Eating locally

When I moved here in 2004 I did not think that our garden would be more successful than the one I tended in Oregon. There stuff GREW, but it was difficult to get some veggies, tomatoes and peppers in particular, ripe. Here all you do is keep the wildlife at bay (do not underestimate the tenacity of hungry birds, animals, insects), and add water. After 2 fencing schemes, I think I have found one that deters most critters, although in addition to the fencing I also use hardware cloth tents to protect seedlings.

Now is the time of harvest for those aforementioned tomatoes and peppers. Frankly, we are drowning in tomatoes, and so far I am loving it. Here is a picture of my friend Barbara with one of many such buckets full of tomatoes.

The peppers are doing great this year as well, bell as well as some hotter varieties. No surprise really because a lot of the nation's hot peppers are grown in the Sulphur Springs Valley, "down the road" from us.

Although we have been eating vegetables from our garden since March (love those asparagus), the season is winding down. Insects have sucked the life out of the zucchini, the green beans are tired, and the cucumbers have succumbed to mildew. There are several beds planted with winter greens however, and I look forward to seeing (and eating) them thrive as the weather cools off.