care

Ah, the delights of blackberries in the summer almost make up for the fact that it is a plant that does not take care of itself. My husband pruned it way back last week, but soon enough the canes will overtake the fence on the neighbors' side, and on our side, form a bower that is admittedly a bit charming to look at but annoying to walk under if you are grownup size. We don't give it any additional water although maybe we should rethink that during the Great Drought.

Barenaked berries

Mid-July Harvest

Nectarines ripening up (note new backyard fence section - complete!)

Lettuce tragedies aside, the garden is producing about a pint of blackberries and a handful of green beans and snap peas per day. I'm getting a zucchini a week (perfect!), an occasional tomato, and a bit of lettuce. The Miracle Gro regimen of every two weeks seems to be helping the basil and mint, and boy did the mojito I made last weekend with our mint and our lime really help me.

I am looking forward to when the tomatoes really start producing. We've got a couple of days before the oddball nectarines are ripe. This was an inherited tree in a stupid place in the backyard. The grownups in the family aren't fans of the fruit it produces, but last year anyway my son enjoyed them for its week of abundance. The fruits are small, just about the right size for his hand, and that's as good a reason as any to eat a fruit.

So Many Berries!

It's pretty awesome! I like them with just a shot of whipped cream (from a can, because I'm all-American like that). The kids generally just pick em and eat em with no intermediate step. For myself, I rinse them. Actually right after this photo was taken, a tiny green worm poked his head out of one of the berries. I downplayed it with my daughter but, my stomach turned over. That's life on the farm, folks.

Finally!

We're finally getting some tomatoes! My 5 year old is SUPER proud that his Sungold plant is the first to produce, but he is almost as excited to give me a daily report on how my plants are coming along. His is producing a couple a day; mine are almost ready.

In my first flush of enthusiasm and ignorance, I popped a purple cherry into my mouth before it was anywhere near ripe - YUCK - but I had to quickly mask it so the kids wouldn't get turned off them. O the sacrifices parents make. I'll be giving those guys a wide berth now. They can stay on the plant until they provide me with a written notice of readiness.

Our wacky weather has been cool and foggy in the mornings and late afternoons/evenings, but fairly warm and sunny midday. The zucchini is happy as a clam and producing well. I even have a lemon cuke almost ready to pick, and we're getting a right-sized handful of sugar snap peas and green beans daily. The blackberries continue to flourish. We picked about 10 cups worth in the past few days because my husband was seized with a desire to make jam. Using a newly acquired vintage food mill my aunt gave us, he was able to de-seed them nicely, and we tried the jam this morning. It was excellent. I love helping the kids make that mental connection between taking care of our plants and eating what they produce. Viva los berries!

Berry Day

Today we picked berries. First I had two helpers holding tubs, then I had one helper, then I had no helpers and I got hot and tired! We'll eat these tonight over homemade frozen yogurt, or freeze them for jam later.

I also got a handful of "green" (purple) beans and sugar snap peas, not that anyone else is going to eat either of those crops. Good thing I scaled back on both. To do list for next week: take out old lettuce in pot and plant something new there (what??), pray over tomatoes, take out those stupidly mysterious alliums. They're thicker than my forearm at this point; I don't think they're edible.

Wordless Wednesday

And So it Begins

It's getting to be that time when gardeners start complain-bragging about ALL the WORK involved in HARVESTING, sigh. Well, I picked a pound of blackberries today and in fact my arm IS tired, thanks for asking. I also harvested a bit of lettuce - just enough for my sandwich at lunchtime - and one very attractive zucchini. I'm leaving the second ripe one on for a few more days to see what happens (I know...). Almost all our edibles are in the backyard, but we do have one gooseberry plant in front. Unfortunately I never notice it in its little corner so when it's fruiting, we tend to accumulate a couple pounds on it before picking. That is currently the case. I need to wait for a kid helper before tackling it. They'll pick gooseberries, but not eat them - it's a crop-swapper for sure.

Taking advantage of some kid-free time, I also added some Miracle Gro to most of the vegetable plants. I didn't even know we had any, but my husband confessed it to me last night, with a nervous laugh. Hey, I like success as much as the next gardener. I hadn't fertilized anything, so undoubtedly they will enjoy this boost. I mixed it in a bucket that the kids usually use for their garden playtime, so this truly would not have been possible if they'd been at home. I also tied back most of the berry canes drooping into the walkway, and sowed a new round of cilantro and lettuce seeds in-ground adjacent to the Alliums of Mystery.

Heating Up

We got back from a five-day vacation (Legoland's strawberries are doing much better than mine - maybe the slugs are made of Legos), and it was the cutest thing to watch the kids rush through the house to get to the backyard upon our return. "Mommy! Come here! Your tomatoes are growing! The zucchini is big! There are LOTS of peas!" Homecoming was pretty sweet.

And in fact, things are looking great. My new pot of lettuce is sprouting merrily, my new little pot of cilantro is ready for harvesting (mental note: time to sow again), and 4 out of our 5 tomato plants have the teeniest little green fruits on them. All the green beans I sowed are coming up - wow, are we going to have a lot of green beans for the crop swap - and even my pathetic little yellow squash finally has a blossom on it. I love June in the garden! Hope is still alive, blackberries are ripe for the plucking, and all is well.

Good News

Almost as cute as human babies

I'm so happy! First, I've got some Blue Lake green bean seedlings up, basically overnight, after about a week in the ground. Second, I picked the first blackberry of the season (about a zillion more are on their way) and got to eat it all by myself. It may be the last one I get, but it was tasty.

Third, today is the first day of my preferred local crop swap. Even if I don't make it tonight, I finally have an outlet for my excess cilantro and green onions. Phew.

Yee-haw!

When the kids get home from school, I'll share all this good news with them. Or maybe I won't - give the bean seedlings a few more days before subjecting them to the likelihood of getting trampled by enthusiastic viewers.

Winter Harvest

Peas! My very first snow peas ever, few in number but mighty in crunchy taste. I also picked blackberries. While I was inside getting a colander for the lettuce, my son gobbled down all the berries. He reported they were good.

Christmas Chraziness Underway

Thanksgiving's a distant memory now; we are full speed ahead to Christmas in my house now. So nice with kids - they are excited by the slightest sprig of holly and the shortest strand of lights on the neighbor's window. Meanwhile, yesterday we harvested another handful of golden cherry tomatoes AND one cute little boysenberry. Dude, you are really going to be sorry you decided to fruit when the cold snap hits tonight.

Unseasonableness

Uh, guys, hate to break it to you, but it's October.

I get it, you're beautiful and perfect. Jeez.

Today not only is the berry bush blossoming, but so is the third of the three pumpkin plants I planted this summer. The pumpkin has only one tiny fruit bud on it - if it survives, perhaps it would be normal size by December or January! And the blackberries - man, they are just confused. I got only one pumpkin from the four plants this year, although it was a Cinderella's Coach beauty. We picked it last week and it is gracing the front porch now. I trimmed back the two berries yesterday as the new canes were trying to mate with the neighbor's plum tree over the fence. The berries were great producers in June/July but have decently wrapped up... or so I thought.