Eggplant, field corn, strawberry

 

two varieties of field corn from last year's cobs

I planted two short rows of this for the pole beans to climb up on.  I have one more cob I have not shucked that is a rose orange color.  Eventually, we might have chickens or other animals that will appreciate having this as winter and spring food. We will be planting much more of this in the far garden and this fall the ears should be overflowing!  Mark has told me to go look up the theories behind a corn crib - if I intend to save much more than we did this year.

CORN

Well, I actually had about seven more cobs of different colors - and, including the two bags shown above, ended up with six bags of distinctly different characteristics.  The rose orange/butterscotch cob is one, and then another cob with more pink tones, the red above, the yellow/blue, a ruby red that was VERY hard to strip, and another bag of everything that was EASY to strip which is varied in color and shape. The kicker? I planted two field corns and a sweet corn last year. Corn is one of those that hybridizes easily within the same year the seed is made - so the differences from the parents can be seen immediately. We ate the sweet corn, which had a few kernels of colored corn in it. Some of the 'field' ears were not saveable for dry corn at all because of the sweet corn genetics. Sweet corn kernels do not have the starch to dry hard - they dry soft and then will rot.  Anything with spotty or very uneven kernels was thrown to the dogs.  In the end - what was stripped into these six bags were the 'winners' of the genetic lottery - dried well, even kernels, had great kernels and color, and now they are ready to go another generation.

 

Pink flowering strawberries 

I had not seen pink flowering strawberries in a long time, so I asked Mark to buy three of these at the greenhouse today.  I hope they will produce some fruit, as well.

Japanese eggplant 

I also put several more Blue Shackamaxon beans in the ground by the field corn - they will be the only bean in the garden that has purple beans this year.

Esme has been invited to an Easter egg hunt tomorrow.  There will be other gardening things to do, as I have the weekend off, but it should be nice if she has a good time!  She was so 'big' sounding today - asking me to put beans in the garden for her to put water on, and to open things for her and to come with her etc etc..  I can't recall any of those exact sentences, but she is getting much more understandable.  At the greenhouse she came and told me that she had been missing Grandma in the flowers and we should go and find her.  When I went back to work Esme called out 'We're going to miss you Mom!  See you later!'  When I left for work this morning she told me 'See you later!'  Moments later she poked her head back out the door and said 'Don't crash the car!'  Oh my!

garden note

I did not plant anything today - what restraint ;)  I have winnowed out the sunflower heads from last year, the basil seed and a lot of the broom corn seed.  Just that tiny bit of red broom corn I bought last year has reproduced itself thousandfold.  I have given some away to anyone who wanted some at work - hopefully it will feed other birds this next coming winter.  We have so many new and different birds this year - because of the logging opening up our woods.  There are also quail and turkey I am hearing in the woods, and saw last year.

Work tomorrow, but also more seed preparation for the weekend.  There are still marigold heads and zinnias to strip out and maybe a dozen field corn cobs to strip as well.  The only planted seeds that have a chance of being up this weekend are some of the beans and the radishes.  I will see and report!  I bought a Japanese eggplant that will likely be planted tomorrow.  I have never grown eggplant before, but am willing to try.  They are self-pollinating, like tomatoes, so just one plant should do well.

Also: My sunburn is very itchy!  Tonight after returning home from work - being inside all day long mind you - I am itching up a storm more than 24 hours after having been in the sun.  I have such a weird system.  It is like that with nearly anything heavy I lift as well - 24 hours or so later my muscles are telling me about it... but not before, unless I do something really unwise and then I know it almost immediately.

Garden map so far

This is the little garden.
Mark says it looks like Eeyore...
so I am calling the map 'the Eeyore garden' planted today:
(*)  seed
King of the Early bean (*) bush triple purpose
Parchman Lockwood Pinto (*) pole
Black Shackamaxon bean (*) pole
Maria Amazalatei's bean (*) pole
Jeminez bean (*) pole triple purpose
Goldrush (*) wax bean yellow
Bosnian (*) pole
Dragon's Lingerie (*) pole
Sunflower 'Ruby Eclipse' (*)
Sweet Basil (*)
Florida Speckled Lima bean (*) pole
Lemon Boy tomato plant
Black Krim tomato plant

We still have the 'west garden' to till and plant.  The area for the sweet corn and zucchini are planned but not planted.  Everything else is actually there.

