Sunday, October 4, 2009

Summer's End


Summer's end has come. With days in the high 60's I know it won't be long until I pull the wool coats out from the back of the closet. The leaves are yellowing and some already falling and collecting in the cracks of the sidewalk. The morning sun peaks through the window later and later each morning. Fall is here and I can smell the pumpkins.

It's been a good summer for the garden. We had enormous success with our tomatoes this year. With thirteen varieties and 23 plants, we had plenty to share with neighbors and friends. We were also able to freeze, dry, and sell many of them. Our favorites by far were Black Krim, Italian Market Wonder, Emerald Evergreen, and Mr. Stripey.

We also had great success with our beans this year. We grew three different kinds of limas, some Chinese noodle beans, and a whole mess of fresh eating romano and green beans. I love beans. They are so beautiful and come in so many different colors. If you have never had fresh limas you are missing out! Some varieties to try are the Pennsylvania Dutch Red Lima, Christmas Lima, and King of the Garden Lima. For a spectacular yellow romano type bean I would highly recommend the Gold of Bacau. It out produced every bean in the garden with some of the pods growing to amazing lengths of over a foot long. The beans were always tender and never stringy.
Another wonderful producer this year was the French Fingerling Potato. It was productive and did great in our cool climate. These cute little potatoes were creamy and delicious and were great in any recipe. Note to Self: Grow more next year!

But the most exciting thing coming out of the garden this year was not something I grew from seed although I did nurture and care for it, fed and watered it, and waited patiently for it just like you would that first ripe tomato.

It was an egg.

This spring we picked up three beautiful little baby chicks. It was something I had been waiting years to do and finally I managed to convince my husband to let me get chickens. It has been an amazing experience and we've never looked back. They are funny and beautiful and raising them has been very rewarding. All of them lay brown eggs but there a subtle differences that make them all unique. I cannot imagine life or breakfast without them! hehe.


So as this summer comes to an end I look forward to planning next years garden, trying new varieties, and plotting new projects. I would really like to add a hive of bees for honey, maybe some berry bushes, maybe I should try to grow peanuts? Due to the early arrival of Fall, it looks like I'll have plenty of time to plan for next year.

5 comments:

Miriam said...

Hi Erin, you have a wonderful blog, I am impressed and inspired! Mi Kato

Velva said...

I loved this blog post! Your garden this summer was no less than amazing.
I had to smile about the chickens. I have been wishing that I could raise a handful of chickens myself. Unfortunately, it is not possible. I have this past year had access to fresh farm eggs, and I have not bought a single store bought egg since.

Queen B. said...

Happy Fall !!

Simply Life said...

I am loving your pictures! So fun!

So the bread was sent out free to several foodies on Foodbuzz, so that's why it's in a lot of posts/meals this week :)

Simply Life said...

I am loving your pictures! So fun!

So the bread was sent out free to several foodies on Foodbuzz, so that's why it's in a lot of posts/meals this week :)