Idaho Spud

I'm  an Idaho Spud through and through! I really do not mind getting dirty and speaking of dirt, among all the garden clean up chores this weekend, our spuds needed to be dug up.

There were a few surprise "Biggies"  in the dirt.

Time is running out before the big freeze, I am really happy to get these harvested!

Pumpkin Pickin'

 Sunday was clean out the garden day and Harvest pumpkins day :-)  Here is our big Pumpkins "Punk" and "Big Baby"

 The boys were a great help in the garden today! We were able to finally weigh the big pumpkins....

"Punk" weighed in at 144 lbs. and "Big Baby" weighed in at 84 lbs. Not to shabby for a first atempt  at growing giants!!!

I was hoping "Punk" would break 200 lbs. It had grown enough to break it's own stem in September and stopped growing at that time. I let "Big Baby" grow in hopes there was enough growing time to catch and surpass "Punk"...Didn't happen!! I am looking forward to growing these biggin's again next year!

I love pumpkin pickin' time!

Garden Carotts



Enjoying the sweet harvest of carotts


 


and getting my fill of Beta Carotene!

 

Who says you can't garden in the snow?

Sunday was absolutely beautiful....what a difference sunshine makes! It feels like forever, since I've seen the sun shine that brightly across my snowed in garden. 

I decided it was high time to tromp my way across the back yard and see what has been sleeping beneath the snow. 

diggin' in a blanket of snow.

A buried treasure would be found!

Jerusalem artichokes, also called Sun Roots, Sun Chokes, and earth apples.

  a modest, 2 lb. harvest that is a welcomed treat!



Canning has began

Wow...I am always surprised just how quickly canning season arrives. I work in my garden, make plans in my head, water and weed then wait, watch, and dote over the garden...

Then, suddenly without warning, everything comes on at once! That means trying to find the time in my busy schedule to get everything harvested and put by.

This past Sunday, the boys and I harvested the green beans and I canned 14 quarts.

Cucumbers were also ready to be picked...

Early to rise this morning... it was time to make Pickles!

Peppers, Garlic, & Grape Leaves



I used our favorite pickle recipe given to us by our friend Mr. Brown. I am not quite sure what the grape leaves add to the pickles but the recipe came from a very old recipe book, and we are not about to change anything :-) 

Ended up with 5 Quarts & 1 pint....I am certain, by the looks of the vines, there will be plenty more to can.

Growing Watermelon

I have really come to love the trials and tribulations of gardening in North Idaho. I have never tried to grow melons of any kind in my garden. I figured this year was just as good as any, and chose the small Blacktail Mountain variety known to grow in cooler climates.

My seeds were started earlier this spring and transplanted into one of the unoccupied cold frames.

My thoughts were to be able to close the frames for protection if night temperatures were to fall before harvest. Black plastic was also put down to help keep the soil extra cozy.

Although they were slow to start, it seems as though they are off to the races... now that the heat has arrived!!!

I know what your thinking!!!!  

They may be small now, but just wait... 

I am very hopeful that with love and attenttion, they will  have enough time to grow!!!

More peas....Please!

The shell peas are starting to plump, and are oh so sweet!

Definitely one of my favorite treats to snack on while working in the garden....

Not only are they my favorite, we found out peas are Tilly monsters favorite snack too! Tilly is our 3 lb. mini Yorkie.  She has enough energy to give the energizer bunny a run for his money!

Consider yourself...WARNED ;-)

She loves to follow us into the garden and tries to wait patiently for her special treat...

 This time, she just got to darn excited, and chomped on the pod before we could open it!

"ooooopsie mom....I'z just to cited"

Not only do we have to worry about pest, insects, and other creepy crawlies in the garden, we now have to worry about what catastrophic damage a Tilly Monster can do to our Harvest ;-)



What a difference a day makes

Yesterday, the bushes were just showing signs of pink...

This afternoon...actual ripe berries! YUMMY :-)

They should be coming on strong, within the week ;-)

Gettin' growin'

I enjoyed crispy, crunchy, snappy, sweet, Summer carrots today ;-) so much better than the flavorless, cardboard carrots from the store. These little cuties didn't even make it out of the garden...ooopsie!

Things are finally starting to grow...

Corn is definately not going to be knee high by the 4th of July :-(

Broccoli row was removed today, as the side shoots were starting to flower. The row was amended with a new layer of compost and replanted with carrots for a fall harvest

Garlic will be ready soon... and another succession planting of green beans and wax beans were planted  between the garlic rows.

The bushes are loaded with green berries....Looks like the Raspberries have thoroughly enjoyed all the rain. We will be waiting with anticipation for them to ripen. I think I see jam making in my future ;-)

Herbs: over 2 lbs. of oregano was harvested and dried.



Harvest Report

Here's what we've been pulling out of the garden this week...

Even with the soggy weather... my garden has been holding it's own. This week we were able to harvest 2 ½ lbs. of broccoli and another ¾ of a lb. of garlic scapes. The scapes were thrown in the dehydrator right away and will be ground into garlic powder and added to the other garlic powder we dried last week.

The broccoli made a perfect side dish to pork chops for dinner.

Yummy!

of course we are still eating the lettuce...and hoping it doesn't bolt anytime soon. Wich reminds me I need to success plant more lettuce in the near future!

Homemade Garlic Powder ...Grow it...Dry it...Grind it!

We had a great Garlic harvest last season. So much garlic in fact, we had plenty of garlic to fully replant the garden, share with family and friends, and supply all of our cooking needs through the Winter and Spring. With the remainder of the garlic in the pantry starting to sprout. I figured it was time to do something with it, before it was to late. Dehydrating seemed like the best choice.

The boys and I began the tedious task of peeling garlic...

It went so much faster with their help...and the conversations are always fun when we work together in the kitchen.

I am sure their wives will thank me for this someday ;-)

We loaded the dehydrator and set it out on the back porch, for obvious reasons.

after a couple of days in the dehydrator, it was finally dry enough to be ground down. 

 I have a cheap coffee bean grinder that I discovered, works excellent on my dried goods.

After grinding the garlic to fine powder, we ended up with 1¼ Cups.

The next thing to be thrown in the dehydrator are the fresh garlic scape's. I've never really known what to do with the scape's, as they are pretty pungent.

This time they will be dried, ground and turned into garlic powder. Garlic Salt will also be made by using 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder.