Friday, October 19, 2012

The Fall Garden So Far...

 In case anyone is thinking of an year-round garden...

We harvested four butternut squash.  That's not a lot, but we didn't know if they would grow well here and if we would even like them, so we didn't want to waste space for our experiment. We have found that they grow very well and that they taste very well!  Oh my goodness-so far I have just cut them up and roasted them with oil, salt, and pepper, and they are so yummy.  We will definitely plant more next year.

Peas-I was surprised that we even had more peas after the deer had their fill, but it appears the deer have moved on and we have picked two more times since then. We did not plant enough to last us through the year, but I hope to do better about planning and thinking things through in the spring.  We eat a lot of peas so we need to grow lots of peas.

I cut the last of the okra Wednesday.  And I fried it up for dinner that night and oh yum.  The wonderful thing about okra is that it takes very little space to grow a LOT of okra.

Turnips-I pulled some of them up and roasted them like the butternut squash, but we didn't like them as much as the squash.  I am searching for another way to make them.  Any ideas anyone?  The greens are doing great and I just haven't gotten around to cooking them up.  Maybe one night next week, with some cornbread, and pepper sauce.  Delicisio!  Isn't it funny how our tastes change?  When I was a child you could not have gotten me to eat turnip greens for anything in the world...

Rutabagas-I thought these were a big disappointment because when I pulled them up they were so tiny. I read last night they can take up to six months to get big enough to eat.  What?????  Daddy, is this true?

Last weekend Mark planted broccoli, Swiss chard, lettuce, and cabbage. These are all experiments so he didn't plant a lot.  I did plant a small amount of broccoli in our raised bed before, but I didnt' take care of it or weed it so it just went to seed pretty quickly.  I'll try to do better this time.

The herbs are still growing like crazy although I have noticed that they are going to seed also.

I have to tell you, I really liked closing up the garden at the end of summer and being done with it for a couple of months.  But, if we have the garden space it really doesn't make since to let it go to waste when it can be producing for us.   I'm slow to change and certainly have the tendancy to be a lay-about so this is new to me.  But ya'll, the butternut squash-I think they will make it all worth it.

Linking up at Fresh Eggs Daily.

1 comment:

  1. I never let my butternut squash mature. I pick it while its still green and eat it raw cut up in a salad. Tastes just like a crunchy avocado.

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