Well my friends, the garden is just beginning to get right! Deb went out this morning for a little while, and came back up with some squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. She’d picked some more peppers yesterday, and those guys have been coming in pretty regular for the last couple of weeks.
The squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes are just fixing to really start bearing. I took a whipping this year in terms of our tomatoes with the Fusarium wilt, as I’ve been sharing with you. I was in the raised beds yesterday, and dad-gum if I don’t believe it is going to get in every one of those tomato plants before it’s over!
This is really a shame because those plants have been doing so well growing off, and had just began bearing heavily when it first started showing up. We have two that it has killed, and we have about 4 more that it’s hitting pretty hard, but there’s another 4-5 that are just beginning to show symptoms of it. We had 16 total in those beds.
Dale has just left, and he told me that he has about three in his garden doing the same thing. I don’t know? He lives about 1-1/2 miles from us on a creek. His are planted in native ground, where as ours are planted in dirt we had brought in.
All of our tomatoes in the garden area though, look good. Those are all in native soil, but soil we have built up the last 2-1/2 years or so by using cow and chicken manure, hay, and even burned leaves and brush in this area too, all in the attempt of making the soil better.
All of this garden area is really doing well now, though we are really in need of some rainfall. We’re watering almost daily from a dry standpoint, but it is awful hot already too. About 1 this afternoon it was 94 degrees.
The plants in the garden now are big enough to shade their roots, which is a big help in regards to the heat, and this aids in holding moisture, but the rain is what we need the most. I’ve said it before, but rain just benefits the garden so much more than a regular out of the well watering!
Once you get a good rain, it’s as if you can almost see the garden growing off…right before your eyes!
This is how crazy gardening can vary year to year. Take last year as an example. Right during this time frame, second, or third week of May last year, we were literally under water! As a matter of fact, our beans, and tomatoes drowned literally, it rained so much so quickly, but the peas and corn weathered it and did great.
Yet this year, we’ve had not much rain to speak of at all. It’ll come though, as June is historically the start of our rainy season.
Deb was telling me that I needed to go to the garden this evening and take a look at the string beans, as they’re beginning to size up nicely she was saying. So later on today we’ll check em out. She thought we could get a mess or two by the end of the weekend or no later than mid-week next week.
The tomatoes we’ve been eating are out of the raised beds, which have the wilt, but again the ones in the garden area, aren’t quite there yet. These were planted I believe two weeks after the raised bed tomatoes, but possibly even three weeks. But they are loaded, and will be right any time now! We have 20 plants there.
What I’m really wanting some of, are the eggplants! I’ve told you before I’m the only one in the house that eats them, but man, I do like them. A couple of big plusses in this regard, is that this means more for me, AND I don’t have to eat them quickly on account of having to share the dern things. So, I can sit at the table and eat them leisurely, taking my sweet time and savoring every bite! LOL!
Besides the string beans, which we all enjoy, we have the three types of limas. These are beginning to pod up as well. We’ll take some ham hock, or a ham bone, drop them off in the pot, and cook em down.
The more times you reheat them the better they get, and that’s a fact. You can take a big ole Vidalia onion, a piece of corn bread, dip those beans over rice, and it’s fit for a king.
About half the time I eat them, after filling my bowl with beans over the rice, I’ll pour some sweet pickle juice over them…um, um! If you haven’t tried this, just give it a little taste test. Don’t knock it until you give it a try. If you don’t like it then, no sweat, but unless you’ve tried it, you might be missing out on something you may really enjoy.
Other times my Mama makes a type of chili sauce, that is served and goes really well over beans, peas, greens, and Debbie just loves it over her eggs. Good stuff!
I like to take a soft tortilla, lay that baby out, and cook up some eggs that have been scrambled with peppers, onion, cheese, and small broken up pieces of sausage. Then you lay that onto the wrap, and then put a little of Ruthie’s chili sauce over the eggs, and wrap that sucker up! Ole!
Dad-gum if I didn’t leave the garden, and git up in Miz Judi’s Kitchen all of a sudden, huh? Gardens do that to me!
All in all though the garden has shaped up and is turning out nicely. Even the corn has really started doing well, and is growing off good now, but I still say a seed problem. There were just way to many skips for me to feel differently!
All you guys up in the cold areas, should be setting some crops out pretty quickly now, huh? I believe Judi and Brian have been telling me around the 24th of May? Brian also sent an e-mail this past weekend stating that he was prepping the garden area, so again, it has to be getting close now!
I’m so glad we have the garden area, because Deb and I both love piddlin’ out there, and seeing the veggies grow off. But don’t forget the flavor difference too though…night and day versus store bought!
Well, we took a few pictures for you guys, and we hope you enjoy them. We want you all to have a great day, and God Bless!
Thank you all so much for just stopping by!
Dub and Deb
How great to see your garden grow. Keep forgetting you are in the sunshine state and have a jump on some of us. That pesky corn just came right along.
For you eating pleasure and an excess of hot peppers.
Mississippi hot pepper sauce. This is actually pickled peppers. For the adventuresom you may add spices or other vegetables to your peppers. It
is mostly used for the vinegar it creats to pour on greens and cabbage, the peppers are fished out to chop for beans, peas and butterbeans.
You will need jars, lids and peppers.
Peppers of a single varity or mixed varities. The mixed varities are usually end of the
garden types. They are all hot peppers.