We are out in the garden (2012)

We have returned from a jaunt to the co-op bearing mint, tomatoes, peppers and more... The garden was tilled the other day and we will be making more soil additions and tilling again today. Then it is off and running! I just planted some cosmos and snapdragons from seed... zinnias and others to come as well. There is a small section we have already cordoned off for flowers and herbs. There are 'volunteer' gladiolus I saw when I was tilling and that was the start of that.

The co-op had many more varieties this year, including of field peas (cowpeas). I picked up a bag of Speckled butterpeas but am also anxious to decide which ones out of my large stash of different heirloom beans would be best situated for this year, and where. We have corn, carrots and a lot of other vegetable seeds. I am trying just a small stint of okra this year as well - it has overwhelmed me in the past but the flowers are pretty enough to plant it as an ornamental. Then there are zucchini, scallop squash and pumpkins as well.



Esme put herself between these four posts and told me she was in a castle, and waiting to find 'Her Majesty' to bring the people and the flags to. Funny girl.

Planted today:
(*) seed:
7 Roma tomatoes
2 banana peppers
1 orange bell
1 pimiento pepper
2 mints, an oregano
assorted flower plants, marigold, pansies, portulaca
red and green cabbage (new for us)
carrots, color mix and regular (*)
okra (*)
radishes and rutabaga (*)
pattypan squash (*)
3 beans each of special breed pintos and golden wax beans (*)
cosmos, snapdragons, zinnias, calif. poppies (*)
giant english peas (*)

I've decided to plant the Maria Amazalitei pole beans, the Jeminez, parchman lockwood pintos, bosnian pole, florida speckled lima beans, dixie butterpea lima beans, ingot yellow summer squash, cocozelle zucchini, black beauty zucchini and waltham butternut squash. I have several breeds of pumpkin over in the freezer seeds but I have not went through them yet. I think the one that I had planned to use was Small Sugar Pie. Some of these seeds will be put here in this garden and some in the 'west field' as we have begun calling it to determine it away from the hilltop garden near Grandma's house.

Cooking Spaghetti and Robot Dress

washing hands to help cook

This is the robot dress I made her out of a half yard of robot fabric and scraps of two other recent items. I think it turned out very well for on the fly! These pictures I took as Mark and Esme scuttled around the kitchen cooking. She had just had a much needed bath, but I did not wash her hair. She had been out in the garden dirt with me after I got home from work 'helping' by staying far out of the way as I used the little tiller on the garden. She also kept Loula pup away and helped me water some of the plants we put in the ground the other day. She did a good job with her responsibility, and then helped Daddy stir the noodles for supper. The spaghetti was very very good! We hope to be able to plant in the garden plot sometime later this week. Mark also took the big tractor over Grandma's garden today while Esme played with Grandma.


mid chew of a popcorn kernel...
silly face!

Loula pup is doing so much better...
she seems like she is out of the woods
and is looking healthy again

helping stir the noodles

she's growing up...

The other night Esme was begging me to tuck her in after already refusing it less than a minute before. I told her to let her Mr.Frog tuck her in. She took a second, then said 'No Mom, he's a toy.' Tonight she was hopping around like a kangaroo carrying a basket of 'kangaroo children' who were hungry. They were imaginary, by the way. I asked her what kangaroos eat, and she said 'Wait a minute for me Mom, I'll look at my computer.' ?? She opened her laptop and used the special links I have there to go to Starfall. She went to the 'what is my pet' section, chose the kangaroo and then told me what kangaroos eat - 'grass' and popcorn, and pizza, and kangaroo food. Next thing I know she will be googling for answers!

I am working on a dress for her - 'on the fly' out of things on my table. The Simplicity 3096 was missing both of the bodice pieces, so I substituted the last Butterick pattern size 6 to try to make it up. It is looking like a pretty basic dress for her - except for the two front darts which are also not perfectly to pattern. I will see how well it works.... Esme is happy I am making her a 'robot dress' and is still playing with her Starfall.

I asked Mark about another fabric to use for sleeves for this dress - as I was out of both of the other fabrics in it. Mark says 'it works for me'. Esme pipes up 'No Daddy, it is mine. You cannot wear my dress. You are too big!' HA.