Category: Garden Talk

love your garden
Farmhouse Living, Garden Talk

How to Love Your Garden

Frost alerts, bug infestations, pest invasions, blight devastation, black rot destruction – with all this drama, can you ever learn how to love your garden? Here’s what we do at Serendipity Farmhouse to avoid the recurring yearly dread of impending doom.

Love your garden

Several days ago, I came in from working in the vegetable gardens. It was a cold day, and I had hesitated to go out. But the tomatoes and peppers were begging to be planted.

I wish I could hear everything my plants have to say to me. It seemed that my dad could hear them, and he gave them anything they wanted. – He was a garden whisperer.

Reasons to Love Your Garden

There can be little doubt that we here at Serendipity Farmhouse love our vegetable and herb gardens. We write about them often.

The Joy of Faithful Stewardship

As the SFH Chief Gardener, I am obligated to make an accounting of our successes and failures, our improvements and our setbacks in the garden. It is my job to make a twice-yearly report to our patron, St. Isidore. We know that all that we have and every breath we breathe is a gift. That means that our humble gardens are treasures entrusted to our care. That is why I said in my post Feast Day Garden Talk this time last year:

We’ve tried to be good stewards of what God has bestowed on Serendipity. The fruits of these labors constantly bring us joy.

The Fruits of Our Labor

And that brings us to the question of what to expect from the time and labor invested in vegetable gardening. I think expectations should be based on purpose and scale. For example, if you are a commercial farmer, you need to grow enough to make a profit in the marketplace. But, if you are a homesteader, you seek to produce enough to meet your personal needs.

Hubby and I are neither farmers nor homesteaders. We merely want to supplement our other food sources with vegetables we like that are either hard to find or otherwise too expensive. The feature picture of me reaching for okra pods from a 10.5-foot okra plant is the perfect example. We are still eating frozen and pickled okra from last year’s harvest, even though it is virtually impossible to find okra in the grocery store now. – Certainly, that is a reason to love my garden.

Personal Accomplishment

I started out by listing several of the many disasters that strike fear and dread in the hearts of gardeners. Hubby and I have experienced them all. And that is where perseverance comes into play. Just as we have overcome adversity in our years of marriage, so too have we worked to overcome adversity in our gardens. There is a great deal of satisfaction to be found when you work through your problems. Eventually, you can say as I did in my post Report to St. Isidore – 2022:

The harvest for 2022 will go down in history as the best year yet for the vegetable and herb gardens proudly cultivated here on the vast 1.203 acres of the Serendipity Farmhouse estate.

One More Reason to Love Your Garden

I’m sure, if you think about what really makes you happy in your life, you will be able to find any number of reasons to love your garden. When there’s a frost warning, or the bugs invade, keep those reasons in mind.

Perhaps you will even find a reason that overcomes every fear of failure. I know I have.

When I write about my gardens, I can’t help but thinking about Dad. This is especially true in May, because that is planting season. That’s when Dad’s expectations were high, and when he worked so hard to make everything just right. – Dad passed away some years ago on May 24th. I like to think that, on that day, his thoughts were about going home to a Garden made just for him.

Dad, I know how much you loved working with your tomatoes and other plants. You were the one who taught me how to love my garden. Thank you for that wonderful gift!

2023 Plantings (So far)

Garden Talk, Pray, Prepare, Preserve, Preserving

Report to St. Isidore – 2022

Dear St. Isidore,

Most of our readers know that May 15th is your feast day. With that in mind, I submitted my Spring planting report to you in our post Feast Day Garden Talk. I suspect, however, that few of our readers know that, at one time, your feast was also celebrated on October 25th. The two dates are both appropriate, each in its own way, as being representative of the gentle cycle of life we live here at Serendipity Farmhouse. May 15th can readily be seen as the beginning of our farming year, and October 25th coincides so well with the end of the harvest.

So, Hubby and I have decided that it is quite fitting to submit our harvest and food preserving report to you as soon as possible after the 25th. We ask that you please accept this report, which highlights the successes of our stewardship and humbly records some of our dismal failures.

Bottom Line Up Front:

The harvest for 2022 will go down in history as the best year yet for the vegetable and herb gardens proudly cultivated here on the vast 1.203 acres of the Serendipity Farmhouse estate. As you will see in the tables at the end of this post, the totals for our two specialty crops, okra and tomatoes, far exceeded all expectations. This is the first time that we have ever been able to have extra produce to use in experiments testing out different methods of preserving.

