Seriously.
Our tomato plants are heavy with fruit, so much so that we’ve had to stake them already. San Marzano’s, Lemon Boys, Cherokee’s, Black Cherry, Big Reds….amazing. But sadly, the wait for nature’s transition from green to red is akin to slowly chewing a piece of tin foil.
Pale lavender and white Rosa Bianca eggplants are going strong, while the black Japanese are a little slower going. But I know when those start showing themselves that we’ll be quickly buried in a glorious avalanche of dark purple wonder.
Black beans are amazing – it’s our first year with growing these and the pinkish purple blooms alone were worth the garden space. They’ve proven quite fruitful, though again we wait for Mother Nature to complete her course.
Brussels sprouts are always slow going but worth the wait come autumn. It’s our second year at attempting artichokes, so only time will tell. Green beans and okra are going strong, Rainbow Swiss chard, Detroit Red and Chiogga beets, along with Red Sails, Romaine and Black Simpson lettuce continue to flourish. Already we’re giving away zucchini and summer squash, much to the delight of our friends and co-workers. Our lovely deer haven’t touched our butternut squash yet this year. I’m hoping she and her brood weren’t fond of the 1 or 2 she had last year and have decided against it, though I hope that doesn’t force her to move on to our peppers again.
Habanero’s, Jalapeno’s, Anaheim’s, Red and Yellow Bells, Pimento’s and tons of Hot Cherry are going strong, thanks to an impromptu deer fence and some coyote urine.
Chinese beans that I planted last week have sprouted with grace and the new scallions are coming up already. And thanks to succession plantings of snow peas, we’re still enjoying them.
Easter egg radishes are done and so is the arugula, though I’ll replant them both in a few more weeks. Isn’t God amazing that in 30 days you can go from seeds to food? I sure think so.
Asparagus patch is all going to seed finally, grapes are absolutely insane, we’ve been enjoying raspberries and blackberries for weeks, and though our little blueberries are too new to fruit, we hold faith that one day we’ll be rolling in blueberry preserves.
Oh, and then there’s the rhubarb that’s taking well that we got from my parents this year and the horseradish that we are looking forward to and dreading processing all at the same time. Last years canning of the devil root required safety glasses and a lot of cold beer, and we made it though only because the tears of laughter and the tears of pain got mixed together somehow.
Are we crazy? Garden Insane? Probably. But could we go even further? Oh, you betcha.
But there is something about planting a seed and watching it grow. Watching the plant produce its fruit and then being able to eat it. Yard to table…no pesticides but a lot of love and water and sun. Picking a fresh tomato and putting it right into a fresh salad – or better yet, just eating it still warm from the sunshine. Canning and freezing and having a taste of today’s suns rays in the middle of a frosty January.
Pickles, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled okra and squash, flash frozen beans, snow peas and okra, canned tomatoes, hot cherry peppers stuffed with prosciutto and provolone, pickled hot pepper slices, fresh dried herbs, frozen homemade pesto…We are truly blessed and I thank God for all of it.
Peace.
