While much of our garden was killed by freezing, we are terribly happy with all we have. As another frost was forecast, we got busy and picked all we could: tomatoes (both ripe and green), peppers, squash, corn, melons, and cucumbers. We covered our drooping, black plants. And it seemed to help. The tomatoes, peppers, and melons we hadn’t harvested yet are undamaged by the frost we did get. However, the temperature was only 31 degrees, not 27 like the last freeze. A few degrees makes all the difference.

Hopi-Pale-Grey

Now, we have the fruits of our season of labor all over the house: tomatoes, squash, peppers, cukes, melons, and a few ears of sweet corn (it turns quickly to starch after frost!). We harvested 90 Hopi Pale Grey squash and I canned corn for more than 3 weeks! So we feel blessed at the harvest as we didn’t know if we would get ANY, due to our late spring with snow in the garden in May!

And our cole crops are tremendous too, with cabbage heads weighing more than 15 pounds each and cauliflower larger than a dinner plate. The carrots and onions are also wonderful, not to mention our potatoes. We have had trouble with both scab and hollow heart in the past years and have moved our potatoes several rows over in the garden but thought we’d still have the problem. We did grow a different variety, Dakota Pearl, a blocky white skinned potato, and out of a couple of hills dug, we have a five-gallon bucket full of perfect, large potatoes. They are very productive and have stored well for us. Guess what we’ll be growing in the future!

Tomatoes

Amid all our harvesting, one of our “wild” chickens, a White Laced Red Cornish hen, came off her nest under our fuel tank with 12 red-headed babies! We are so excited and she is a great mother.

Mama-hen

This afternoon, I’m starting to process tomatoes by saving seeds and making a batch of spaghetti sauce. Our tomatoes were late this year but boy did we get a bumper crop! And such nice ones, too.  — Jackie

4 COMMENTS

  1. Ninety Hopi Pale Grey!! How wonderful!! So happy that you had such a great harvest this year.
    I grew the San Marzano for the first time this year. They grew beautifully, but I only ever harvested one red one. Since they are still in the garden, I’ll pick mine to ripen in the house before freezing too. I learn so much from your blog, Jackie.

  2. congratulations on your Hopi crop. Knowing how much they run, I can’t imagine how you had space for anything else! I’m really glad you had a bumper year for all your work.

  3. Jackie !
    Glad you where able to harvest all those Hopi squach. I will buy some of the seeds when you are ready to sell them. I am sure right now it is canning and more canning. We finaly have temps under 100. I am getting ready to look for property in the high country to start my own little homestead. I enjoy reading all that you and Will do.

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