I have a whole container FULL of tomatoes, and they're really starting to ripen up nicely!
Found this amazing poem by Pablo Neruda that I put on the refrigerator as we're trying to work our way through our yummy harvest.
The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera,
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it’s time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth,
recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.
I've never liked the story of Peter Rabbit. We're supposed to be all sad and sorry for poor Peter, who was just looking for something to eat in Mr. McGregor's garden. And, of course, we know that the evil Mr. McGregor has previously shot and killed (and presumably eaten in a stew) Peter's father for getting into the garden.But I've always leaned toward Mr. McGregor's side, and now I know why.The rabbits ate my melons! (My organically grown very expensive melons, I might add!!)BEFORE:
AFTER: (I planted some winter squash and pumpkins in their place - they're just sprouting)
Talk about evil! They did that in ONE night, and the next night, they ate all my beet tops! (Not to mention eating right through the twine I use to section off my squares!)BEFORE (front row, closest to you):
LOOK how pretty they were!:
And now, AFTER Bugs n Company had their fill:
This is another box they've gotten into, chewed through the twine... although I don't know what they're eating, because I just planted these, spinach and lettuce... I think they just did it to say, "Hey, where's our food, lady?!"
I found a recipe for "rabbit tea" (which isn't made of rabbits, although the way I feel about fluffy bunnies right now, I'd be happy to drink them through a straw!) that's supposed to keep them from eating anymore. 2 TBSP cayenne pepper and 2 TBSP garlic powder, put into a coffee filter and secured, with 32 ounces of hot water, left overnight. Then you add a TBSP of dishsoap (to make it stick to the leaves of plants) and spray.It didn't work. They'd eaten about half the beet tops when I sprayed it. The next day, they were all gone. Guess it just served to spice up their dinner! GRRRMichael says he's getting a gun. I'm thinking...Good! :PThe pole beans are wrapping nicely around our wire though, kind of neat!
And the pumpkins I planted are growing gangbusters (I'm going to grow them over the side and see if it works!)
And my spinach is bolting in the heat (I need shade cloth!) but the bunnies don't seem to mind the bitter taste!
Well, at least the sunflowers are growing nicely.
Almost ready to flower!
And our tiger lilies (is that what these are?)
Are simply gorgeous.
Breathtaking!
Now I just have to figure out what's putting all the holes in my cabbages!
My poor blog is as neglected as my little seedlings are lavished with love and attention! :)
We still don't have our boxes built for square foot gardening (I know, we're so behind!) and no chicken coop yet, either. We're waiting for our tax return, and it's been over a month, but still - nada. I hear it's taking longer this year, because of the rebates...
But I feel like the guy in the commercial, "It's my money and I WANT IT NOW!"
In the meantime, I'm doing what I can for my babies inside under the lights.
Tomatoes:
Sunflowers:
Peppers:
Onions:
Celery:
Cabbage:
Lettuce:
Brussels Sprouts:
Herbs:
Nasturtiums (flowers):
Mint:
They're like little monsters, outgrowing their homes! (well except the mint, which just sprouted - but I hear mint gets very aggressive and invasive once it starts growing!)
Hurry, Mr. Taxman, I need a garden to plant these in before they take over the house!
I had a wonderful gift from a friend, who gave me lots of perennials to plant, so I've been doing that for the past two days. I'll get pictures soon... probably. Funny how little time I want to spend at the computer when it's so gorgeous outside! :)
I finally got around to planting. (I know, I know! I'm sooooo late!) The littles loved getting their hands dirty, but they didn't have much patience with the tiny seeds. But it was totally fun recognizing seeds we often eat - like cucumber and tomatoes. It was also quite amazing to see broccoli, cauliflower and onion seeds - I'd never seen them before! I know, how out of touch are we with our own food, right? Opening each seed packet was like Christmas - what would we find inside? I followed all the varied instructions while Michael hung my "planting light" over a table in the laundry room. It's a south-facing room (makes it nice and warm, with lots of sun - which the elder bugs love. *shudder* I hate those things, they crawl all over the inside of my laundry room windows!)
Zoe helped me plant, Dmitri helped Daddy "build stuff" and in the end, this is what we had:
How exciting! That was Sunday, and now, three days later, we have babies!
I put a heating pad under my peppers (these are peppers - and in case you were wondering, those are tacks. I didn't have labels, so I color-coded everything!) and it seems the heat was just right, and they've started to germinate. This whole seed-dirt-water-light thing... it actually works!Who knew!?
