We've actually had luck with the veggie plots this year.
Back in May, when we started, we laid plastic mesh down in the beds to discourage underground animals and lighter netting above ground as protection from birds and squirrels. This double-layered protection seems to have worked.
But while I'm good at keeping things alive, I suck at harvesting. The tomatoes beckon with their bright colors, and I grab them when I'm out with Max and Huck. But the peppers, kale, cucumbers, herbs, and zucchini need to be gathered too.
Pic: Today's tomatoes... and those to come.
11 comments:
Nice.
Hmm! Back in the day when I tried to have a garden, we had an issue with some critter taking a bite out of everything before we could pick them (I'm thinking about tomatoes specifically.) Obviously it takes a lot more work than just planting seeds and watering- I didn't have any kind of protection from the birds, squirrels, raccoons and fruit rats. Maybe one of these days I'll try again!
Btw read your previous post as well- I hope Nu's rash has cleared up.
I'm bad at harvesting my herbs. I make basil pesto as often as possible since I supply the entire family with it, but the rest go begging until I need them for cooking. I should be out there almost every day, cutting and tying bunches for drying. Sigh. I WILL, I WILL!
Grab those zucchini while they're smallish and stuff them. Slice in half and grill them. They're so much better when they're small, aren't they?
Lol, you better go and get those zucchinis before you end up like me, with fifteen three-foot zucchinis. In my defense, that happened the week I was away. Like Nance my herbs outpace what I can use them for fresh, so I end up drying a lot and giving some away. Every day I'm in the garden - it's a lot of work being Farmer Nicole!
:)
Nu is much better, thank you.
Jenny--we had that same problem last year--just one bite too. I'd be like can you at least eat the whole thing?!
That's a great zucchini suggestion, Nance. I'll give it a try and report back. I'll harvest and dry some herbs this weekend too. It seems like a restful activity after the first week of classes...
Thankfully, my garden is not quite as abundant as yours, Nicole... 3-ft zukes! Yikes! I remember those photographs! Farmer Nicole, indeed! Friend, you're a farmer like Martha Stewart is a farmer. :)
We have a ton of basil this year. I keep making pesto and it just barely makes a dent in it. We have a few cucumbers to pick and I've been trying to think of something that would use both cucumbers and basil.
My kids can't eat store-bought pesto (because of pine nut allergies) so I freeze a pesto for the winter, Steph. But it sounds like you have way more than we do... Cucumber and basil gazpacho?
My boss refers to picking her garden as farming and it makes me laugh. And then I farmed the zucchini. I don't know why this is so hysterical to me. Have fun farming!
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