BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

 Holy cow! I haven't posted since June 17th. I've had my knees to the ground, weeding and that's nothing new. I think I'm growing stubby roots on my feet.  No, actually those are my toes. Seriously, the time has flown by so fast for me. It seems that I was just planting and we have been eating from the garden for several weeks or more already.

Thank goodness for my son helping to cut my lawn with the big lawnmower but there are places that he cannot go with the big lawnmower and I haven't used the small lawnmower to mow those areas so my lawn is not looking the best but it's green this year. Because I didn't have time, I didn't plant as many flowers this year and concentrated more on vegetables.  The deers are being a nuisance as they have chewed all the top of my beans again this year in the big garden at the farm. 

 I have weeded most of my flowerbeds but the weeds grew back wherever there was no mulch. I can't be in two places at the same time. I've spent a lot of time weeding at the farm and there are many rows and the rows are long, unlike my small garden at the house, and my back is giving out on me. A little rest from weeding has been very welcome. 

I've had two sets of visitors this week and it was wonderful. Needless to say, it was hot and muggy and it felt good not to have to weed. A young man who used to work on the farm stopped in with his wife and 4 very polite little kids on their way to PEI. Then on Monday, my daughter Christine and her two very polite boys that I hadn't seen since way before the pandemic arrived and left yesterday. It's been like having a blood transfusion. It really brought life to this house and removed the stigma of not having visitors for so long. 

Christine and her boys working on a  fun puzzle.

I pulled very few loops on my rug although it's on the frame, waiting for attention. I'm afraid, it will just have to wait longer. The garden is bursting with all sorts of veggies ready to pick. 

We've been eating red potatoes, peas, onions, dill weed, cucumbers, beets, cabbage, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, kale, Chinese cabbage,  spinach, and green onions and I picked beans this evening. I have banana peppers that are ready and also Jalapenos peppers. The corn is higher than the electric fence now but no cobs yet. It's been so hot this week but you all know that. Potted plants dry up quickly so I've had to carry buckets of water for my potted plants around the Gazebo and the steps. 

 I love these for making pickled beets. One beet goes a long way and takes less room in the garden.

The peas are now finished, only very few left on the vines.

Jalapenos  peppers for making Salsa

Again this year, my Norland red potatoes are big. These were picked several weeks ago. They are getting even bigger now. 

Chinese cabbage I use in stirfry

I didn't take photos of all my harvest but you get the idea. 

Why go through all this work?  I know where my food comes from and it's farm fresh, and I enjoy the magic of seeing things grow from the dirt and from a tiny seed.  It's a good workout, and I enjoy the bounty and beauty of it all, even when things are not  Martha Stewart perfect. lol... I'm learning all the time and life isn't supposed to be perfect anyway.  Every year, I do things differently.  Do you suppose I could learn to clone myself so I wouldn't need to work so hard? lol...

I thought that I would show you one of the gardens at the farm. I'll show some of the others next time maybe. 

We used some old chopped-up hay to mulch after the weeding was done. This is the first time we use old hay to mulch. It's a lot more pleasant to walk in the garden with no mud on our boots.

In the next section, lots of tomatoes, and some peppers and I can't remember what's at the end. 

And in this next section, broad beans, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflowers, and assorted cabbages.

These photos were taken last week so things have grown even more since then. 

In the next post, I will show some flowers. Hopefully, I won't wait so long to post. 

Thanks for your patience Kimm, I'll try to post as I go from now on. No promise though. 

Thanks, everyone, for visiting and leaving your comments.

Julia