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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

How does your garden grow?

It has been so long since I have posted anything on here, but I am very excited to say that we have another wonderful garden this year!  My boys have been very excited about the garden and actually enjoy going our with me to check on our fruits and veggies and to help me pick them.  We always are amazed at how big some or our zucchini get.  My zucchini and yellow squash have exploded even more so than last year.  I realized this year that they don't need much water and I definitely don't water at night or on top of the leaves. This was a big mistake last year.  I have already harvested at least 4 dozen and have given many away.  We have made several loaves of bread, 4 dozen muffins, over fried zucchini, and Poor Man's Crab Cakes (I posted about these last year...they are delicious and very easy).  I have also shredded some and froze it for future use in breads and muffins.


My tomatoes and peppers are doing well too.  Last year, my peppers never made it, so I am happy that all four of my plants are doing fabulous.  New this year...cantaloupe...and we have one that should be ready by the weekend!  My boys are very excited about it.  I planted a small strawberry plant that was on clearance for only $2 at Lowes.  I got a couple strawberries from it, but look forward to it doing better next year.

And I am super excited to report that my raspberries are AMAZING!!!!  I have probably triple the plants I had last year (they spread like crazy and I must give some away) and half of them have already started harvesting.  I have picked a small container of raspberries everyday for about the past two weeks already....and we still have the rest of the summer and fall to enjoy them!
This year's garden was very simple to put in since I did all the prep work last year when we started.  My neighbor picked up all my plants for me (except the raspberries since they were already there) for only $7!  Another friend gave me her left over manure, so I used that along with the soil from last year.  All in all, everything is going well.  I just need to make sure the tomatoes and peppers stay watered since they seem the most sensitive to all this heat.  How is your garden growing?  What are you most excited about?  If any of my local friends would like to swap crops I would be very up for that!