November 30th

Tomorrow is the 30th of November and we picked peppers today from plants that have been growing in our garden since the middle of March. Amazing! 

The weather will finally be cold enough to frost and kill everything that's not in our greenhouse. Oh did I mention we built a greenhouse several weeks ago? We are trying to keep these annual vegetable plants alive through the winter months. We were able to squeeze our peppers in the buckets and a few seedlings inside. Hopefully this experiment will provide us with a sustainable option for the Backyard garden. 

We've also been busy delivering Christmas orders to some of our regular customers. It's great seeing them again and they love the products too.

Another season has arrived

Even though the market season has ended, November brings one of our favorite times of the year, the season of holiday giving. Our jams, jellies and other handmade artisan goods are always available for your gift giving needs. Need a special gift for the neighbor or a stocking stuffer or do you just like to sit by the fire, sip hot chocolate while tasting a biscuit with jelly. We have the unique gift to simplify your holiday season.

Check out our list of available items on the blog, find what you like and then let us know. We can deliver it to you next day in most cases. 

Check out our collards, mustard and broccoli rows.

 

Holiday Gift Giving from the Backyard Garden

With cooler weather filtering in more and more each week, our thoughts go to holiday gift giving. Our jams, jellies and other homegrown, handmade products make the perfect unique gift for neighbors, coworkers and others. Unique jams/jellies create special holiday cooking and entertaining moments! Remember, even with the outdoor markets coming to the end, we are here for you! Check out what we have to offer and then email or call and we'll make sure you have what you need. 

Hope to see you October 16th at the Forsyth Market. 

Moving toward the end of the market season

The market season is winding down, with only two more dates in Forsyth, October 16th and 23rd. However, you can still reach out to us via email or phone to satisfy that sweet tooth or gift giving need. 

We appreciate your support throughout the last two seasons. We can truly say the friendships we've made and the conversations we've had with you are treasured. Remember we are available year round to be a service to you.

Today we picked an abundance of hot banana peppers. 

Hope to see you at the markets! Eat Local, garden to table!

A new twist

 Of course everyone knows, we attend the markets to sell what we have grown and produced. However, in the last two weeks, our customers and fellow vendors have given us everything from jars, (we love them) pears, (several bushels) and a variety of other produce. That includes tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, chayote Squash and a bag full of pomegranates. Thanks so much for thinking about us and know that we are  putting everything to good  use.

Eat Local! Hope to see you at the market!

Rainy days

Rainy days this time of year usually mean an abundance of plant growth later in the month. We are definitely looking forward to that especially with the Forsyth Market extending until Oct. 30.

Also, check out the beautiful muscadine jelly we made this weekend with grapes from Camille and Morgan.

Amazing markets

We really enjoy participating in the farmer's markets each week and this week was no different. Cooler temperatures really brought out the foot traffic. Plus, we were invited to pick muscadines by one of our customers and we were happy to oblige. Muscadine Jelly is certainly on next weeks "take to market" list.

We were also notified the Forsyth Market is extending the market season until the end of October. The Monticello Market is adding October 10th to their schedule too. Great news! We are excited about serving your cool weather  and holiday gift giving needs!

Garden Harvest September 6

Today we picked Okra, Hot banana peppers and Jalapenos. As you can see by the picture below, it was a bountiful harvest. Tomorrow we will pick Bell Peppers, Cayenne and Eggplant.The garden is still growing strong early in September despite the recent hot and humid stretch of temperatures.

We also had the opportunity to pick pears from a neighbor's tree Saturday. They were big and in abundance. We brought home 2 full boxes which means more pear preserves and vanilla pear jam is on the way.

Hope to see you at the markets. Eat Local.

Jar Shortage

 As most of you know, jars are the most expensive part of our sales product. We rely on finding all kinds of jars to use for our jams and jellies. This year might as well be called "the Great Jar Shortage." We are constantly finding no jars, lids or rings at local stores or online. We so appreciate the customers who bring us back their empty jars.

Check out the hot banana peppers and eggplant picked today!

Eat Local! Recycle your jars!!

Check out the peppers for the markets

 Check out the peppers for the markets that we picked yesterday. A wide variety of flavors and colors. We hope to see you this weekend! 

Eat Local!!

Are you ready for Pears?

Masks in schools, two hurricanes in the gulf, cool temps the middle of August and the markets are going well despite the unusual nature of 2020. Plus, we were gifted over 50 pounds of pears last week by Joe Mac. We are already in the process of making our delicious pear preserves, vanilla pear jam and even pear relish. These will all be ready this coming weekend.

Also, we appreciate all of the preorders we are receiving. Preorders ensure you get what you want whether it be the breads, which sell out quickly, or the whole fig preserves or pineapple jalapeno jelly. You can also request a specific produce and if we have it we will let you know and save it for you.

Be safe! Eat local!

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It's definitely summer time

 The temperatures are soaring as is the humidity but our Backyard Garden is rocking on just fine.

