Lost in Time

Wow! Summer is NOT a good time to keep up on a blog. I have so much garden progress to report!

Our squash was growing like crazy and has already started slowing down. We have some kind of fungus this year and if I remember correctly, I think we had it last year too. Apparently there are some sprays you can use to try and get rid of it, but we opted for weeper/soaker hoses to minimize the amount of water that lands on the leaves. So far, we are still getting some summer squash but all the plants have the fungus. Fortunately most of the zucchini plants have been able to somehow avoid getting "sick". We will be rotating their location next spring when we plant the 2014 garden.

Our tomatoes are also a bit of a disappointment this year as well. The leaves twisted and curled a few weeks after we planted the garden but the growth above the twisted leaves looks normal. From what research I've done, the only thing that seems to make sense is they were damaged from a weed killer or herbicide of some kind. Both my husband and our neighbor sprayed for weeds earlier in the season. I highly doubt we'll get many tomatoes this year but we still have all of August so we'll see what happens. Such a shame because the homemade tomato sauce I make from this recipe is really good. I adapted the recipe a bit by using frozen tomatoes that have been peeled. I don't add green pepper or as much onion and I only use enough (olive) oil to saute the onion. I start out with the recommended amounts for salt, sugar, basil and parsley but every batch of sauce is different so I do add more of everything as needed. We will also be moving our tomatoes for 2014.

On a positive note: Our beans are AWESOME this year! They are soooo tasty and I think planting them away from onions has been beneficial. The planting charts we used seem to be spot on. We've had fresh beans a few times already and have frozen some as well. We inherited an antique bean slicer from my hubands' parents and he loves to use it to slice beans for freezing. It was originally his grandfather's and they were really close. He passed away when my husband was 14. I think using the bean slicer reminds him of his grandfather. It's amazing how such a simple action can keep a memory alive.

The onions, lettuce and carrots are also doing really well. I'm glad we planted romaine instead of a leaf lettuce variety because even when it's hot out, the lettuce is still crunchy when it's fresh picked and eaten right away. I've been enjoying it with a simple oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

More later...now I need to grate a GIANT sneaky zucchini that hid in the garden from us for fritters tonight!  Om nom nom.