Scarecrow Sam

With Jen wanting a clothes line for the last few years and no real place to put a temporary one, I finally went to Home Depot for the 4x4's and pulleys for a permanent one. Charlotte and I spent about an hour getting different things and when we got home, Jack came running to the gate to tell me that I had to go pick something in the garden. To my surprise, Jack led me by the hand and introduced me to Sam the Firefighting Scarecrow. I think he will be a recurring permanent fixture in the garden. I particularly like the fire boots, fire hat, pearls and silver necklaces. He however did scare the bejesus out of me when later I was digging, bumped into him as I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye; I really though it was someone in the garden with me!!

Tomatoes are starting to come in. Got our first Marglobe which the kids promptly split for lunch and a Black Krim. The Cherry Tomatoes are starting to come in regularly and Jen decided to try her hand at photography.....Next Year I want to try some different staking methods without cages. The cages became too much and were way too small. Most of the plants especially the Black Cherry and Nick's Yellow Cherry are approaching 8 feet tall and the Mortgage Lifter and Italian Market Wonder need much more support as they are prolific producers so far.

Fall planting from my understanding should happen about 6 weeks prior to the first frost. Since that would be now, I returned that upper half of the garden, flattened out the rows, removed all weeds and planted more like a square foot gardening method. I replanted the rest of the Icicle Radishes, heirloom carrots, golden beets as well as picking up chioga beets and organic red globe radishes. This will be my first attempt at fall cropping and square foot gardening methods so we'll see.

Last weekend Jen was not feeling great again. She decided to man-up and we took the kids peach picking. It is the beginning of the season in NJ so the only peaches ready were donut peaches. These are small but packed with flavor. Jack and Charlotte managed to pick just over 10 lbs in less than 30 minutes. Since they were not 100% ripe, into a paper bag they went for 2 days. The end result, I am sick of peaches but I managed to cook a peach pie that Jen and the kids loved.

Peach Pie

• Pie Dough - enough for a top and bottom
• 5 cups skinned and sliced peaches
• 2 Tblsn Lemon Juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tblsn butter
  
  In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Toss the peaches with the lemon juice to coat then with the dry ingredients. Turn into a pie crust. Break butter into bits placing on top. Cover with second pie crust and place little slits to allow steam to escape. Place into a 450 deg. preheated oven for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until bubbling. Let cool completely before serving.

New format for me stealing some ideas from other blogs I follow. To help me when I go back to older posts and as a reminder:

Food Harvested:
Cherry Tomatoes, Sultan Beans, Last of the Squash

Things Planted:
Golden Beets, Chioga Beets, Icicle Radishes, Red Globe Radishes, St Viceroy Carrots

Things Preserved/Cooked:
Peach Pie

Seeds Saved:
Yellow Yarrow, Harbinger Peas

Things to Remember:
1. Thinning of all things is required. I did not believe in this in the spring and I got very few small carrots, radishes and beets.
2. Prepare for larger tomato plants than your 3 foot cages will support.
3. Weed, Weed, Weed. Letting it go will allow it to overtake your garden
4. Start seeds for Toms and Peppers earlier - like January indoors.