It is the END of September already? What happened to August? What happened to Summer? We have been so busy, I completely forgot to write August’s “Catching Up” article so hopefully I can make up for it here with lots of pictures!
August brought us the beginning of the harvest season. We gave in to our curiosity when it came to the potato plants and dug up 2 or 3 of them. To our delight, we found some monster taters, perfect for baking. One thing we noticed was how much firmer the potatoes were and when I went to cut into the first one, I had to actually put effort into it instead of the easy slicing on store bought potatoes that I am used to. They are delicious and huge and there is no way we grew even close to enough! For our first try though, we are very pleased to have harvested roughly 20 pounds total. I felt like some kind of Gardening Goddess…or a rock star. 😉 We had a raised, framed bed which made it difficult to mound up. Next year, we will be building a potato box that gets taller as the season progresses. I really look forward to yanking the wood slats off one side and watching the spuds pour out of the dirt! We hope to harvest 100 pounds a year (or more) going forward. This will give enough to dehydrate some, pressure can some, and of course store some in a root cellar of sorts.
In early August around the homestead, I replanted the green beans because the first planting was just not doing as well as they had the year before. They would grow but were yellowed and sickly looking, plus the legions of slugs that love to use my garden as a buffet table. I wondered if it was because I did not rotate the crops around. I wondered if all the nutrients had been washed away when the old roof collapsed and left the raised beds exposed to all the wind and rain. I determined it was none of those: I failed to amend the soil. This year’s garden taught me a LOT about soil conditions and making sure that it has the nutrients and organic material it needs. I did not add in anything other than a little manure that was so dry, it was powdered. I had sprinkled a light layer on top of the soil before working and turning it before planting. It was not even close to enough. We had put some seaweed on it as well but once you take all of the moisture out of seaweed, what is left is miniscule. I assumed that since last year the soil was ‘brand new’ and well fortified that it would be fine. I was wrong about that, too. Thank goodness I am not making these mistakes when trying to rely on what I grow as a primary food source!
Thank you for Catching Up Around the Homestead with us! Click here for previous “catching up” articles!
Part of the problem I am having is our ‘limbo’ state of living. We live in an apartment – in an old homestead dairy barn that was converted to apartments in the 60’s. It is um….rustic. It does allow for us to have the greenhouse and cold frames for growing food but beyond that, we are stuck. No chickens (too many dogs and eagles, not to mention some really whacked neighbors) or rabbits, no goats or a proper garden area is realistic. I do not want to throw even more money into the owner’s coffers by increasing his land value. We have a composter but it is not tended to as it should be due to some neighbor kids thinking it would be fun to turn it…without unlatching it. So it needs fixed and we just don’t want to put the time into it only to have it broken by another neighbor kid. We are in a type of limbo….which borders on purgatory for me. We can only go so far in our goals until we are able to get the land and house.
September brought us the rest of the harvest of carrots, the green beans we could salvage, onions, the last of the potatoes, and apples from the gnarled old trees by the mailboxes. They were small, hard, and green. PERFECT for combining with other apples to make up some sauce! One of the local stores had a huge case sale on apples, pears, Â and peaches. Tomatoes were also on sale. I went bonkers and bought up a bunch of each, spending last weekend canning up a storm. We ended up with 2 cases of applesauce (quarts), a case of carrots (pints), 9 jars of peaches in pint-and-a-half sizes and 4 quarts of tomato sauce. Overall, I ended up adding about 50 jars to the pantry! Next weekend we will be smoking and jarring up salmon, dehydrating sage, more oregano, and whatever other herbs I find lingering about in the greenhouse.
Coming up! We are hopeful to go deer hunting in November, right around my birthday, no less! We are working on the details and at the very least, Mister Dreamer will be able to go but I sure would like to as well. I have never harvested my own meat (other than fish) before and would like the experience and connectivity to the food I eat. I think it is important for people to understand that something had to die (whether plant or animal) for them to eat the meal they are enjoying.
We will also have a couple giveaways in October, stay tuned and be sure to sign up for the newsletter so you do not miss out on what is posted! We send the newsletter out every other Sunday and we will never spam you or sell your information. Ever.
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