Wash peppers and put a little slit in top if each pepper or prick them with a fork. This is to allow the solution to enter the pepper. Pack then in jars or long neck bottles.
Instead of a recipe we have a formula:
1/2 water
1/2 vinegar
Kosher salt
(1 tbsp salt to 1 quart solution)
Boil together until salt is melted. Pour hot over peppers.
Stick a knife in jars to release bubbles. If using longneck bottles use a skewer.
Cap, clean bottles and store. This makes a lot if you have a garden and have access to peppers. So if you are overburdened with pickled peppers tie a little ribbon on them and give them for gifts throughout the year. People from the city love this kind of thing because you cannot buy it from a shelf in the market. Good to see you guys in the sunshine!
Mary, Mary , quite contrary
How does your garden grow
Silver bells and Cockle shells
And one dern eggplant
and it’s worth $4.99 + a pound!
Good morning all, and Sandra, we’re with you on the pepper sauce. I also put up hot chow-chow which ol’ Graybeard likes on his pinto beans. Dub was talking about his beans in this item. I’m just curious! Anybody out of this territory ever heard of or do “leather britches”? Yes, I know britches is really breeches, but not here in the Appalachians!
My little squash plants froze about two weeks ago, so now, we start over. We KNOW better, but a little warm weather and we just have the urge to get out and plant something. We’re making progress, but our progress is like we are anymore; SLOW!
Enjoyed my reading in the CFP this morning, and now……………I really must get up and try to do something useful! Pollen is thick as honey this morning, so my head is just not gonna be up to bending over a lot! YUCK! I will be SO happy when this is over and done for a while!
Good day to all! God gave it to us; let us not waste it!
Yes indeed, Bonnie. Leather Britches comes to us from the mountains and hills of the southeast. Pick the beans and string them together like the Southwest peppers. They are dried on rooftops or nowadays in food dehydrators. If on rooftops bring in at night. Some have even dried them in hot dry attics. Please remember these are green beans and Kentucky Wonders make a good product. Leather Britches always came in handy for long winters when not much available in veggies except for roots, dried beans and cole vegetables.
To use your Leather Britches, wash and soak overnight in water. Use the soaking water to cook them in. Add a chunk of ham with the bone or a ham hock. Cook until done. The “until” part can be 2-3 hours. You may add small red new potatoes
to the pot for the last 30 minutes or so. This recipe I originally found in one of the Fox Fire books. If you are interested in living off the grid the series of Fox Fire books have a load of information. In todays time we have gallon zips and many ways to store our garden produce for use. How ever you want to store these is probably ok. Just remember they are dry and humidity or any moisture will ruin them.
Top ‘o the morning to you Bon. Don’t over do. If we all keep up trying to find the old ways of doing things we will wind up with some oxen, donkeys and mules to do our work for us. Lots of manure there to relace that 8-8-8.
It is looking great, ours is just starting to peek out of the ground.
Hi again, Sandra! Loved your comments above. I would dry my leather britches just by hanging them on the screened porch, but as wet as it is now, they wouldn’t dry. I’ve been “down and out” with allergies so haven’t done much or been near the computer lately. One doctor that’s been in this area for a little over 40 years says it is the worst he has EVER seen it!
Anyway, back to my leather britches. I don’t use the dehydrator for them; just let ‘em dry at will. I use a tapestry needle and some strong nylon thread to string them up. I soak them overnight, but have gotten spoiled to the slow cooker. I put them on high for a couple of hours, then turn on low, having put them on early in the morning. I do check them mid afternoon and if they are not where I want them, I turn them on high again. Nothing better than a good pot of leather britches with a ham bone in them!
Actually, I could live off the grid and survive due to the “training” in my childhood, but I am a little spoiled. We may ALL have to live off the grid in the not-too-distant future, but I am not looking forward to it. I love my crock pots and appliances. Me ‘n Ol’ Graybeard love nothing better than to go out into Pisgah Forest, set up tent by a river in the woods, and live there for a couple of weeks. No power, no bathhouse or showers, no nuthin’ but us and nature. However, to live that way forever more just doesn’t appeal to me at my age. There is great comfort, though, in knowing that we know how to survive and can do so if necessary. Most of my kids could, also, but not so for my grandkids. They came up in a different world. It’s certainly not their fault, but I have often thought that maybe I should have taught them survival skills.
For many years, we did pioneer shows for the Dept. of Interior at national parks and historic places. When we quit, they gave us a nice certificate and all that jazz. I reckon the taxpayers footed the bill for that! One of the things I did was make lye soap, but then, I STILL make lye soap. Ha ha! Why? I guess because we have a few friends here and there who want it! Nope, not fancy soap, just the old-fashioned smelly kind. Steve used to make bowls with an old hand adz, but with his shoulders now, he can no longer do so. We’ve had some fun, and we are survivors, but sooner or later old man age starts creeping in and one sorta changes their way of living a little! Ha ha! I’ve even learned to “cat-nap” a little in my recliner once in a great while.
Gosh! I have surely enjoyed communicating with you guys on here, and Dub and Deb are great! What a pleasure to meet like-minded people and know that there are many out there who are also survivors! I ain’t sittin’ down ‘n quittin’, but I’m just not kickin’ quite as high as I used to! Carry on, e-friend, and keep smiling!