The Garden

It won't be long now:)

More Garden Goodness

Mmmmm...

Fresh zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, straight from the garden.

I should have picked the zucchini.

A few days before we left for vacation, I had a list of things that needed to be done. One of those things was to clean up the garden. The weeds were taking over, and the zucchini needed to be picked. I ran out of sunlight, and that zucchini never got picked.


And then we were gone for ten days.

Yesterday morning I got up early to see what needed to be done. This is what I found.

Since that is all of them in a big pile, let me lay them out for you (minus one big'un in the above pic that I gave away.) The four on the right are normal sized zucchini. About the size of my hand. The three on the left, not so much.

I still don't think that picture did them justice. Let's see how big they are in relation to Ben's head.

Still not getting it? Here it is, next to my adult-sized leg.

It's the same size and shape as my calf, knee to ankle.

It weighs 3.6 pounds.

Never in my life have I seen a zucchini this big. And I have two of them (not counting the one I gave away), plus the other small ones. I have no idea what to do with them, or if it will even taste good. If you sliced it up, the slices would be the approximately diameter of lunch meat. I don't think vegetables are supposed to be this big.

One of the reasons I love summer...

Everything in this bowl came out of my garden. Strawberries, lettuce, and zucchini. I love it:)

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen. 1:1) He did, ya know?

"The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it." (Gen. 1:15) Man should care for God's creation perhaps?

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him." (Psalm 24:1) This land we walk on, the plants and animals, the resources... everything.... belong to the Lord.

Which begs the question, if the we say we love the Lord, how can we not also love his creation? How can we not be good stewards of the resources he has given us? We preach about good stewardship of our money and our time, but is stewardship of resources not important too?

I'll be honest. I've been a bit slow to get on the green bandwagon. I've lived most of my life in places that didn't have recycling available, or at least not easily accessible. I have thrown out more plastic bags than I care to remember. And have I mentioned how much I like really long showers?

And admittedly, there is more that I could do to care for God's creation than what I am already actually doing. In other words, I am not even half way where I should be. To be honest, environmentalism is a bit daunting. There is so much to it that I don't even understand. I am inexperienced.

But God kept putting people and things in my path that kept whispering ~ Caring for God means caring for His creation.

So I made a goal. I decided I would make one easy change at a time. Once that thing became habit, then I could add another thing. I am not very far along in my changes. I have been doing this for about 3 years, and you can tell from the list below that I am a slow learner. But hey, something is better than nothing, right?

So, here goes...

{Reusable Shopping Bags} Many stores will give you money back for using them. Plus, (and I love this one) Kroger will replace your bag for free if it rips or tears. It took me a while to make this a habit, because I kept leaving them at home. But I kept trying to figure out ways to remember, and now I put my wallet in the bags before I leave the house. I can't very well shop without my wallet can I? I also keep a spare bag tucked into a pocket in my van for surprise trips to Kohl's.

{Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs} This one is really easy because my electric company keeps sending me coupons to buy these things at dirt cheap prices. The only problem I've found is how to recycle them.

{Gardening} Who knew I would actually like gardening? But I can't tell you how much I enjoy seeing food come out of my backyard. It tastes better, it uses fewer energy resources (no transportation costs), no pesticides are used, and it saves me money. Win, win, win, win.

{Composting} I didn't even know what compost was a couple years ago. Basically, I throw all of my vegetable peels, stalks, cores, some dried grass clippings... whatever... into a bucket and let it decompose naturally. And then, I use it to fertilize my garden. Less waste goes to the landfill, and my waste is put to good use. Again, win, win.

{Recycling} Actually, my grandmother shamed me into this one last summer. And if an 80 year old woman can learn something new, why can't I? (Love you, Ninnie:) I still can't recycle a lot of things where I live, and I still have a lot to learn, but it is getting better.

{Use/Repair Something Old Instead of Buying New} I hate waste, and I hate spending money even more, so I've been doing this one a long time. What this one means is that if we live more simply and have less stuff, then we are using fewer resources. Do you really need that new sweater? What about a new cell phone? Really? I am not saying you should never buy anything. What I am saying is that you should evaluate the reasons for the purchase. Do you need it? Or do you just like new stuff?

{Energy Efficient Appliances} I have been putting this one off because of the point above, but my washing machine finally croaked. Did you know that a traditional top loading washer uses 40 gallons on a load? That is insane. My new large capacity front-loader uses less than half of that.

So, that's my short list. I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting (or don't even know about), so I have an idea. I would love it if everyone would share one thing that they do to care for the environment. Or that they should do. Then we all can have some new ideas about what to do next. So, fire away. (Blair, you can go first;)

Happy Earth Day!

Eulogy for a Gourd

So, how sick are you of hearing about my garden?

My garden on Tuesday...

