Things were going along nicely … I was pulling in lots of dry beans, canning more corn, and taking seeds from our many tomato varieties. I brought two Bozeman watermelons to the house that the deer had nibbled on because the spots were turning black and I was afraid they’d rot. So I cut them open and saved the seeds. (Okay, so I ate so much of the scrumptious flesh — that wasn’t rotten — that I developed a close attachment to the toilet.) But then, on Monday when I went to blog, my computer wouldn’t turn on. Not boot up. Just wouldn’t turn on! Eeek! When I want to work, I want to work not screw around with something I know nothing about. I messed with it for two days. Nothing. Meanwhile, we had a nice visit from our apprentice, Alisha, and her boyfriend, Pete. That was so nice! We showed them the gardens; the ups and downs, and just talked and talked. Things are going much better for them now, thanks to the many donations to Pete’s GoFundMe page. They wish to thank each and every one of you who so kindly helped them through this very rough patch. I just hate it when good people who work hard are hit in the face with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Isn’t this Bozeman watermelon scrumptious? And so early too!
We were thrilled to get a visit from our apprentice, Alisha and her boyfriend, Pete. (Alisha’s deaf so we talk using sign language.)

Today I was due to blog again and I called David, who was visiting his girlfriend, Elizabeth, in Grand Rapids. I had bought a new-to-me computer several months ago but never “got around” to hooking it up. So when mine hit the brick wall, I figured David could hook up the new one so I could go on with life. Not only did he get it hooked up but also got the old one on. We left it running and he’s going to get an external hard drive so hopefully we can save the data on it before it crashes again … maybe to never run again. Yep, I know I should have done that sooner, but you know how it goes — especially when you’re busy!

As the birds are starting to eat the sweet corn and the wonderful Mandan Lavender Parching corn too, Will got busy and picked it all. The Seneca Sunrise sweet corn is super nice this year and oh my, the Lavender Parching corn is so beautiful! So, in spite of a really bad growing year, we are harvesting lots of nice crops. And planning already for next year’s gardens.

Just see how nice the Seneca Sunrise sweet corn is this year!

— Jackie

15 COMMENTS

  1. Hello Miss Jackie and Will, just popping in to say hi. Looks like things are humming right along. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t reminisce about the wonderful seminars you had. The information I learned there has helped me greatly. Am building my first greenhouse and told the person helping me how Will and John made one with a couple of screws and a chainsaw! “We don’t need no stinkin’ circular saw – just slap it together and cut of the excess” :-) Ok, so no one actually said that but that’s what it looked like. Amazing!!!

  2. I planted your Borchart’s Wonder Winter Squash this year and we just ate most of a small one (about 10 lbs.) simply baked unseasoned after halving. We’ve found the taste of these squash to be awesome, sweetest we’ve tried, and their texture is as smooth as velvet! Not knowing what to expect, I planted four hills for the two of us but WOW, two would’ve been more than enough. These big squash are prolific and they are huge. There’ll be lots for canning.
    Thank you for supplying these seeds! Love your company.
    BTW, have you ever offered seeds of the wonderful, open pollinated, Iraqi eggplant named Aswad?

    • I’m so glad you love Borchart’s Wonder just like we do! We simply can not grow eggplant here. I’ve even tried it in our hoop houses. It just doesn’t like northern Minnesota I guess.

    • Slowly. He and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, are expecting a baby and he’s been spending more time with here than working on it. But he hopes to again start in on it this week.

  4. glad things are improving for Pete and Alicia. The pics of the corn make me hungry. Glad you have David as your “in-house” computer whiz.

    kathy in MS

  5. Those words strike terror in every computer owner’s heart. Your photos look wonderful! Congrats on getting so much accomplished in such an uncertain year. Blessings.

    • For sure!!! I do so much better with simpler tools. We’re happy with our harvest in this, our worst gardening year ever.

  6. Oh I am so sorry to hear about your computer. That is so aggravating!

    I always enjoy the talk about your crops and the pictures. They are wonderful. My list for seeds to get is growing!!

  8. Oh Jackie! So glad you got the computer problem solved. And way cool on the corn. I wish we could grow corn. We are trying to get enough forest cut down to put in gardens, one for veggies, one for fruit, & one for herbs. Good luck & God bless y’all.

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