Let the Harvest Begin

I scared myself yesterday when I ventured into the garden to work for the first time in, uh, a week? Two weeks? Who can remember? Too long, in any case, because the tomato plants were sprawling all over the place; the green beans were suddenly big enough to pick; the jalapeno plants had multiple peppers on them; the beets, TWO WHOLE ROWS of them, were the size of baseballs; the broccoli had produced yet more side shoots; the cucumbers had gotten out of control entirely; and it was past time to dig up the garlic and shallots.

I could blame the incessant rain for the fact that I had let the garden get into this state. Or I could just admit to laziness. No matter! To work!

First I tied up the tomatoes. This took a LONG TIME, because the rain has caused the tomatoes to bush out to alarming proportions. Also alarming? The sheer number of tomatoes on those plants. See, none of them have started ripening. And if none of the fruits ripen, the plant doesn't get the signal to slow down production. Assuming all those tomatoes DO ripen at some point, it's gonna get ugly in my kitchen. There will be sweating, and cussing, and eventually--lord willin' and the crik don't rise--a whole lotta canned tomatoes to get us through the winter.

But I won't think about that now.

Next I dug up all the garlic and hauled it into the shed to cure on the dog grooming table. Hey, I use what I have. After that, I pulled up the shallots and put them in the shed, too, on makeshift tables constructed of boards over trash cans. Trashy-looking, but effective.

You may recognize the shed as the scene of the deer butchering last fall. The shed gets a lot of use.

When I planted the shallots, I thought I hadn't kept enough for seed and I wouldn't end up with a very big harvest this year. That would have been true, had the shallots not grown to GARGANTUAN SIZES. I have enough shallots.

Then I went inside and washed my hands and had some water, because I had been working for a couple of hours and I was hot. Hydration is an important part of gardening. You heard it here first.

Next, my trusty canvas bucket and I advanced upon the cucumbers. It was scary under those vines. I swear to God, I JUST CHECKED the cucumbers a couple of days ago. Some were getting about right for picking. Two days later, I had several that had already grown TOO big, and many, many more that needed to be picked right away. I ended up with about six pounds of cucumbers. Then I picked the first green beans (yay!) and cut off more side shoots on the broccoli. We harvested the actual broccoli heads a long time ago, but the plants continue to produce smaller side shoots. I think this is the third round of side shoots we've harvested. A. is thrilled, big broccoli lover that he is. (That's very heavy sarcasm--he hates broccoli. Almost as much as he hates cauliflower, which is ALSO growing in our garden! Lucky A.)

This is cut off at the bottom because I am still using the busted camera. Because I'm too cheap to buy another one.

At this point, I took a break for lunch. Then I considered the cucumbers. There is only one possible use for six pounds of cucumbers.

Good lord in heaven, how I love dill pickles.

Not addressed yesterday were the multiple jalapenos and the huge beets. Since I don't have any tomatoes yet, I can't use the jalapenos yet for salsa. Last year, I had jalapenos AFTER my tomatoes were done with the heaviest production. I can't seem to get the timing right. But the jalapenos can wait for a bit. The beets, however, really can't wait anymore. They'll be pickled. Probably today. It's going to be a messy, messy job, but that's my penance for being such a bum with my gardening chores and letting everything get out of control.

Constant vigilance, my fellow gardeners. Learn from me.