First Harvest

snommintj
snommintj Member Posts: 601
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I've always tried to grow one or two vegetable plants every year. But this year I've had more time on my hands than usual so I planted a big garden. We've been in drought conditions for 5 years and ground water levels were getting low. But thankfully we've had a huge surplus of rainfall this year. I think with this latest round of storms we will have emerged from our severe drought status in march to no drought status. All this water has blessed my garden with abundance and I have already harvested my first fruits and vegetables. My pond is full and the fish are loving the extra room to roam. They've had an excellent spawning year I see many thousand new juvenile fish schooling up when it's feeding time. The great blue herons are having a blast eating my fish. There were six in there yesterday morning. I have a very tiny pond, only about 3/4 of an acre but the native birds love it. The bunnies are out in force, my dog got out and killed three babies this morning, I felt sad but they were getting a little out of control. All in all it's been a terrific spring. It makes me happy to know things are looking up.

Comments

  • kimby
    kimby Member Posts: 797
    #2
    Joy
    Moments of pure joy bring hope and happiness. I wish you a continuation and abundance of them all!

    Kimby
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #3
    kimby said:

    Joy
    Moments of pure joy bring hope and happiness. I wish you a continuation and abundance of them all!

    Kimby

    I love gardens!
    My husband just planted our big garden, full of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, watermeleon, honeydew, cantalope, loads of stuff to make me eat more healthier, fresh veggies, and the rain has been great here too keep them watered as well!

    I can't wait till they can be picked!

    Huggsss!
    ~Donna
  • NWGirl
    NWGirl Member Posts: 122 Member
    #4
    Little rough this year in the northwest
    Last year I was on chemo pretty much the entire year, so I got minimal gardening done. This year I vowed to make up for it - I love to garden. The critters have other ideas. The crows have eaten every single spec of corn I planted and even stole a bunch of onion bulbs! The squirrels "moved" my peas (seriously). The crows are also eating all the "sluggo" (slug poison) I put out before the slugs even know it's there. Now I have a squirrel that is clearing out every slightly pink berry in the strawberry patch. I've never had so many garden problems in my life. It's kind of like computer hackers and terrorists - you're constantly trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead of them.

    Sooooo.....I have plans in various stages of implementation to battle all these problems - and hopefully my crops will survive.

    I did pick some great radishes and lettuce yesterday and I think I'll be canning beets this weekend. Aside from all the health benefits of fresh veggies and fruits - they just taste sooooo much better than store bought. So take advantage of the summer season and if you don't grow your own, seek out a local farmer to get your supply from and enjoy!
  • Paula G.
    Paula G. Member Posts: 596
    #5
    So Well Put
    Your place sounds beautiful.I was the garden planter and keeper before MS took its toll. We support our local farmers markets. John (JR) was just talking about fresh tomatoes. Glad things are looking up for you. Best to you. Paula G.
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #6
    NWGirl said:

    Little rough this year in the northwest
    Last year I was on chemo pretty much the entire year, so I got minimal gardening done. This year I vowed to make up for it - I love to garden. The critters have other ideas. The crows have eaten every single spec of corn I planted and even stole a bunch of onion bulbs! The squirrels "moved" my peas (seriously). The crows are also eating all the "sluggo" (slug poison) I put out before the slugs even know it's there. Now I have a squirrel that is clearing out every slightly pink berry in the strawberry patch. I've never had so many garden problems in my life. It's kind of like computer hackers and terrorists - you're constantly trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead of them.

    Sooooo.....I have plans in various stages of implementation to battle all these problems - and hopefully my crops will survive.

    I did pick some great radishes and lettuce yesterday and I think I'll be canning beets this weekend. Aside from all the health benefits of fresh veggies and fruits - they just taste sooooo much better than store bought. So take advantage of the summer season and if you don't grow your own, seek out a local farmer to get your supply from and enjoy!

    Gardening
    I love to garden and usually plant it by myself but this year my husband had to do it because of the surgery and still in pain if I overdo it. Thats ok though it shows him what I went through to give him his fresh veggies every year :) He made the area bigger and actually fenced it all in and it looks wonderful (he didn't better than me).

    I used hot pepper wax last year to keep the critters off and it worked great along with fox urine which most animals don't like. The only problem is that it can wash away in a heavy rain, but it keeps all kinds of animals away. The ground hog, rabbits and deer were my biggest culprits.

    John that is wonderful that you have enough rain for a great harvest. You must live in warmer climate than us Michiganders because we are just now planting our gardens and flowers. We don't even have any buds on anything yet.

    All enjoy those fresh veggies.

    Kim
  • dasspears
    dasspears Member Posts: 227
    #7
    Shayenne said:

    I love gardens!
    My husband just planted our big garden, full of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, watermeleon, honeydew, cantalope, loads of stuff to make me eat more healthier, fresh veggies, and the rain has been great here too keep them watered as well!

    I can't wait till they can be picked!

    Huggsss!
    ~Donna

    Where do you live...
    I'm on my way...

    I'm in Texas and the heat came early so some of my stuff is beginning to suffer.
  • elizabethgd
    elizabethgd Member Posts: 145
    #8
    Paula G. said:

    So Well Put
    Your place sounds beautiful.I was the garden planter and keeper before MS took its toll. We support our local farmers markets. John (JR) was just talking about fresh tomatoes. Glad things are looking up for you. Best to you. Paula G.

    Gardens
    Your gardens sound great!!! Fresh is always better....I can remember picking corn and beans from the garden, taking them inside and cooking them...That was GREAT!!! Enjoy enjoy!!

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