Beans and Tomatoes

With the dryness we've had this summer, we didn't get much in the way of potatoes. We harvested a bunch of tubers, but most were really small. We had some good sized ones, that some rodent (dang voles!) or other decided tasted pretty good.

Anyway, I've planted lots of kales in patches around the yard, and they seem to be coming up pretty well. They are thick right now, but I'll be thinning them down soon.

Beans. We got lots of beans. I've frozen 6 gallon zip-lock sized bags of assorted beans so far, and it really doesn't look like they are going to stop any time soon. We have been eating them steamed, stir-fried, and in soup too. I'm planning on veggie pot-pie for Thursday night's dinner. I'll use some of those fine purple potatoes, our lovely green beans, and (sigh) store bought carrots.

Our tomatoes finally came in. We are having several eating size beefsteak tomatoes, and Samuel, Eliza and I have been trying to keep up with the cherry tomatoes. I don't expect I'll need to buy seeds for any of them next year, since I'm returning some of the seeds to the tomato mulched areas. Mary wanted roma tomatoes, and we have just enough to make a batch of spaghetti sauce, and I have that simmering on the stove for tomorrow night's dinner. It will be extra yummy then, I'm sure! I'll do up some bread, and maybe some more beans...

Things that didn't do well in our shaded garden areas... carrots (slugs got them!), swiss chard, cucumbers, yellow squash (dang beetles) zucchini squash (planted way too late) and lettuce, spinach, and beets in the back yard. Next spring, I'm going to be planting a whole lot more food crops in the front yard, and I'm not going to be putting down shredded hardwood mulch. That stuff mats up so much that no water can get in, and the rain we had ran off without wetting the soil underneath. So, I'll cover the new soil with straw, and mulch everything in nicely.

We have some really long sweet potato vines in the front yard, but it isn't anywhere time to eat those yet. And did you know that you can eat the leaves of the sweet potato as "greens"? You slow down the formation of the tuber if you eat them before harvesting the tuber, but the whole plant can be eaten when you harvest the tubers.

Onions didn't do well on Herb Hill. Hardwood mulch kept the water out. Same with the garlic we planted there. The basil didn't do well there either, but we will try again next year with a lot more seedlings.

Mary and I have decided that beans really do well in our yard, and that we really like them, so we will see what comes of them next year.

We'll have snow peas and snap peas in the ground soon, hopefully we can have some before the frost.