The garden? Oh yeah, that thing!

I'm back! I neglected the garden for the past several days in favor of school shopping and spending time at the beach with the boys, but now the day of reckoning has arrived - for the jalapenos, that is!

I'll cover the easy things first. Ignore the damn peppers, LOL..... look at my CORN! "SUN CORN"! Yeah, the sun does make a difference. Unfortunately the tips of the ears had worms, but what I am impressed with is the fact that they were fully pollinated with full ears. So apparently I can grow it, but would have to spray or something. Now that the challenge is over, I will say that I won't grow it again because it took up a whole bed with not a lot of reward. Maybe 2 dinners worth. So next time I'll devote this space to growing more (wait for it)..... yard beans of course!

Speaking of beans...

They are still coming in, but the bush green beans are lumpy in spots, skinny in others and kind of looking less than stellar, so I think it's time to rip them out. The yard beans are producing like mad still, and since they are so easy to pick and preserve they are welcome here for as long as they want to stay.

blanching and freezing beans all morning - someone asked if I cut the yard beans, no I do not - after blanching I coil them and put into baggies as seen below so they are long and lovely for my winter stir-fries.

I managed to get rid of about 6 lbs of jalapenos at the local Army National Guard Unit here this morning, strange, I know - but I was there anyways and I have taken to bringing my basket of peppers everywhere, kind of like you might grab your purse or keys before walking out the door! I have no idea what they are going to do with them, not my problem anymore!

I've got 3 gallon bags of whole peppers in the freezer for making stuffed peppers for parties, and this is what's left to pickle:

OK, watch my back.... I'm goin' in!

Profanity in the garden...

Insert choice words (here)! Go ahead and click bigify the source of my pain.

All this came from only 5 plants. See them below at the far end of the bed.

So basically from 2 square feet...

Maybe I should just plant ZERO jalapenos next year, whaddaya think?

Take a deep breath, I'm goin' back out there...

Looking back, my problem started when...

In light of my jalapeno issues, and the fact that some have suggested an intervention for me, I decided to look back at last year and see if I do indeed have a problem.

You be the judge:

Get It Together, Girl! - Sep 2009

I still have the scar on my torso from this day!

Apparently at one point during early summer I was sane enough to post a jalapeno canning tutorial - in June! No wonder I sounded more sane than the September post. The tutorial was done with 2 lbs of peppers, the other post was done with a 13 lb harvest, and I was getting that much every week.

To my defense, I did cut the number of my plants down this year from 9 to 6 - obviously still too many!

Stockpots full? Really?

I can't believe I didn't remember this weekly event - I must have blocked it from memory due to PTSD - maybe I can alert the seed companies to refuse my jalapeno seed order next year.

I don't grow zucchini, so I guess this is my penance...

Jalapeno HELP! request...

I headed out this morning to run some errands before our tenatively planned getaway to the beach tomorrow. Before I left I asked my husband if he could go harvest whatever was left on the jalapeno bushes and rip them out before he left for work.

This is what I came home to an hour later:

Help!! Yes, all 16.2 lbs of them...

So here is my dilemma: I NEED to leave on our road trip tomorrow the minute I get out of school, and no time to skin and can these babies today. Yes, I could freeze them, but I already have 5 gallon bags frozen and we would much rather have more pickled jars for nachos and such this winter. What I need to know from my wise fellow blogger friends is whether or not they will keep in the fridge until Sunday so I can pickle and can them? Have any of you left things for several days before canning? I don't expect there will be much flavor or texture issues since the skins will be charred and discarded, and they are really hot jalapenos, not just bell peppers. Is the fridge thing more of a texture problem or am I looking at a food safety thing? Problem is, I usually plan to can before I even go out to pick so I have never had this happen, lol! I had no idea there was still so many peppers out there... see, I really have been neglecting things! And my husband also said he didn't rip them out since they were covered with blossoms again, lol!

And I actually will get something done today... peas! Thanks Kelly, for lighting a fire under me to get them soaking last night :)

Of course, now I am realizing that I have left tomatoes on my counter for awhile before canning...maybe I am overthinking this the way I do with everything? Advice is appreciated :) !!