We have bid farewell to most tomatoes, squash and cucumbers and also late day garden work too.

Today, we picked hot peppers and okra. Check out the picture below. 

By the way the zipper peas and pumpkins are doing well too.

Another bountiful Thursday harvest

Today we picked a variety of peppers, eggplant, okra and other assorted goodies. Despite the frequent rain, the garden is still doing well. When the weather clears it should really do well.

We'll be at the markets again this weekend, hope to see you there.

Eat local, garden to table!

Strawberry fig jam is in stock!

It's always a great feeling when we are able to bring jams to the market that have been out of stock for a while.
This week Strawberry fig jam and whole fig preserves are in stock and ready for tasting. Both have been customer favorites for a long time so we are excited to have those in stock again.
Another Thursday picking as you can see, an abundance of banana peppers, bell peppers, cayenne peppers and jalapenos ready for the markets.
Hope to see you there! Eat local garden to table.

Figs have arrived in numbers

Figs are here but so are all kinds of peppers, eggplant, peas and even butternut squashes. This is the gardening time that we look forward to the most. We are creating whole fig preserves and fig jelly today with strawberry fig jam later in the week.
We've been out of fig products since late May so it will be great to finally offer these to our customers.
Check out what we picked this morning with our first butternut squashes!

It looks like pepper time

Pepper time has arrived. We picked our normal okra, tomatoes and cucumbers but today was about the peppers. Hot peppers like habanero and cayenne and sweet peppers like bananas, candy cane, marconi, lunch box and cubanelles were in abundance. We'll have these ready for the markets but we'll also turn these into appetizing jams and jellies.
Eat local!  Garden to table.

Corn is here

We finally picked the corn yesterday, just ahead of the pesky squirrels. We picked 130 ears which we processed, froze and put away for cooler days. We also started picking the heirloom Granny Mary peas. These are doing very well and we anticipate an abundant harvest. Next in line are the figs which arrived July 11 last year but look to be a little later this year.
Can't wait for the whole fig preserves and the strawberry fig jam. We've been sold out of those for a long time.
Check out the pics!

Would this be a 5 bucket day?

This morning proved to be a tremendous harvest. We picked the normal tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, squash, zucchini and since we are in prep mode for this weeks markets we also picked cayenne, jalapeno, lunch box peppers, habaneros and a variety of other sweet peppers. Combine that with eggplant, carrots and two more ears of corn and it ended up being a 5 bucket day. Plus this was our 5th consecutive day picking.
Hope to see you at the markets! Eat local!

Every day picking

The tomatoes and other vegetables are growing and producing at a rapid rate. This is the time of our harvest season we call"every day picking time." Usually this time of year, we pick every other day but we have picked every day for over a week. No complaints here though, everything is positive as the hard work we put in earlier brings us bountiful harvests.
Check out the 3 stages of tomatoes.


Ready to make jams, jellies or eat!

Almost ready

Nice for salads

A two bucket picking day

When the weather turns hot and humid, we always see an increase in what we harvest. As you can see in the picture that still holds true today. We love 2 bucket days!!

Heirloom tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes are more difficult to grow than the newer hybrids but their taste and in some cases size are much better. Heirlooms need just the right soil and tend to be very  large plants while producing less fruit. Some may say that staking and tending to the plants is too much effort for too few tomatoes.
We grow pink brandywine and when everything is just right this makes it all worthwhile. Almost 30 ounces of great flavor with just 2 tomatoes.
Eat local, fresh from garden to table.

It seems early

It seems early but the tomatoes are here and ready to be picked. A stroll through the garden and outside terrace beds yielded tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash and a good haul of red okra.  We didn't pick peppers today but they are full and ready also. With our small batch operation, there are only so  many hours in the day and sometimes we prioritize over what we need to create now based on what we have available.
The markets this past week were outstanding as well. We sold down to zero on several items and actually sold 27 breads on Friday. Even had a customer buy our product, then go to his truck to sample it before returning to give us a thumbs up sign.

Eat local, garden to table!!

Market produce this Friday and Saturday

This weekend at the markets, we will have a variety of fresh produce along with our jams and jellies.
Mostly sweet peppers such as bananas, marconi, candy cane and cubanelle but also hot peppers like cayenne and jalapenos.
Fresh zucchini bread will go fast so arrive early or email us ahead of time to reserve your bread.
Hope to see you there. Fresh from garden to table.

This is kind of early

Put this in the category "this is kind of early."
Tomatoes ready for sandwiches on June 17th is a bit unusual.
However, with the scorching hot weather yet to make an appearance, the growing season has been excellent.
Last year the first tomato sandwich was closer to July 4th but then again this year we were 2-3 weeks earlier planting.

Squash, Zucchini, Green Beans, and Cucumbers

It's that time of the year again. The time gardeners eagerly anticipate day by day. It's harvesting time! 
We plant then wait patiently and watch the plants grow. This year the garden was planted earlier than ever before, mid to late March. Now we will see the results and know if you really can grow delicious vegetables planting that early. So far the answer is a resounding yes we can. Of course,  the weather has cooperative for the most part too. 
We are in the middle of picking Squash, Zucchini, Green Beans, Cucumbers with Okra, Peas, Figs, Corn and Tomatoes coming soon.

