Cleaning up the garden for fall crops

I took yesterday off of work to spend some time with the family.  Because I had a little time, I decided that it was time to wipe out the main corn patch.  It was drying out and wasn't producing anything anymore.  It's time to clear the space and start a fall crop.

First I pulled all of the stalks out.  Then I threw all the stalks into the woods to break down.

Once all that was finished, I rototilled where the corn had been as well as the down-slope area again.

Now that all that has been done, I just need to go through and reevaluate what fall-oriented seeds I have to plant.  Its raining now so the soil should be in good shape for planting tomorrow after work.

Garden Spider found in.......wait for it........the garden

The Boy got home from spending a few days with his grandparents and promptly checked out his garden.  While counting his watermelons he came across a creepy spider and came to get me.

I promptly recognized the Garden Spider from my encounters at the old garden plot.  I promptly told him it's not poisonous and to leave it alone.  I'll try to get a better picture of it where the camera focuses on it instead of the surrounding flora.

Harvest - Lot of tomatoes, a lot of beans

Another good sized harvest.  Bear in mind that the bucket on the right is a good sized one.  It's not labeled, but I think it's around 5 gallon.

Harvest

Another respectable tomato harvest from yesterday.

Huge harvest

Although Wifey had picked some stuff, it had been a few days since I'd done a harvest.

Boy, did we have a harvest or what?

As is standard, we trimmed, blanched, and froze the bulk of the green beans.  I cleaned and froze the cherry tomatoes for future use in batches of beefaroni, chili, or something else calling for tomato bits.  Wifey has prepped the San Marzano pasting tomatoes for canning.  Today, she'll taking the slicing tomatoes and make a batch or two of her tomato-basil soup.

Harvests

It's been a few weeks since I've posted.  We've been here and there, in and out, and otherwise busy with summer activities.

I haven't done much in the garden lately other than harvest stuff.  A few were obtained by Wifey prior to my getting home from work (thus: no picture), a few had been obtained by my aunt who came by to use the pool while Wifey & Kids were out of town (thus: no picture), and in some occasions we slacked off because of all the rain we've received this summer.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of harvests from the 9th, 12th, 16th, and last night (in descending order).

Holy cornucopia, Batman!

Wifey sent me a text message yesterday letting me know that she and the big kids dodged the raindrops and picked a harvest.  Boy oh boy did they ever!

This really makes me wish we were weighing our produce for a similar cost/expense exercise as I did a few years ago.

Big Harvest!

I held off for a few days on doing a harvest.  We'd hit a bit of a lull between tomatoes ripening with the beans slowly developing and the cucumbers slowly slacking off.

Boy oh boy did we have a big harvest yesterday evening!  Looks like the beans have finally arrived!  Unfortunately, I took a lousy picture.  I went to redo it this morning, but Wifey had already blanched and frozen the beans.  Oh well.

Also notable is that I've seen my first horsefly on our property.  It was one big bug stretching every bit of an inch and a quarter in length.  It had just gotten itself stuck in the deer netting around the garden.  I've willingly freed a number of dragonflies from the netting, but I have no intent to help out a horsefly.  Yes, it's one of God's critters, but I've gotten bitten before and don't wish that on many people. 

I took a picture, but my cell phone kept focusing on the area behind the fly.  It was even more blurry than the one of the beans.  Maybe I'll try to get it later today.

Harvest

Not much of a harvest today.  It's nice to see another cucumber from The Boy's part of the garden.  It's on the left.

Harvest

As before, nothing all that notable.  More tomatoes and cucumbers.

Harvest time

Nothing especially notable about yesterday's harvest.  It's nice to see a steady supply of tomatoes coming in as well as more beans.