Here I go! (At least to the garden....)

Ahem.

Ta da! I am officially unemployed--or, rather, officially employed as master (oh, eek--mistress? Really?) of ye old homestead. Wow...my first day of freedom, and I largely spent it chained to my desk, writing away at my last assignment for this semester. *sigh* I knew that it wouldn't get done early, but a gal can dream--and if I would just finish and turn it in, then I'm done until October!
In any case, I managed to get to the farmer's market this morning and did some overdue harvesting in my own sadly neglected beds just a while ago. It is so nice to have a cool day, even if the mosquitoes are ridiculous and I now reek of questionably effective herbal bug repellent. Anyway, aside from grabbing bright red tomatoes when I see them, or the occasional head of broccoli just before it blooms, I haven't been able to get much time in my garden until today. I consider this a pretty voluptuous haul for one day--a big heavy bag of potatoes, scallions, onions, several types of tomatoes, green beans, and a huge bouquet of collard greens! I brought home local bacon, chorizo & jalepeno brats from the market this morning, as well as some peppers, squash, sweet corn, goat cheese, and super-nutty bread. This is, truly, the time of year to luxuriate in the delicious food that is everywhere. (And it is yet another reminder of why those "vine ripe" tomatoes in February are simply NOT worth buying. Sorry, pet peeve of mine, and one that I always break at some point and then regret when I'm trying to swallow flavorless, pale pink, mealy tomatoes.)

This was my first time harvesting potatoes, other than my earlier adventure this spring when I felt around and pulled out some new potatoes (that were absolutely fantastic steamed with fresh peas and a little butter, salt & pepper.) I have learned several key points for next year--mainly that I need to grow them either in significantly raised beds or garbage cans so that I can keep heaping up the dirt around the plants and get a larger harvest. As it is, I need to weigh what I got from the twelve plants that were ready to harvest today--I would guess that I averaged five good sized potatoes per plant, and next time I would give them more space because the ones in the middle didn't produce as heavily as the ones on the ends that had more room to sprawl.

A few nights ago I finally got around to deadheading my calendula and echinacea in the front herb garden, which was a chore that I knew would entail a huge collection of mosquito bites and most of my evening. I was right, but it wasn't too bad, and I have a bunch of dried calendula to make into potions for Jason's eczema. The little cheapo food dehydrator that I picked up for twenty bucks at Aldi did a great overnight job at drying out the sticky flowers--which makes me excited to dry other things like tomatoes and fruit puree for fruit leathers. My garden projects are starting to creep in along the edges of our home: a countertop covered with tomatoes in the kitchen, the patio table covered in collards rinsing off in the rain, the spare bedroom closet a jungle of drying echinacea, garlic, and onions, and the garage floor covered in cardboard and curing potatoes. Now, with time to work, I am so excited to see how much food I can get cheap and fresh--whether from markets or my own garden--to put by in one way or another. How stocked and cozy this little house will feel by the time cooler weather comes!