Batting 1000 and Still Going Strong

I am late for Monday Harvest (It is Wednesday!) but since I had surgery on Friday, I hope I will be given some grace. BTW thanks for all the prayers for my surgery. Surgery was successful... now on the road to recovery!! YEAH!!

Many of you have followed my delight of the ENERGIZE BUNNY tomato cherry plant. (For more info look for posts that have the Energizer Bunny label in the right column of my blog.) The plant earned its name not only because it keeps going and going but because it was mislabeled when I bought it and I don't know what it is!! It was supposed to be a determinate patio variety reaching a height of 4 feet. However, this plant has grown out of control!!! If I could stretch it out, it would be at least 12 feet high. As of today, we have picked 1009 tomatoes from this one plant. And to think I was so excited when we reached 100. I am glad I decided to count the tomatoes this year.  I apologize for the picture but I just had my daughter grab a quick picture with my phone.

I believe my sweet husband has enjoyed bringing in the harvest for me. Of course, his delight may be in watching my joy at the harvest. I love this man!! And I am so blessed!!!

Blessings,

Debbie

MaMa's Cornbread

This isn't a garden post but I wanted to share something exciting. Well... exciting for me! My mother's cornbread recipe was featured on the Southern Bite blog. My mom loved to cook for others and there was always room for one more at her table. I miss her!!

Blessings,

Debbie

Harvest Monday 10/18/10 Not Much Happening

There is not much happening in my garden. I still have tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers growing. My youngest son did harvest another 49 cherry tomatoes and my sweet husband harvested a couple of peppers. He said that I have lots of tomatoes starting to turn colors so I am hoping to have more tomatoes this week. The weather has been so nice. Highs in the low to mid 80s and lows around 50. I wish that I could get out to enjoy it more but I did make it to the deck a couple of times to sit on the swing. I couldn't stay long but it was nice.

I will have my surgery this Friday. I am ready to get it done and start the road to recovery. My family has been wonderful. Tonight they cooked a new recipe that I found on a wonderful blog called Southern Plate. Check out this recipe:

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice – and YOUR Cheering Section!

My kids gave it the special label of KEEPER. They were excited about how great it tasted and how EASY it was to make.

My harvest totals this week:

Peppers 3.6 oz

Tomates 6.1 oz.

Sorry no pictures this week. 

Be sure to check out the other posts for HARVEST MONDAY!

Blessings,

Debbie

Harvest Monday 10/11/10 Stepping Up to the Plate

It's MONDAY and that means it is time to join Daphne and the other gardeners for Monday Harvest. Take some time to see what others are growing, planning, or creating in their gardens.

My guys are stepping up to the plate and taking care of things in my garden since I can't do it right now. Larry did a super job of harvesting the last of the okra. It was so tall that no one else could reach it!

Joshua tackled the job of clearing the okra plants (or should I say trees) from the garden. I think he enjoyed using the clippers...

and pulling the okra stalks.

He was amazed at the roots on this okra plant. I guess when it hit the harder ground at the bottom of the raised bed that it took a turn to easier territory. (Ummmm... He needs a haircut!)

Caleb continues to take care of the tomatoes. This day he picked 128 cherry tomatoes from the mystery Energizer Bunny Plant. He was eager for step 2 of harvest - EATING! (Side note: We have harvested 815 cherry tomatoes to date from this plant and it is still going strong! I think we may hit 1000!!!)

I so appreciate MY GUYS for stepping up to the plate!! They are awesome!!

We still have cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers growing in the garden. We had about a week where the thermometer did not creep into the 90s but the mercury pushed back to the 90s on Thursday and has remained there. My tomatoes and peppers bounced back with the cooler temps and are still going strong. Still no rain and no rain in the forecast. Everything is so dry and there is great concern for fires across the state.

Year to date Harvest
Okra               31.9 lbs
Bell Peppers     6.27 lbs
Garlic               2.14 lbs
Onions             0.25 lbs
Cantaloupe     12.5 lbs
Squash             0.19 lbs
Cucumbers       3.25 lbs
Green Beans     0.48 lbs
Tomatoes       18.69 lbs
TOTAL          75.67 lbs

Blessings,

Debbie

A Day Late and A Dollar Short

Well... that is an expression that I heard my grandfather say more than once. I am a day late for Harvest Monday but I didn't want to miss another week of sharing with my Garden Blog Friends. Also, it has been a while since I linked to Tuesday Garden Party.

