2016 Garden Round-Up

I did not tend our garden well this summer. It is over grown and full of weeds.  For whatever reason the garden did not hold my attention this summer.  Beyond that it has been a hard summer to be outside and in the garden. Thomas is at an age of being unsafe, mobile, and demanding.  

I did get our raised beds planted by mid-June so we weren't without a fair amount of luck.  We harvested plenty!  Graciously too our fruit trees did very well this fall (lots of applesause and pearsauce has been consumed and put up. We have eaten more plums than God intended (I don't even particularly like plums).  

So our garden this year: (these photos go from today: September 20 to June so are in reverse chronology)

I made a vegetable soup tonight and while  I was gathering green beans, carrots, chard, and broccili I realized that the tomatoes are still being productive. So that was nice.

This is a tiny assortment of fruit picked from our trees lately.  I think it helped that over the winter we fertilized the soil that they were around. Mostly though I think it was luck. The pears though. . . wow the pears are like heaven.

I love root vegetables.  Mostly though I love pulling them up. It is so satisfying to pull up a carrot. IT is so great when your beets are large. I think next year I might plant a whole raised bed of carrots here is my order of reasoning:
1. I love pulling them up. Each time is a surprise.
2. Super fresh carrots are so so so good.
3. I Love pulling them up.
4. I love pulling them up.

Broccili and applesauce nothing goes together better. At least that's that this jaunt to the garden got me.

In July when the blackberry bushes were full of fat ripe berries we went picking. In juts under and hour we picked that tub full. I went back later in the evening and did the same thing (sans toddler).  We made some seriously stellar blackberry jam and a pie- oh that reminds me I have another pie filling and crust in the freezer....the irony of blackberries is that you don't want them in the garden. They are a horrible invasive weed here but it is nice to have a spot to go pick them where they are all grown up.

This basket of peas, first cut broccili and carrots from "thinning the carrots" must have been the summer first fruits.  I don't even like peas but my kiddos eat them like candy.  What you don't see pictured in this is the gobs and gobs and gobs of chard we have been eating.  So many times one of us retreats to the garden during dinner prep and tosses chard into a soup, saute, or even a salad.  We have been chard maniacs.

And here is the last (or the first) of garden picks from this summer. It was one of our first asparagus shoots.  This bed has been in place for 2 years. This means that this spring I will get to eat the asparagus gifted to us from the soil! It makes me excited for April.

What you also don't see here are the many many strawberries. Enough for many bowls of berries and milk.  The handfuls of raspberries, and the 3 or 4 blueberries.  My hope is that this coming year our strawberries will feel endless, our raspberries will feel plentiful and the blueberries will be enough to feel like it was worth it!

You also don't see the 50 or so heads of garlic.  I don't know if we will do that again but that is how Junia learned to braid hair was by braiding the garlic tops together.

So that's it.