My garden on Saturday...Notice something is missing?
As you all know, I have really enjoyed my garden this year. We have had TONS of yellow squash and zucchini, among the tomatoes, peppers, etc. About 3 weeks ago my friend Blair was over for a visit, and I wanted to show her my garden. I don't know how impressed she was, but she commented that I had white spots on my pumpkin and zucchini leaves that looked similar to the spots on her boyfriend's zucchini plant. She wasn't sure what it was, and I didn't think much more about it. After all, I was still getting tons of zucchini, right? I didn't even pay much attention when the same spots showed up on my yellow squash.

Fast forward to yesterday evening. I went out to do my daily tomato pickin', when I notice that the squash is about 1/4 the size that it usually is. Had an animal gotten into the fence? I didn't see any digging, and none of the other plants seemed to be chewed on. Plus there were no bite marks on the leaves. Most of the leaves were wilted and lying on the ground, while the ones still standing were covered in those same white spots. Uh-oh. I quickly snapped a few pictures and ran inside to post them on Facebook. I know most people get on FB to socialize, but I use it as a siren for my gardening emergencies. All summer long I have posted questions and/or problems and gotten results. In fact, Blair's mom, Kim, is my gardening hero, and gives me awesome advice.

Anyway, within a few hours, I had several suggestions as to my problem. As usual, Kim nailed it. Apparently I have powdery mildew. Lovely. The cure? Pull up the affected plants and spray the rest. The problem is that by the time I went out there this morning, all of them had it. The zucchini and pumpkins looked like the squash did yesterday. So sad.

So I set in to cutting. I felt like a surgeon out there, determining which stalks/vines were diseased, and cutting off the afflicted parts. After much work and sadness, I was left with very little healthy plants. And I am not convinced that these will survive. I may have picked my last squash for the season. So, so sad.

Sad zucchini...

Sad pumpkin...

Sad squash...

Of course, the whole time I am working, my mind is too. I began to see spiritual parallels between my garden and my life. Maybe I will share more in another post (this one is already rather lengthy). We shall see.

I am rather depressed about my gardening failure, and upset that I didn't do something sooner. Oh well, I shall try to live and learn. Now I know what powdery mildew looks like.

Looking on the bright side, maybe now there is a chance that the carrots, romas, and watermelon will actually see the sunlight if the squash isn't choking them out. Ahhh, so much to learn...

And so much carnage!!!

Mmmmmm

Yesterday the first tomato was ripe and ready to eat. Don't tell the boys, but it was delicious!

Our Garden

Peppers & Pumpkins...

Zucchini & Tomatoes...


(Scraggly) Corn & Watermelons...

& Yellow Squash - Yum!

June 20, 2009-First Fruits

(BTW, that last shot is staged. Kate and Will are NOT that happy about squash and zucchini.)

I have to say it, I am enjoying gardening way more than I thought I would. Granted, I didn't till the soil, I didn't set up the fence, and I didn't even plant most of the plants. But I do get out there most days to pull weeds, pinch suckers off of tomatoes, and generally keep the pumpkin from taking over the whole thing. I like to either get out there before 10am or after dinnertime, and it is like I am in my own little world, where the only thing that matters are things like whether the zucchini is producing as much as it should, and what I am going to do with 10 million yellow squash. I have enjoyed seeing how God's creation works first hand.
I compiled the pictures we have taken since April, and I cannot believe how much the garden has changed. The abundance is unbelievable. Every time I say, "I can't believe how big the tomatoes are!", they get even bigger. (Of course, whether they will ever ripen or not is another thing altogether.) So, I thought I would show you how my garden is growing.

April 13, 2009-Soil tilled

May 15, 2009-Veggies planted, fence built

June 15, 2009-Return home from vacation, pumpkins had taken over

July 7, 2009-We have eaten lots of lettuce, squash, and zucchini... Alright tomatoes, it's time to ripen already!

Tomatoes... The Real Kind!

I have talked about having a vegetable garden for years. I know next to nothing about gardening, but I do know that fresh, home-grown veggies taste WAY better than store bought. So, this year I convinced Tim and our friends to start a garden with me. Tim and some of the guys tilled it up for me, and then Christa came over and we planted it! We have peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, strawberries, watermelon, lettuce, carrots, and one pumpkin that I bought by accident. There is also a random pumpkin coming up that I didn't plant, because the seeds from last year's pumpkin had not totally decomposed in the compost bin. There were actually about a dozen of them, but I pulled up the rest to make room for the other stuff. Finally, Tim put up a fence to keep out the rabbits and small children that wander about the yard. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much, because I am worried a rabbit will eat it all or we will have a drought or some sort of disease or something, but I am really excited! Hopefully in a few weeks (or months?) we will have some home-grown lovin' on the table. Wahoo!