This Year's Harvests

Well, today I finally took all my potatoes out of the ground.

So I thought I would post some pictures of various

harvests I had throughout the growing season.

It was a very hot and dry summer this year,

and some things like my pole beans, just burnt up

in the heat. I planted carrots, but don't know what

happened there- not even one came up!

Here are some pictures of some of the things

that actually grew:

Strawberries do great here and many of the farmers

plant and sell them. They are usually ready the first

part of June, but this year with the heat they were

a month early. This picture was taken in mid May.

I got lots of yellow squash and zucchini this year.

Usually I get much more zucchini, but this year

I got a lot more yellow squash. This picture was taken

in mid June. I usually do a second crop of

yellow squash and zucchini, but this year I didn't.

The plants produced clear into September.

I got a great crop of green apples from my dwarf

apple tree. In the past, I would get about three

or four apples. I picked them a little earlier than

I wanted to, because the bees were trying to

eat them all up. This picture was

taken on September 12.

A bird nest in my apple tree.

There were three baby birds in the nest,

but you can't see them here because they are sleeping.

A close-up of some of the apples on the tree.

Here are all the apples washed and ready for the

refrigerator. I had a few for lunch a couple of times,

and Shelly and the girls ate some too while

they were here for a visit.

With all the rest of them, Heidi and a friend made

applesauce with them. So now we have tons of applesauce

in the freezer. And, wouldn't you know it,

it really tastes like applesauce.

Today, I finally dug out all my potatoes.

The crate on the left are red potatoes,

and the crate on the right are Yukon Gold potatoes.

This year I planted sweet potatoes as an

afterthought, so they got stuck where I had room.

Most of the sweet potato plants didn't do much,

but a couple grew long vines and these flowers.

So here are all the sweet potatoes that grew.

My foot is there for comparison- size 10.

They haven't been washed off yet,

and either has my foot.

Here are the sweet potatoes in the sink

after they are all scrubbed clean.

The pencil is there for comparison.

And here are all the potatoes after cleaning.

After they dry, they go in milk crates to get good

air circulation, and then stored in the dark for

awhile to harden. Then we will use the bigger ones

and cube the smaller ones for soups

and stews all winter long.

Now I am hungry.