Highlights

Big Okra Plants & Big Okra Totals: As you know Hubby added two new boxes to Vegetable Garden #2. He filled each with new garden soil and prepared half of one box specifically for okra. Over the years, we’ve come to agree with this statement made on the Southern States website: “Okra can grow from three to six feet tall.” One of the plants we bought from our local CSA, Waterpenny Farm, however, decided to reach a little higher than the average plant. That magnificent plant measured in at a fantastic 10 feet 3 inches from its base. It’s easy to see why our final okra totals were so high.

Varieties are the Spice of Life: The two new boxes finally gave us the room to compete twelve different varieties of tomatoes in a single season. For the first time, we were able compare quality and quantity to assist us in deciding the best varieties for cooking, salad making, canning, and freezing. In our table of harvest totals you will see which varieties we’ve decided will make a return appearance in the SFH gardens next year.

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Experiments in Food Preserving: With extra produce and array of new fresh herbs on hand, we were free to try a number experiments. All but one went quite well. Three of the more interesting experiments gave us: Dehydrated Okra, a most tasty snack; Pickled Dilly Beans, a great side for a light meal; and Tomato Jam, excellent on top of a toasted bagel with cream cheese.

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Lowlights

Not all that is planned well works out well: We planted quite a few beet seeds. But whatever we did in the planting and soil preparation obviously was not the right thing. For all of our effort all we received in turn was a single scrawny beet.

Likewise, we were really hot on the idea of fermenting. Our big mistake, however, was thinking that we should start with okra. After buying special equipment for fermenting and reading tens of articles, we decided to go ahead with a full quart jar of some of our finest okra. Now the world knows that if okra is not prepared properly, it can be quite slimy. Take it from us, fermenting okra increases the slime factor by several orders of magnitude. The best way to describe the results of this experiment gone wrong is to watch the 1958 American science fiction horror film “The Blob”.

Summary

That concludes the narrative part of our our report, St. Isidore. It was the best year ever. We’ve learned from our successes. We’ve learned from our failures. We’ve tried to be good stewards of what God has bestowed on Serendipity. The fruits of these labors constantly bring us joy.

The following two sections summarize the SFH 2022 Planting and Preserving season. You will find the full reports here and here.

2022 SFH Harvest Totals

ItemQTYMeasureFirstLastComments
Asparagus22Spears17-Apr05-MayPerennial
Basil11Bunches12-May13-SepNext year
Beets1Beet15-Jul15-Jul
Dill5Bunches03-Jun11-SepNext year
Garlic Heads32Heads29-Jun29-JunNext year
Garlic Scapes32Scapes31-May31-MayNext year
Green Beans438Pods20-Jun24-SepNext year
Kale2Bunches12-May23-MayNext year
Lettuce1Bunch27-Oct27-Oct
Okra, Green578Pods28-Jun19-OctNext year
Okra, Purple23Pods07-Jul07-JulRCHS
Oregano1Bunch27-Oct27-OctNext year
Parsley8Bunches12-May08-AugNext year
Peppers, Habanero59Peppers25-Jul24-Sep
Peppers, Jalapeno217Peppers20-Jun25-OctNext year
Romaine2Bunches12-May23-MayNext year
Rosemary1Bunch27-Oct27-OctPerennial
Sage2Bunches30-Aug11-Sep
Tarragon1Bunch27-Oct27-Oct
Thyme1Bunch16-Aug16-Aug
Tomato, Better Boy47Tomatoes15-Jul18-SepNext year
Tomato, Better Bush24Tomatoes13-Jul25-Sep
Tomato, Big Beef32Tomatoes20-Jul25-SepNext year
Tomato, Celebrity25Tomatoes12-Jul23-AugNext year
Tomato, Early Girl28Tomatoes06-Jul25-SepNext year
Tomato, German Queen9Tomatoes18-Aug03-Sep
Tomato, Husky Cherry381Tomatoes08-Jul25-SepNext year
Tomato, Mr. Stripey14Tomatoes28-Jul25-Sep
Tomato, Pink Brandywine8Tomatoes13-Aug29-Aug
Tomato, Roma61Tomatoes17-Jul25-SepNext year
Tomato, Super Sweet Cherry1106Tomatoes24-Jun05-OctNext year
Tomato, Zebra17Tomatoes28-Jul17-Sep