And he's gone again...

The past weekend involved more running away from my garden! Sailor/Farmer/Husband had to leave yesterday for another month of training in preparation for the big deployment this fall, so we decided to go camping prior to his leaving. This is the first time I have attempted a no-plan trip with kids in tow, so it was challenging, but the kids were that much more excited. I decided Thursday morning we would go to Cape Hatteras, NC which is about a 3 hour drive from us. By noon I had the grocery shopping done and was packing the car. When Charlie woke up that afternoon (he works night shift at the squadron) I told him "just get in the car", we're leaving! It was fun, but much different than our trips before kids! I know eventually they will become more self-sufficient and I won't have to micro manage them around the water, etc and will be able to actually relax! Here are some pics of the weekend:

A rare photo of the two of us! I gave my 6 year old the camera and he actually did it! No pictures of a foot, the ground, etc :)

Charlie fishing the Pamlico Sound at sunset

Clouds rolling in...we got 70 mph winds and sideways rain, no pics of the rain since we were in the tent busy bracing the poles! Some people who were absent actually returned to find their tents were completely gone!

Gotta love our Subarus! Gets us out onto the 4-wheel drive beach.

Kids fishing

Finn preparing a mess o'shrimp

Yum, fresh local shrimp!

Cape Hatteras Light

Lunch on Ocracoke Island

Marley & Sprocket love the dog-friendly Jolly Roger Pub in Ocracoke

Finnegan & Daddy

Of course when we returned, there was a harvest. We actually had a few heirlooms ready, although they look terrible! (You should see the ones that didn't make it into the picture, lol!) Finally a few french beans, and ugh...another 100 jalapenos. I really need to find a happy medium between not growing enough of something and holy crap, why do I need 1000 jalapenos?!!! Actually, I knew better when I planted them, but since I started them from seed and wasn't able to give all of them away, I planted them like a moron...it seems like I look at the seedlings as if they were pets...why couldn't I have just thrown a few seedlings into the compost pile? Anyone else have this problem? I didn't have a problem throwing the tobacco hornworms in the trash, that's for sure!

Lazy Day in Pictures

My garden is in limbo right now...everything is growing, but not yet ripe for picking! I figured today would be a good day just to show pics of what's happening in the garden. The clouds finally cleared and got some decent (not great, as I am not a great photographer!) pics of the plants. It's hot here and humidity supposed to climb way up this weekend, so I am planning on some indoor activities, and possibly being able to put up some jalapenos from the garden by this weekend. I'm not much for heat and humidity, so I won't be out there any more than necessary! Enjoy...

Pinot Noir Bell Peppers

Purple Rain Eggplant

Tomato Beds with Eggplant in foreground

"Aerial Shot" of garden...from atop the kids' fort! Some of the beds were just reseeded with squash and edamame where the peas were ripped out.

The sometimes boring but always pretty marigolds.

Out of control Mammoth Dill in the Jalapeno bed

Purple Vitex that I am training into a tree...

Blackberries

(the resident boss mockingbird is watching me as I take this one, I know what he's thinking...)

"NO BERRIES FOR YOU!!"

The Butterfly/Bird Garden...although the first flush of blooms has disappeared, waiting for next group of plants to bloom

Miscellaneous free lily that came in a veggie shipment!

Crepe Myrtles are in full bloom now

Another shot of Crepe Myrtle tree

Five-Leaf Akebia vine...all the mockingbirds live here!

My new Fig Tree! Due to my uncertainty of how long we will be at this house, all fruit trees are now in containers so they can migrate with us.

Salvia

We have tons of butterflies with the new butterfly garden, hopefully I can get a better shot soon

And no garden post is complete without a shot of one of the Garden Dogs...here is one of my Aussies after "herding the hose"! This involves her chewing the nozzle open and then attacking the spray...yes, we are on our 3rd nozzle due to this game of hers. I guess if there's no chickens or sheep, water is the next best thing for a bored herding dog!