Cucumbers and Zucchini Galore

The cucumbers and zucchini ramped up production big time this week. The hot humid weather and good rains have contributed to making a monster! In the last two days, my DH has picked 24 cucumbers. The zucchini, as usual this time of year, are turning from darling little green veggies to enormous baseball bat size in a matter of hours it seems...LOL.
I believe it is about time to celebrate the annual "Leave-Your-Zucchini-on-the-Neighbors'-Back-Porch Weekend."

Deer, Deer, Go Away

At this moment, deer are not beautiful or graceful anymore to me. They are destroying our garden. They are as pest-like as having a colony of rats in the neighborhood. We started the garden with a small fence to keep out the rabbits this year as they were a problem in previous years. The rabbits have not appeared, so we thought all was going great until this infestation of deer began feasting on the garden. As the weeks wore on the height of the fence grew. Nothing helped. I guess our veggies are delicious.

Last week, DH put up deer fence netting seven feet tall attached to steel posts. The next morning, the netting was in shreds. These hungry creatures just went right through it. Not only do they eat the lettuce, strip the leaves from the scarlet runner beans, chomp on pepper plants, etc, they leave their droppings in the garden. (I don't know if you can say poop on the web...)

The next day Ted put up a fence of three feet of welded wire with four feet of chicken wire on top. I dislike the look of the fence as seen below in the picture, but that seemed to stop them finally. However they are now munching on our flowers. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Fremont FFA Partners with Bonnie Plants Cabbage Contest

The Fremont FFA (Future Farmers of America) of Fremont High School, Fremont, MI is partnering with Bonnie Plants and their "Bonnies Crazy Cabbage" program to supply third grade students across the state with an O. S. Cross cabbage plant. Students will be responsible for growing the plant throughout the summer. In August students from West Michigan will send their applications to the Fremont FFA and then the FFA will select third grade class winners and send the apps onto Bonnie Plants. One student from Michigan will be chosen to receive a $1000 scholarship from Bonnie Plants.

Needless to say our  grandson, Corbin, is all gung-ho to grow the biggest cabbage and win this contest. Little did we know that this small cabbage plant in May would grow to be this monster in the garden. It makes the rest of the cabbages look like miniatures and it isn't done growing yet!

The literature that came with the contest states that the Giant Cabbage can grow to 40 pounds or larger. It is named O. S. Cross which stands for Oversized! Corbin is very proud of his cabbage, especially that it dwarfs the rest of the cabbages in the garden.

He will cut the cabbage in order to show it in the Newaygo County Fair Aug 7 and hopefully win a ribbon. Only size matters I guess since nothing is said about tasting the monster. I'll be anxious to test the flavor. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and no pests!

Tree Take Down

Ths morning my DH helped our neighbor take down a huge old tree that bordered our properties. The older neighbor gentleman was afraid a storm would take it down and cause damage. It needed to come down, but it is sad to see any tree chopped down. It did shade our garden on the east side and towered over a lovely lilac bush. Now with it gone, the garden is opened up to a lot more sunlight.

One of the major considerations when planting a garden is the availability of sunshine. Most garden vegetables like a lot of sun..at least eight hours a day. Always check the seed packages or information with your plants to find out the optimal placement in the garden to produce your finest veggies.

The garden is filling in with healthy plants. We are getting broccoli, cauliflower, cukes, zucchini now. Strawberries are done now.

As you can see, most of our garden is in a lot of sun. Next year even more sun on our strawberry beds after this tree take down. We will see the results next spring. It is exciting to get into this time of year when gardeners can reap the rewards of their labor.

Tomato Cages

Tomato cages are used to cage tomato plants...Getting the plant off the ground and supporting it is the purpose for these cages so that the tomato will ripen beautifully instead of rotting on the ground. Indeterminate plants grow all over the place, so this caging helps to keep them in one spot as well as produce beautiful fruit. These supportive structures sometimes need to be staked in case of high winds.

We take 4' x 6' sheets of concrete re-enforcement wire and bend it into a circle to make the cage. The cost for this cage is about $5.00 and can be used again every year.

It's Summertime

There's nothing better to cool you off in the summer time than a delicious, cold watermelon.

The first day of summer and I picked our first cucumber. It's a refreshing treat on a warm day.

For supper tonight we had cole slaw and chef salad and cauliflower with cheese sauce all compliments of our veggie garden. I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. My DH said he planted the seed for the cauliflower on March 4 never realizing he'd be enjoying it on his plate the first day of summer.

                                  

Cheese Sauce for Veggies

2 T. margarine melted in pan

Stir in 2 T. flour

Whisk in a cup of milk over medium heat and let it thicken for about a minute.

Add about 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese to your taste and let it melt. Sprinkle on salt and pepper if you wish.

OR

If you want to make a cheesy dish real fast, just throw on a slice of American cheese (I usually get the slices made with 2% milk.) Place the dish in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to melt over the veggie.  Sometimes the cheese melts as soon as it is placed on the hot vegetables.

Enjoy!

Update on Noah's Garden

Noah, in white shirt, cousin Corbin, and Grandpa had a weeding party the other day weeding Noah's Garden.

 

Noah is carefully clearing Every weed from his garden. See that concentration?

This has been quite a learning experience for our almost ten year old grandson. This year he is gardening in his own garden, not Grandpa's, and he lives about thirty minutes from us. Grandpa is not there all the time, so Noah is in charge. He learned a good lesson this summer. He watered the garden and shut off the nozzle, but forgot to turn the water off at the outdoor faucet. After the hose which was filled with water baked in the hot summer sun, it exploded. I am sure he will never forget to turn that faucet off again!!

Click here to see the spring planting photos of Noah's garden.

Alert: Entry Registrations for Your County Fair are Due Now

If you or your child plans to enter veggies,flowers, or projects in the county fair, you must sign up by July 1 in Michigan. Our county fair is Aug. 7, but registration is done at least a month ahead of the actual fair. Check with your fair to see when the deadline is...Our grandson Corbin's cabbage is "ginormous", heads above ours...okay, yes the pun is intended.

See ya at the Fair!