A sink full of beans

Despite the high humidity and wet garden, the beans needed picking. An hour later, we had harvested ten pounds of green and purple beans which we will freeze, eat, give away and take to the markets. The Ichiban Eggplant are close to picking too and that's always exciting. We planted them in one of our new beds this year (used to be grass) and they seem to love the area. 
Eat Local!!

Purple Beans have arrived

We picked about 10% of our bean harvest this morning and that included these beautiful purple beans. They certainly add a contrast to the green beans. We'll eat, give away and freeze these but the next several pickings we'll bring to the markets for you to enjoy. Fresh from the backyard is what we like the best. Garden to table!

Update for this weekend

We are looking forward to the markets this weekend. Just a heads up, if you are interested in the breads, be there early or preorder today. We already have several preorders for bread and it seems we are selling out earlier each weekend. 
We'll also have Jalapeno peppers, Marconi peppers and Cubanelle peppers too.
Hope to see you there!!

Eating from the garden

With our garden gearing up for the summer, we have a goal of eating something from the garden each and every day.  Whether it's cucumbers in a salad, roasted zucchini, peppers and squash or a favorite we had last night.....our 
garden vegetable pizza. Our rosemary and basil herbs seasoned the dough then we added fresh picked squash, zucchini and peppers. Of course we did add a bit of cheese too. It was delicious! Soon we'll add eggplant and lunchbox peppers to the mix. Definitely garden to table.

Peppers for the market

This week's market will feature peppers of all kinds. Jalapenos, Bells, Marconi and Cubanelles. Also check out the purple bell that is enjoying the rainy weather. That's a color you don't see to often with peppers. 
We will also feature our Ga. Peach Cobbler jam and more of the Jalapeno Strawberry jam and zucchini bread too.
Hope to see you there! Eat Local. Be Safe!

Thanks so much again

Another fantastic two days at the markets, with record crowds at both venues Friday and Saturday. 
Plus, with the rain and warmer temperatures, the Backyard Garden has entered what seems to be explosive growth mode. We are now beginning to pick Squash, Zucchini, Cucumbers and several variety of peppers including Bell, Jalapenos, Lunch box, Marconi and Cubanelles. We love bringing homegrown produce to the markets along with our jams and jellies.
Here's some of the peppers still growing on the vine, we plan to bring to market next week:

Marconi                               Cubanelle

 

It's Market season

Another great market Friday in Forsyth and this week we look forward to seeing our market friends in Monticello on Saturday. This will be the first time back at the Market on the Square since the Deer Festival in November. Of course, we will be in Forsyth at the Main Street market on Friday. 

Produce is starting to arrive at the Backyard Garden especially bell peppers, mammoth jalapenos, squash and zucchini. Remember you can order ahead just fill out the form or email me. Happy Memorial Day. Eat Local!!

Don't miss out

Another market is upon us and we want to encourage you to not miss out. Our Lemon Summer Squash Bread, our Zucchini Bread and several jams and jellies sold quickly last week. We'll be there early as always but you can send me an email, preorder and we'll save whatever you would like. See you soon!! Eat Local!!

Thanks so much

Thanks so much for the support for the Main Street market in Forsyth on Friday. The weather was cool and breezy at times but the crowds were excellent. We had multiple items sell down to zero (Don't worry we constantly resupply during market season) including some of our favorites Strawberry fig jam, Pineapple jalapeno, zucchini bread and Whole fig preserves. Whereas, last week we reconnected with a few of our regulars, this week it was most of our regular customers and many more.
Whether it's the cool weather, people wanting to be outside after being locked down so much or it's just a combination of factors, the crowds have been excellent and ready to engage in conversation about our products.
We look forward to supplying your local and homemade food needs in the coming weeks.
Remember you can preorder too!

Market Time

Looking forward to the Main Street Market again tomorrow. Last week we had big cabbages and bags of organic salad plus our homemade jams and jellies. This week we have organic radishes picked today, zucchini bread and a new entry from our garden Lemon Summer Squash bread.  Great sweetness from the squash along with a tasty tartness from the lemon. Hope you will try this delicious new bread.
Remember you can preorder for your convenience.

Great start to the season

The weather was cool and breezy for the first market of the season and the turnout was excellent!!
We enjoyed reacquainting ourselves with our regular customers and were glad to see so many new faces too. 
The top seller for us was the Zucchini Bread and the Vanilla Pear Jam. Our finishing salts were very popular too.
Remember you can preorder if you like by following the link on the side or emailing me the order. 
The garden is doing well and these warm days really accelerate the plant's growth. 
Check out the pictures to see the progress from now until you purchase the delicious end product. 

Corn                                     Butternut                     Carrots

    

Zucchini                          Peppers