Watermelons and cantaloupe from our gardenThey are the perfect size:
Small enough to avoid left-overs
Juicy and tasty
We are so proud.
The cross-section of our cantaloupeDid I mention how delicious it is?
The book said it would show ripeness by:
Color change [check]
Pungency of aroma, particularly by the stem [check!]
Our apple harvest.Baby Truen had a fun time in the back of the van
while I sorted the "keepers", i.e. for the root cellar,
from those that will become applesauce in the coming weeks.
I was attempting to snapto coax a grin from the baby for the picture --
neither of us are really smiling but I like it anyway.
There is a whole 'nother box of apples behind me.
9 comments:
Gee ... so much bigger than my first "harvest" from my baby trees (oh, like 20 apples). Can't wait until mine are "big" like yours. How fabulous! Never did get around to thanking you for the paper / straw suggestion for my garden. It helped out in a major way against weeds. THANKS! -Sandy
sorry, accidentally posted comment twice - therefore erased. Did you guys spray your apple trees organically at all? I ask because they look great from here and it's quite a chore getting up to speed on all of the right stuff for the right time. Mine were battling everything in the book. -Sandy
Sandy, hey! We haven't done anything with our apple tree in the two summers we've been here now. My husband is the Fruit Man and has been reading up on all that - so I don't know much. We did have a bit of scab on the apples, with about 2/3 of them with imperfections barring them from the "keeper" status. But all in all, not bad.
It is a full grown tree, not a baby. We planted a Harralson apple last fall and noticed that it had a few problems this summer. Maybe baby trees have a hard time setting up? I'm not sure. Bummer about yours, though - everything in the book! Eeegads!
And...I'm so glad you employed the newspaper and straw tactic on your garden: isn't it wonderful?! It saves on a lot of work. We're going to lasagna our garden again this fall, to prep it for planting next spring. Straw, manure, leaves, compost. It should be interesting; and then, of course, newspapering and straw again next spring. Weeding is the pits!
Your fruit looks delish! Nice work:)
Looks beautiful!
Do you have any "bibles" on organic farming/gardening that you would recommend?
Janna, hey! =)
The books we have referenced:
The Joy of Gardening - Dick Raymond
Seed to Seed - Suzanne Ashworth
Carrots Love Tomatoes - Lois Riotte
Lasagna Gardening - Patricia Lanza
Growing Fruit - Harry Baker
They've been great! We have learned a lot and reference them regularly.
I saw TJofG referenced by another blogger, who said it was, hands-down, the best gardening book she's ever seen. It is out of print, so we bought it on ebay. He recommends using the block-planting method vs. rows, which we have really liked (in our one season of growing - LOL).
Seed to Seed covers seed saving instructions when growing heirloom vegetables and fruits. Awesome!!
Carrots Love Tomatoes is a companion planting guide - advice on what-to-plant-with-what and vice versa. How to avoid pests and encourage optimal growth, etc.
Both of these were found through the Seed Savers Exchange catalog.
Lasagna Gardening was recommended by my SIL - filled with good advice on general growing, but also the lasagna method, where you are continuously mulching vs. tilling and pulling weeds. She has had great success with it and we've liked what we've seen so far. This is where the newspapering and straw comes from.
Growing Fruit was found by Squeeze, through the Seed Savers Exchange catalog perhaps? He says it's dynamite.
Thank you! I've added all those to my list. Our plan is to be out of the suburbs and into a life more like yours in the next few years. There's so much to learn, so I've been thinking I should start reading a bit now.
ooh, I'm jealous of your harvest. Especially the apples. ;)
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