Big Mama

Tomato Compare - Big Mama (L), San Marzano (R)

Behold...the BIG MAMA tomato.  This is a new one for us in the garden this year.  Typically, we've been strict San Marzano growers and have enjoyed them immensely for their ease of skinning/deseeding/canning.  I decided to break out of my comfort zone and try something new this year.  I picked up this hybrid behemoth at Burpee and gave it a whirl.  I am not disappointed.  All plants have been incredibly prolific...even under the less than favorable growing conditions this summer.  The fruits are absolutely GIGANTIC (see photo, which actually does not do it justice).  They are easy to skin and have a ton of meat with very few seeds.  Perfect for canning.  We will not be tomato hungry this winter!!  I can't keep up with the harvests and have had to give these away by the armful!  Will repeat in 2015.

AugustHarvest

I wasn't sure I would be able to post such a photo this summer.  It's been pretty 'pesty' and dry here in the beautiful mountains of Southwest Virginia...a far cry from the cold deluge that was Summer 2013.  The deer pressure, a new thing for our Gap Mountain Garden, has been a bit relentless and the voles (or moles?) are mowing down sweet potatoes and beans and sucking entire plants down into their holes(!!!).  Oh yeah, and the Japanese beetles are devouring anything they can get their grubby little mandibles on and the spider mites are basking in the dryness and taking over the hops.

BUT, as you can see, there is a silver colorful lining.  The corn has been frozen, the tomatoes are being canned and the jalapeno peppers are pickled.  Stuffed sweet peppers will be for dinner tonight...and tomorrow...and the next day and the next day and... 

All is not lost and I am grateful. 

SpringThings

Spring is here!  Now that we're past the dreaded month of April (it's the 'Cruelest Month', you know), things are looking good.  Flowers are blooming, the gardens are mulched, the asparagus bugs are having their way with the new shoots, morels exploded in the yard, the veggies are ready to be planted.  OH MY.  Game On as they say.

Plan "C"

Whew.  It's been a bit of a grueling winter/spring.  Cold, snowy, dark and generally miserable for a 'gardener in waiting'.  I've gone back through my garden diary and notice that we're really behind schedule this year.  Usually I've got cold tolerant veggies in the ground, flower beds edged and perennials divided.  Not so in 2014.  We've had a few lovely days adequate for outside work, but mostly I've just been staring out the window from inside.  Pining. 

Things are starting to look up though, and my to-do list is long.  Thankfully, I can finally check-off one big task.  Plan "C" Chicken Coop.  We've had several chicken setbacks over the past two years.  A dog and a coyote have infiltrated my inadequately secured coops.  Lessons were learned and plans were made.  We decided to go big on this our last try for safely keeping chickens in our little Gap Mountain Garden.

After much reading and planning, we decided to go with the chain link kennel option.  I dismantled the old set-up and carefully salvaged any materials I could...why is hardware cloth so da#n expensive??  We found a good used kennel on Craigslist and some metal roofing 'seconds' from a local roofing company.  We reused our old coop and put it directly into the run/kennel to avoid the need to attach the two safely and securely.

We then wrapped the bottom half of the kennel in leftover hardware cloth and the top half in chicken wire.  We also screwed pressure treated lumber to the door to close up large openings accessible by hungry paws. 

 
We really really hope this will do the trick.  Today is our first day away from the house with the new henettes outside.  Hopefully I won't have any future sob stories for you.  The neighbor dog really likes to eat our chickens and he/she is very motivated and persistent.  Fingers crossed.

The Magical Fruit

As the sun shines, the snow melts and we approach the end of February, I'm in full-on reflection mode of the past growing season and in great anticipation for the one that is yet to come.  These cold days are comforted still by the rewards of the 2013 garden in the form of frozen and canned veggies, sweet potatoes resting in the basement, and dried beans in the pantry.

This was my first attempt with the whole dried bean thing.  I've always grown beans for fresh consumption and for some reason, never even considered these until last year.  Honestly, I've always over-planted green beans.   I could never keep up, we could never eat enough and the da#n foliage irritated my skin, so the fun of picking was lost on the rashes.  Growing beans for dry use ended up being right up my alley.  It allowed me to be lazy during the growing season which was a big plus.  Put the seeds in the ground, let em grow and then let em die.  Simple as that.  Remove the pods, grab your husband and shell away.

 

This is a slightly tedious step, but you get in a groove.  Turn on a movie, or in our case, watch your favorite college football team on a Saturday afternoon.  This year I will need to try some alternative shelling methods (search for the 'pillow case method') to expedite the process as I've gone a bit overboard with the seed ordering.  Black beans, kidney beans, great northern beans, brown beans, garbanzo beans.  Whoops.  Like any good gardener, I've lost my mind. 

New Team

We've got a new batch of chicks joining the Gap Mountain Garden Team.  They arrived on July 9th from mypetchicken.com and have been growing like weeds ever since!

We originally ordered 5 but sadly, a silver-laced wyandotte did not survive the trip.  We're left with 4 and actually, that is the perfect size for our small family and home.  The roster includes:  a golden-laced wyandotte, speckled sussex, silver marans and a dominique.  The dominique is a rising favorite for her super laid back attitude.  The sussex is a close second for her uncurable curiosity.  The other two act like you're trying to murder them when you walk into the room.  I guess no matter how much handling you do, some will just always be nervous.

These ladies are ready to head to their outside home.  We're just waiting for a dry day to finish our coop upgrades and repairs.   Relentless rains have slowed progress for most everything this summer.

June Blooms