from the garden

the first tomato of the season! also peppers are starting to come in (gypsy and bell pictured above). got a few cucumbers almost ready to pick. swiss chard, lettuce, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley. along with a few fat juicy hornworms, unfortunately. i took guilty pleasure in feeding the worms to our chickens.

my wee little garden.

so, i'm slowly taking back my garden. laying down newspaper and hay to kill out weeds & grass. getting the hydrogen levels in check. killing hornworms with my bare hands. yes, hornworms beware! dusting with diatomaceous earth to kill other pests (we don't use chemical pesticides). and low and behold, baby fruits are being revealed.

gypsy pepper

itty bitty heirloom tomato

eggplant (still needs some de-pesting)

adorable baby cucumber

giganto jalapeno pepper

now for the million dollar question.... anyone know what this plant is?

it is growing all over our pasture. is it a weed? a baby tree? i do not remember seeing it last year. hoping it is not worrisome. perhaps it's something beneficial? the root actually smells quite good. sweet and spicy. ok, so i don't have a million dollars. but i will award some sort of prize (more than likely mohair or vegetable) to the first person to correctly identify this mystery plant.

"speed kills, herb." - wkrp in cincinnati

the garden is getting off to a slow start. as i mentioned before, floods came and knocked out all the 'maters. and then life got in the way. and then crab grass and dandelions took over. but it's getting there.

garden beginnings.

the ground has finally dried off a bit. and the seeds we planted last month have begun to sprout. corn & beans & squash & herbs, among others. i still have tons of weeding to do. and unfortunately the storms destroyed all my transplanted tomato plants. but a new batch of seedlings is growing steady indoors and should provide us with some late season fruit. but i have to say, the worst part of gardening, beyond the backbreaking work, is the waiting. i'm hungry now!

five-color silverbeet

corn

squash

broccoli

bean sprout

cilantro

spanish pickles.

yesterday, i was honored to learn the art of making spanish pickles. "what are spanish pickles?" you ask. some folks say it is something made up by my grandmother in law, dorothy. if you look up "spanish pickles" on the internet you might find a recipe or two. but not much else. i first heard about them from my mother in law, rita. she says they are good with beans. and so every time we have beans, i get to hear how rita could "sure use a jar of spanish pickles" and that there's "nothing like 'em" and that "it's been years" since she had a jar. well, i like beans. i like pickles. my curiosity was sparked.

and since i moved to the farm and began to garden, i decided i should also learn how to can & jar. i thought it would be a good idea to figure out what to do with all my tomatoes. and up to two weeks ago, i had an abundance. i was making spaghetti sauce, using 10 tomatoes at a time. and guess what is a major ingredient in "spanish pickles"???? tomatoes. green tomatoes to be exact. so i talked to rita, and rita talked to dorothy, and we agreed we should schedule a time to make a batch spanish pickles while dorothy still remembers how. but then disaster struck. we had a big storm last week and my garden was plagued by a second invasion of hornworms. oh the revisited horror! overnight, a newer bigger uglier batch of hornworms emerged and devoured about 80% of my garden. not only did they eat the leaves, they ate my green tomatoes. next year, it won't be like this. i will be prepared. i will have an arsenal of deterrents up my sleeve. and i will start my first plan of defense this fall by properly turning the soil and composting. but i digress....

getting back to pickles... rita scheduled a "spanish pickle making night" with me, dorothy, rita and her sister, glenda. the ever resourceful dorothy got her hands on some fresh green tomatoes. and we gathered to record this family tradition. here is what i learned....

spanish pickles are made of equal parts of green tomatoes & cabbage. they are chopped in a food processor. and placed into a big pot. white vinegar, canning salt, and red pepper flakes are added for taste. then the pot is placed on stove and boiled just until the mixture starts to turn a darker color. then contents are lightly drained of juice and placed into mason jars. jars were not boiled, but securely fastened by my father in law, glenn. the mixture inside is still hot and you can hear it "popping" the seals shut as they sit. then, jars sit for at least a week, and... voila, spanish pickles! serve with beans, or crackers, or whatever you like.

i still don't exactly know what spanish pickles are. you can add green peppers to the mix. you can add onions. you can make them extra hot or not so hot. you can add more of the juice or less. some folks like 'em. some folks don't. me, i can't wait to try them. 6 more days!

chopped green tomatoes

food processorized

add pepper, salt & vinegar

cook, can & voila!

saturday was...

lots of driving/riding (jason drove & i looked out window), farm supply shopping in two different counties (hence, the all the driving) to find specific poultry medicine, administering poultry medicine, attempting to shear baby snakes (no luck), picking tomatoes (much luck), trimming goat hoofs (so yuck), & enjoying the view while jason grilled turkey-burgers.

our august landscape

freshly picked tomatoes

free range chicken

842 & marla comparing manicures

attack of the giant hornworm part two.

i haven't seen hide nor hair of the nasty hornworms in a few days. maybe a week. not since the potato beetles moved in. this morning, i was out inspecting the garden after a well needed rain. things were looking pretty good. no beetles. no cutworms. and then....i saw the evidence. the tell-tale droppings. and they were big. i knew this was no meager worm. it was going to be a monster. and there he was. giant and eating two baby tomatoes at the same time. the arrogance! the sheer lack of respect. i didn't know whether to pick him off with my hand and risk losing my fingers or grab the shotgun. i'd rather not discuss the execution. but he is no longer a threat. and i will sleep safter tonight. i wish i could say the same for those baby tomatoes.

caught in the act

he left a trace