Our Veggie Garden

Back in the spring, while I was finishing up work at the beach, I was spending every other weekend here in the Heartland. In the past, Lynne had had some vegetables growing in some of her flower beds, but never had a 'vegetable garden plot' of it's own. Of course, having lived at the beach for 33 years, all my digging had been in sand. No rocks, no clay, no real soil. Well, here in the Heartland, you can't just grab a shovel and dig. The soil, if you want to call it that, is about 35% rock, and 65% clay. It sure was different, having to use a pick and a sifting box to get the rocks out. Then the soil (?) had to be ammended with compost and manure (a practice that's been often repeated since those early spring days ;) ). The various garden beds we work in, other than back in the woods, are also done in the 'raised bed' fashion, so the plants have better neutrients to feed on. Of course, you have to figure what to do with the rock once it's removed, so it becomes borders for the walkways down in the woodland gardens.

The following pictures show the progression of the garden from those first cool weekends in April, to the planting of seedlings and seeds in May, to a sampling of a typical early summer 'harvest'. Now in mid-September, the squash vines are gone, but the tomatos, cucumbers and peppers continue to produce. This was basically a 'trial' garden, and it seemed to work so well that we've set up 3 new raised beds for vegetables only, but that's another entry ;)

Also, as Lynne mentioned in her last entry, we did go and pick up Mom last weekend, and returned with more pictures from the wedding that family members and Mom up in PA had taken with film cameras. We'll get them scanned soon, and post some more, along with more random shots from the Heartland.

Take care, and peace, friends and family.