Seasons they are a changin'

Butternut squash, anyone? That would be our cash crop this year. We were pretty happy with our 8-ball zucchini squash too, but the butternut squash definitely broke records in production. I will be cooking, cubing, and freezing it for weeks to come. Our onions were plentiful as well as our green peppers, jalapenos, and banana peppers but we struggled to keep-up with consuming (or processing) them fast enough before spoiling. We only froze two large freezer bags of green beans and the rest were left to dry on the vine. From the picture, you may also be able to see a couple heads of cabbage and a spaghetti squash. (Both did reasonably well but it was difficult and time-consuming to pluck those stupid little green cabbage worms every day, so we were only able to salvage fist-sized heads of cabbage after removing several of the outer layers.) Overall, our garden was kind of a flop...fairly disappointing. Multiple floodings and prolonged saturated soil really took it's toll on our growing season. Plus, limited by my broken ankle, I could only offer minimal assistance during harvest times. Jason ended-up doing all of the picking, chopping, pureeing, and canning all alone. Next year, we've decided that we will only start tomatoes indoors - everything else can tough-it-out. So much for our four-tiered, labor-intensive, hand-made shelf and florescent grow light. Our 2011 garden will celebrate and support local seedlings and seeds that we've saved. Other randomness: We have also toyed with the idea of winter rye. I might like to explore amaranth possibilities. Mid-summer, I planted a couple of raspberry bushes that we're hoping take off. We still need an apple source and free-range egg supplier.