After lots of rain, which turned our central and north gardens to clay mush, the sun has been out daily and things are starting to dry. It’s a good thing too, as our central garden is growing a red haze of pigweed. Boy, what a crop that is this year! Will’s about done weeding and mulching the main garden and house garden so the central garden will be next. Luckily, I got it planted a day before all that rain started, and the seeds germinated, even in wet soil.

See how nice the Sand garden is growing? Three rows of potatoes, plus lots of corn and beans.

I’m real excited about some beans we’re growing this year, which we call “Hondo” beans as they are the black, white, and tan color of our dog, Hondo. They were a sport growing out of a big row of Iroquois pole beans. We found them when we were shelling out the row of dry beans. There were only eight seeds but I planted them all under their own trellis. Every bean germinated and they’re starting to grow strong. It’s going to be interesting to see what they do.

Our Hondo beans are a sport of Iroquois beans. A sport is a “pop-up” unexpected seed which occurs naturally, especially in old varieties.

I’ve been cleaning out the little plastic greenhouses, getting them ready to take down and store for the winter. It’s hard for me to toss tomatoes, peppers, and flowers! I gave away what I could, found spots in various gardens for some and the rest … sigh … I toss over the hill. Hey, I hate even thinning carrots, which, by the way, is what I’ll be doing this afternoon. (I feel like I’m throwing away food!) And, no, carrots do not transplant as corn does.

Take a look at these San Filipe pumpkins. They WANT to grow!

I’m excited to see how well the pumpkins I planted on the rocky end of the Sand garden are turning out. I planted San Filipe, Iran, and Dishpan cushaws, all different species so they won’t cross. We figure they can crawl over the remaining rocks, sticks, and ruts. Then next year, we’ll work on improving that corner. On a homestead, you’ve always got to do the best you can for now and plan for the future. — Jackie

5 COMMENTS

  1. Please keep reminding us that you can’t do it all in one season. Even though we don’t homestead, we need to remember that we do what we can. Thanks for your wisdom and sharing your thoughts with us. You all make quite a team! Blessings.

    • You CAN’T do it all in one season! We still have lots of unfinished projects but like you said, we do what we can. I’ve learned my best may not be as good as someone else’s best but what the heck, it is MY best and I’m content with that. Most days.

  2. I have a good one for you.
    Am having to replant our sweet corn today even though its well into the growing season. Have had a stretch of hot dry weather and even though we kept the corn well watered I would come out and find plants missing. So many were missing that by the time I figured out what was going on two thirds of the stand were gone.
    Pheasants !! Darn things would sneak into the garden in the early morning and very late evening and snip off the plant and eat it. I guess they were thirsty and due to the dryness they turned on the corn as a water source. To hopefully slow this down I put out several troughs filled with water at each end of the patch but in the meantime hope its not to late for the replant !!!

    • Wow, pheasants! My turkeys got part of my Lavender Parching corn by digging it up and eating it. Now it’s fenced and replanted. Eeek! They’re all out to get us.

      • The water troughs at each end seemed to have worked. The pheasants are now leaving the corn alone but now have wandered over to the cabbage.
        I think this is a plot !!!

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