First Harvests

 Our summer garden has started producing (we did enjoy lettuces earlier -- but it's too hot for them now), and we are having so much fun.  We have attempted a garden for the past four or five years, with little to show for it.   I'm not sure what changed this year, except we did have a good moist spring, and maybe five years of improving the soil helped.  I also think that gardening (like sewing, cooking, etc.) is one of those things that can only be learned by doing.  You can amass a lot of helpful information, but in the end there is no substitute for getting in there and getting your hands dirty.  Sometimes there are failures and sometimes successes, but you learn from them all.

This is the very first year we have been successful at growing potatoes, and digging them was like being on a treasure hunt.  My husband would gently use the hoe to open up the mounds and we were almost giddy to see potatoes down there under the dirt.

Here is our little potato harvest.  There was really only enough to fill a box the size that copy machine paper comes in, so we need to plant quite a few more potatoes next time, but we are still so happy -- and I'm so proud of my husband:)

Our onions were also ready to be harvested.  They are now curing on my metal patio table.  In a few days I will braid them and hang them in the garage.  The onions did lots better than last year but there is still room for improvement.

The ears of corn are filling out.  I am really looking forward to eating corn on the cob out of our own garden.  This is the first corn we've ever grown.

The silks look almost like a firework

We also have cucumbers, lima beans and green beans coming in.  But the vegetables that are the most abundant right now are the summer squash and zucchinis.

This is a small portion

I have been using all the zucchini recipes I can find, plus I've shredded 18 cups and put them in the freezer, and I've given away quite a bit, too.

It is a little tricky to get the hang of gardening in North Texas.  We really have two short growing seasons -- spring and fall.  The summer is too hot and dry to grow much.  The good thing is we will have a second chance to grow onions, potatoes, and lettuces.  We'll keep trying -- I know because my husband just got a new baby:

He got this slightly used rototiller for half the cost of a new one.  My long-suffering neighbor is probably relieved that we finally will quit borrowing his.  My husband has already used this to till up the potato and onion beds.  We're hoping to put sweet potatoes (and maybe peanuts) in there next week.

I hope you are enjoying growing things in your corner of the world!