The first jelly/ jam of the season!

As you can see, there was a good harvest today with an assortment of vegetables. shisito peppers, sweet banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, zucchini. squash, cucumbers and yes some small tomatoes.

We also started the jelly making process with one of our favorites pineapple jalapeno jelly. If you'd like some, just email me.

On the schedule for tomorrow, canning zucchini peach jam and turning our cucumbers into dill pickles.

Let the harvest begin!

The weather has finally improved over the past week and the vegetables are responding as are the herbs, especially the mint.
As you can see below, we picked squash, eggplant, zucchini and an assortment of banana, shishito and jalapeno peppers. 

Rain, rain and it's time to pick vegetables

This growing season has been unusual to say the least. First we had an abnormally chilly April then it warmed up but three weeks ago it started raining. Vegetables like water and we've enjoyed not watering the garden every other day but vegetables like sunshine and consistency too. The excess of rain has interfered with their growth but hopefully sunny days are ahead.
We have started the picking( and eating) process though. 
Check out the squash, zucchini and eggplant that we turned into a delicious ratatouille.

   

 

Before and after

Picture comparison time.

Check out the before and after pictures. 

The first pictures are from the beginning of the season 6 weeks ago.

The ones on the right were taken today.

     

    

The last picture is the kiwi and our new patio.

Planting time

It was good to have two days of the weekend with perfect gardening weather. Rainy Sundays had become commonplace and we were anxious for a change. We were able to plant all of our vegetables with the exception of several plants that we are holding back waiting for that perfect spot.
Every year we emphasize certain vegetables based on what we need.  Decisions, decisions. For instance, green beans were in abundance in our garden last year but this year we're cutting back mainly due to the amount we still have on hand in the freezer.
Last year we also focused on cucumbers because we had depleted our supply of homemade pickles. We increased the number of plants to 18 and had a great harvest. This year we increased it again to 30 plants. We also started some indoors from seed. Cucumbers can be finicky to grow especially with the type of weather we had in April but we are hoping for another great harvest in our backyard garden.

Mint and more Mint

Planting season has arrived and the abundance of mint is impressive in the backyard garden. 

Using Solo cups, I transplanted several mint plants to share with you. They are in the teacher's lounge waiting for you.

Take one, two or all of them and let me know if you need more. 

If you are hesitant about growing and have a black thumb instead of a green one, here's what you need to do:

1. Find a pot(the bigger the better) and fill it with dirt or potting soil.

2. Dig out an area at least as big as the cup.

3. Remove the plant from the cup and place in the hole. Cover with dirt.

4. Water but don't flood and set the pot in a sunny area. Check it periodically to make sure it doesn't get too dry but seriously this is a low maintenance plant.

Now sit back and watch it grow!

You'll be able to pick leaves for flavoring teas and other drinks within weeks.

The calm before the storm

Not that there is a storm on the horizon but simply another way of saying the way this plot looks now is nothing like it will look in a month, two months or even three months. It's inspiring to watch the transformation.
This is a time where we plan, consistently check temperatures and potential rainfall. Starting early in April, we are officially in one of our favorite times of the year- planting mode.