Sharing a little glimpse of my garden that makes me happy.
Wishing you a very peaceful day.
Once again this year, I’ll be sharing little glimpses of our gardens. Although so much is growing all the time, there is always a little moment every week that makes me smile extra wide and this is what I want to share with you.
If you would have asked me last June how I envisioned my summer gardens, how I was anticipating our food production, I would have had to stop and think. Forever the optimist, I probably would have told you that the cold weather will probably affect our heat loving crops, but that we would be okay. But honestly, the realist in me was worried. We were still getting nights below 10’C (in the 40s) and everything had stunted. My spring crops were thriving, but there was a part of me that was really worried about not having taken our CSA share for the summer and fall.
Oh how much can change in just a few months.
I haven’t had time to write, haven’t had time to take pictures, because we have been harvesting from morning ’til night. What you see above was only my harvest for our meals that day. What you don’t see is pounds of kale and Swiss chard, baskets full of cucumber. You don’t see the inside of my fridge, filled to the brim with summer squash, green beans, herbs and my counter, filled with tomatoes, all waiting to be preserved for future months.
Mother Nature, once again, has proven herself the perfect team-mate. Guiding us through uncertain times, making sure we are fed and healthy. Keeping us on our toes. What gifts she gives.
Over the next few weeks, we will be starting to see our fall crops pop up. We’ve planted more carrots, peas, beans, herbs, kale, spinach, radishes and arugula. I don’t know if you’ve noticed on the very bottom right of my picture, but our asparagus has started popping up for a second showing. We’ve been enjoying a few every day, making it easy to save our frozen spring crops for winter. Our trips to the stores are fewer and farther between and our now bi-monthly trip to the farmer’s market for a few veggies we do not grow at home and for fruit is a short but happy one.
Life is good. Busy, but SO good.
How is your garden growing?
Gosh, how exciting! I’m thrilled for you.
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Thank you Sophie… We have taken the habit of writing a little “HG” (homegrown) code on all our food preservation and so far, we are about 70% homegrown. I know that number will go down as we start purchasing fall vegetable (root crops, winter squash, etc.), but for now, it feels pretty amazing!
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Ah, same here – counters full of food and herbs, and freezer full of foods for winter. No time for pretty pictures. I’m glad mother nature is providing for you, despite the challenging weather!
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Haha! Anyway, it’s usually the time when the garden is a bit less pretty… plants dying off, leaves yellowing. Much more inspiring to look at the vegetables themselves. 🙂 Happy your harvest is going so well. xo
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Super! Comme ce doit être satisfaisant d’avoir une si belle récolte! Par curiosité, quelle est la surface de totale de ton potager?
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Merci Marie. Nous avons presque 1000 pieds carré répartis sur 8 jardins. Notre but ultime est 2000 pieds carré dans 3 ans.
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Si on inclus les espaces fleuris qui contiennent aussi quelques fines herbes, nous avons 14 jardins et presque 1200 pieds carrés.
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So wonderful! I hope your tomatoes are a bit tastier this time. 🙂
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Oh yes! The heat has been doing wonders. It’s a race against the clock though. They’ve gotten so big so fast, the plants are too weak to hold them up. We’ve been staking and tying up, trying to keep branches from bending and breaking. It’s a very happy conundrum! 🙂
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It’s a wonderful time of year. Enjoy every bite 🙂
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Oh Thank You! I hope you are stuffing your bellies and pantries as well. 🙂
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How exciting!
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It is, I feel very lucky this year. Our road towards self-sufficiency has definitely gotten brighter.
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Oh my, I’ve never thought of asparagus anything other than an early spring food. That’s amazing! You have been blessed this year.Hard work pays off. Be well.
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Thank you. I was surprised as well. I have to thank one of my readers for leaving that tip in a comment a while back.
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wonderful! i am so glad that mother nature surprised you in such a fantastic way! i look forward to when you have more time and can share more of how you preserved everything 🙂 i need some new ideas!
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Yes, Mother Nature has been a true giver of blessings this year for us for sure. I promise I will have a few “inventory’ posts come mid fall. I’ve promised a few readers pictures of my freezers and pantries. We are honestly only about half done with everything. Although a lot of our homegrown goods have been set aside, the market goodies and u-pick fall fruit (apples, pears, plums) are still to come.
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What a beautiful, bright and colourful diet your garden gives you. It sounds like it was everything you hoped for, and great to be able to eat so much of your produce throughout the Winter and constantly be reminded of all that goodness.
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Oh my yes. Our goal was to have 50% homegrown preserves this year and we will be well above that. And just knowing that all that goodness keeps my babies healthy and happy is all the motivation I need.
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