I spent most of Monday at the doctor's office. I am now on limited activity until surgery sometime later this month. Surgery will keep me down for a few more weeks. This means NO gardening for me and I will need to depend on my family to keep an eye on things. I still have tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, green beans, and peppers growing in the garden. Eventually I will need to remove plants that are no longer producing and I MUST get my garlic and a few other things planted in the garden. I may have to pass on a few things that I had planned for my fall/winter garden this year.

This is my harvest from Wednesday. It seems like it took FOREVER for these peppers to turn a GOLDEN color.

We have had 109 days of 90+ degrees weather. Long HOT summer!! And we have had less than a half inch of rain for the last month! So HOT and DRY!! But finally that came to an end yesterday. The high was in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 50s. NICE! Still no rain and none in the near future. I think the Energizer Bunny tomato plant is enjoying the cooler weather. It has its second wind. My youngest son picked 66 cherry tomatoes yesterday. They were so pretty!! He told me there were a few that he couldn't reach. He was very proud of his harvest!! He even shared a few with me.

Harvest totals for the week:
Okra 101.85 oz
Cherry Tomatoes 12.2 oz
Bell Peppers 6.9 oz
Cucumbers 15.7 oz
Green Beans 4.1 oz
TOTAL 140.75 oz = 8.8 lbs

Blessings,

Debbie

Long Time No Post

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. I am still busy with my garden but with the start of school my days are full to overflowing.

I continue to harvest okra, bell peppers, and tomatoes from my garden. I have also harvested my first cucumbers since my last post. It is a race with the pickle worms to see who gets them first! The "Energizer Bunny" cherry tomato plant has given me 540 tomatoes to date. I have no idea if this is a normal but I am delighted with the crop from this plant. It is still loaded with green tomatoes and I expect to get many more before the weather gets too cool for tomatoes here in the South. I hope to harvest my first GOLDEN bell peppers this week. It seems like it has taken FOREVER for these plants to turn yellow. I am also getting a few green beans from my 3rd planting.

My harvest to date:
Okra         24.22 lb.
Tomatoes   16.07 lb
Bell Peppers 5.67 lb
Garlic           2.14 lb
Onion           0.25 lb
Cantaloupe  11.4  lb
Squash          0.19 lb
Cucumbers    1.64 lb
Green Beans  2.2  lb
YTD Totals   63.78 lb.

I have missed visiting everyone at Daphne's Monday Harvest. Hopefully, I will not have to miss another week with the friends I have met through a shared loved of gardening.

Blessings,

Debbie

Harvest Monday 08/16/10

With school starting for us next Monday, I realize that I still have many summer projects that need my attention. This week we painted our schoolroom. All the kids helped and we felt good about our job. Now we are busy organizing for the new year. As soon as we are done, I will post a picture but here are a few pictures of the work-in-progress.

Here are a few harvest pictures from the week.

My totals for the week: (in oz)
Okra            62 oz
Tomatoes    30.25 oz
Bell Peppers 1.75 oz
Cantaloupe   67.25 oz
Weekly Total 161.25 oz = 10.08 lbs

YTD Totals: (in lbs)
Okra 8.5 lbs
Tomatoes 8.7 lbs
Bell Peppers 2.8 lbs
Cantaloupes 8.2 lbs
Garlic 2.1 lbs
Onions 0.25 lbs
Squash 0.19 lbs
Total  30.74 lbs

As of today I have harvested 200 pods of okra this year and 328 cherry tomatoes. I am totally WOWed by this number. I am so glad I decided to keep an account of my harvest this year. It has been fun to watch the numbers grow.

Now if you want to see an amazing harvest of tomatoes. Check out Daphne's kitchen counter at her HARVEST MONDAY blog. While you're there, check out all the amazing harvests across the country.

Blessings,

Debbie