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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Ugly Truth

The plain, cold truth about my end of summer garden, is simply that it becomes ugly. No longer green and lush and bordering on uninviting. Not that I get to stay out of it. It does however continue to yield massive amounts of produce for me to can or feed to the chickens. The corn patch was roughly 70x15 and gave about 450 ears of corn. A little over 200 of those we put up and the rest we shared. It was very sweet and done to perfection.

This is my sea of Roma tomatoes. The tall ones in the background are Celebrity and Better Boys. They are all doing well. I have canned loads of crushed tomatoes, made V8 juice and will try my hand at sauce tonight. Apparently many others in my area don't have red tomatoes yet. I have been harvesting mine for 4 weeks now. I am getting kind of tired of them.

I ordered some cool green tomato spirals for trellising from Gardener Supply this spring. They would have done beautifully had I not overburdened them with the tomatoes I chose to put in there. The Celebrity is such a prolific grower that these spirals would have been great save for the not big enough part. I will try some other variety in them next year.

We do have a couple of these huge pumpkins on the vine. Pumpkins are a total waste of space in my opinion but my hubby loves them so there you have it. He's the muscle behind all of these projects so pumpkins it is.

I admit the cucumbers have totally gotten away from us. They turn from usable to football sized in one day and I am not exaggerating. Those things don't mess around. I haven't been pickling like I thought I would so we give them away as fast as we can. Chickens love them too. Good thing. Doyle is slowly but surely removing the corn rows and drying some of them for the goats to chew on this winter. They like dried stuff so he hangs them in the barn to crisp up. Spoiled goats.

This photo shows just how tired the squash and zucchini end of the garden is looking. The sunflowers are doing their part to beautify the garden but the beans are tired and I have been ripping them out as they become done. I still have to can one more harvest of green beans and finish shelling the dark red kidneys for storage.

This assemblage of photos was to show that a practical garden doesn't normally look pretty all season. The reality is; as the fruits and veggies become harvestable, the plants become less attractive. I like (need) things to look nice and clean, green and healthy. When the late summer hits and things become less aesthetically appealing, I find my interest waning. Yet, there is still so much to do. Try to tell the tomatoes I don't want to play with them anymore. I think I can hear them laughing now.

23 comments:

  1. Oh Heather you may be tired of tomatoes but give a thought to those of use that grow them each year, get 2 or 3 before blight hits! Perhaps next year will be dry so we don't get blight. The tomatoes I have picked have been very bland, so I wonder why I grow them at all!

    Best wishes Sylvia (England)

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  2. Vegetable gardens aren't meant to be pretty they are meant to make food. Mine is definitely not pretty but I'm still getting tomatoes, peppers, herbs and beans from it on a daily basis. I wish I still had some cukes but verticulum wilt came my way.

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  3. But so much goodness for the compost pile once you rip it out! I bet it was beautiful this past spring~~gail

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  4. Oh you're so right, Heather. I'm tired of our entire garden now - veggie and flower. It all looks tired and ugly. Happens every August for me.

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  5. Hi Heather! I think there is a beauty in every ugly thing. For me, your garden looks oh so yummy! Of course, my boys wouldn't allow cucumbers to grow so big. They eat them before I can pickle them.

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  6. It's so true. I find it refreshing to admit that I'm completely tired of the tomatoes, even though I wait impatiently for them. It's just tired. Good thing we can start new things for the fall, just to have that wonderful sense of new beginning and possibility.

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  7. Hi Heather~~ I totally concur. Most people like autumn with the falling, colorful leaves and crisp air. I hate fall. I hate to watch my beloved plants losing their vitality and beauty as rain and chill render them powerless. I've accepted the changing seasons, of course. But I don't like it. The other thing about fall is that the spiders have reached their ultra-creepiest. Of course, they especially enjoy webbing themselves in the waning vegetation that I just happen to be walking through, throwing me in to violent convulsions to disentangle myself from what I'm sure is now crawling down my back.

    Anyway, aren't I cheerful today? LOL

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  8. A typical of most relationship, making adjustments and embracing all situations, the ups and downs. I suppose the tomatoes are giggling now with blushing red cheeks.
    Cheers,
    ~bangchik

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  9. You have so much! I would love to be able to have 1/2 of that. Wish I lived close to you. I'd be over there picking and canning with you!

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  10. Hi Heather..that's funny about the tomatoes. I have sauced and froze and made about a zillion tomato salads...getting tired of it too..

    My garden was a dissapointment..Too much to keep up. Going a differnet way next year. I am going to plant an orchard. I have a baby orchard, but am filling in the garden with fruit trees come bare root season in January....

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  11. I think your gardens look perfect no matter the season. You are a grand gardener and can officially call yourself a pro. You went from nothing to wow in less than 90 days. Remarkable
    Anna/Flowergardengirl

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  12. My gosh, your garden looks AMAZING to me, not tired! I cannot get over all those tomatoes - heaven!!

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  13. I think they look great, you can see all the color of the tomatoes popping through. You'll have so much to show for all your work this summer.

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  14. i am surprised that you are saying it looks ugly. You are growing some good tomatoes there. yap it can be boring but not ugly.

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  15. Heather,
    I never think a vegetable garden is ugly, no matter what time of the year it is. Even if it's just dirt, I still love it.
    You have had an amazing harvest!
    Thanks for the advice about the Aqua Dome. I am going to give them a try next spring!
    Rosey

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  16. I'm going through the same thing, part of it is losing interest in the plants as they mature, but I also think it's a natural part of August. The mind wanders before it has to buckle down in September.

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  17. Even the 'wild' is starting to look tired and burnt out.

    I've heard from my wife that pumpkins and husbands are both a waste of space. Both usually have a stupid grin carved on their face but pumkins are more often in-lightened.

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  18. Teenagers and gardens... they get unruly so you don't have as hard of a time when they leave you!

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  19. Oh gosh, how'd I get here? I can't even remember, but I sure am enjoying reading through your old posts. I so hear you on the aesthetic crash in the garden - there was just a "garden tour" in my neighborhood, and I was incredulous that it was happening in September! Everything is looking haggard, if still kicking out the food.

    P.S. We had a rule this summer: no leaving our house without taking cucumbers. Like a door fee.

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  20. I'm making tomato paste out of a bunch of my neighbors tomatos. Should give it a try. I will be using it for my homemade ketchup all year, so I will be canning in in pints.~ Good Luck

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Thank you for your ideas, suggestions or greetings. I love to hear from you and read them all.
-Heather

About This Blog

We started this blog in Feb. of 2009 to help us stay motivated and to track our progess in the garden. We live on 5 acres surrounded by Idaho farmland. We have wildlife galore and are attempting to attract more in the bird catagory. This is our journal. Welcome!

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