Saturday, July 5, 2014

Currants and tomatoes


Today I got 10 cabinets clear glazed. I still have 11 to antique and clear glaze. Still, it is much needed progress. Once those go into the kitchen I can work on the others.

After working on cabinets I decided to pick some of the ripe black and red currants hanging over into my yard. The bush borders three lawns, yet I am sure I am the only one who bothers to pick them.
A lot of people who have currants either do not know they are edible, or if they do, do not bother to pick them as it is time consuming. I however do not mind it at all.

There are some plums on one of the trees in the yard I am hoping will sweeten up soon. The cherries were sadly too high up to pick, however I was still able to get some cherry picking in this year up at my friends parents house.
I also got some orange currants, service berries, sage, yarrow, fresh farm eggs.

So now I have Orange, black, and red currants in the freezer. Small amounts of each but with each harvest I gain more bags. I have a decent amount of service berries. I also have a good sized strawberry box full of cherries. I may pit and freeze some of those as well to use in a pie later. I would can them if there were more than a couple small cans worth.

My garden got a good watering and I got two gardeners delight tomatoes off the vine. I am saving the seeds from them, but ate the rest. They were quite tasty. The plants still look not the best, but the fruits are very good. I got a few gold nugget tomatoes as well soon. Others are soon to ripen as well.
I will save seeds from heirloom varieties and grow them next year. Hopefully by then I will have the bug situation under control.

I know it is the bugs because my zucchini and yellow squash, which are in large containers, are doing great. The three squash I put in the ground are not doing as well.

I am however happy to report the corn is coming up through the ground. Not all have sprouted up yet, but a good 1/3 has so far. I am seeing signs of more to follow soon.

I plan to start lettuce and possibly broccoli inside soon, as well as direct sow carrots and beets in the near future.
The carrots and broccoli will probably end up near the corn, though broccoli will not be next to the carrots directly due to their shallow, easily damaged roots.
I am still deciding on the lettuce placement. The beets will most likely end up near the tomatoes and onions for partial shade.
The last place I was in the beets did a lot better in partial shade than they did in full sun.

I still hope to get out and do more foraging this year. It may not be as often as I would like to get out (Foraging or nature hiking) but it will still be something.

I also hope to get to work on my garden planner/art journal soon. Having information on the computer is nice, though I love books, and feel having it hand written  is much better. I have been given a lovely calligraphy pen that is perfect for this as well.

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