2022 SFH Preserving Totals

ItemQuantityType of Preservation
Dill Seeds1 packetStoring
Green Beans3 8-ounce bagsFreezing
Green Beans4 pint jarsPickling
Habanero Peppers2 pint & 1 1/4 jarsDehydrating
Jalapeno Peppers, Pickled9 half pint jarsCanning
Okra2 pint jarsDehydrating
Okra1 quart jarFermenting
Okra10 bagsFreezing
Okra, Pickled8 pint jarsCanning
Okra, Pickled1 quart jarRefrigerated
Oregano1/2 pint jarsDehydrating
Pasta Sauce6 pint jarsCanning
Sage1 pint jarDehydrating
Salsa24 pint jarsCanning
Tomato Jam5 1/2-pint jarsCanning
Tomatoes16+ lbs.Freezing

Faith, Family, & Country, Garden Talk, Preserving, SFH Food Talk & Recipes

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit

The sun rose a little over an hour ago. Here at Serendipity Farmhouse this is our time for prayer and reflection. On this great national holiday, my mind comes naturally to these words.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This year, the meaning of these words has been restored and renewed – at least in part. Here are two shining examples:

Life Prevails

Liberty Triumphs

As the sun continues to rise, there remains a quiet and peaceful calm. My beautiful Spouse has declared “holiday routine” for the entire SFH staff. For all of us, today will provide a special opportunity to enjoy that third enumerated right which the Declaration states was endowed by our Creator –

“the pursuit of Happiness”

Pierre LeChat has buried himself in a pile of cookbooks looking for new recipes for the soon-to-be-world-famous, recently renovated SFH Test Kitchen. The ever-vigilant Mr. Monte has made his morning security rounds and is taking a well-deserved nap. In a short while, Blondie and I will start preparations for today’s holiday Feast. And that feast, as it is every year on this day, will be festive, filling, and flavorful. Behold! Here is the traditional SFH 4th of July menu.

Although today will be relaxed and restful, the latter part of June and the first few days of July were filled with a multitude of chores related to completion of the SFH TK renovation. There has been organizing, cleaning, ordering a new stove, and preparing for the 2022 preserving and canning season. In fact, the harvest has already begun. So far, we have picked over two pounds of green beans, several jalapeno peppers and tomatoes, and the first pods of okra.

Because our green bean harvest is the largest ever, we have had a chance to freeze the surplus beans (three bags so far). We’ve never done that before, but it turned out to be quite simple. We used freezing advice provided at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website. For green beans, we used the instructions listed here.

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The SFH TK renovation, although not complete, is already making life better here. Several years ago, we had to store away our Breville juicer and have not had the opportunity to partake of the wonderful “green juice” we used to make. The art of juicing was introduced to our daily routine by our friends Rob and Carol Hoffman. Now that we have easy access to the juicer, and because many vegetables are available to us from our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, we have once again been able to make “green juice” a morning standard.

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Neither the Declaration of Independence nor our Creator gives us a right to “Happiness”. Rather we are endowed with the right of “pursuit of Happiness”. Here at SFH, we always try to remember that distinction. Sometimes, things other than “Happiness” come our way. For example, when we came home one day last week, we found that a storm had caused some destruction to our vast SFH gardens and arboreal treasures. Compared to what happened to our neighbors’ house two weeks ago, when a large Maple tree crushed a portion of their roof, the damage we had was entirely insignificant. – –

It’s at times like this, that our “Liberty” and the right to pray when and where we want becomes so important. In other countries, that is not the case. We must remember that the rights we celebrate today were won for us by brave men who were inspired by “divine Providence” to say:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Happy 4th of July!!!

 

Garden Talk, Pray, Prepare, Preserve, SFH Plantings, SFH- Upkeep & Improvements

Feast Day Garden Talk

May 15th, the Feast of St. Isidore – A report and accounting of our labors at Serendipity Farmhouse.

This is May 15th, the feast of St. Isidore. It is fitting and proper that on this day we make this report. That’s because we’ve asked St. Isidore to be our patron for all things agricultural, horticultural, and in all efforts involving physical labor. Our last full public report was made in 2018 (Report to St. Isidore). Much has happened in our gardens since that report and, despite a few setbacks, we’ve had many blessings. It now falls on me, Blondie, the Chief Gardener, to carry on the SFH tradition of rendering an accounting to St. Isidore concerning what we’ve done with the God’s gifts.

Part I – The Herb Garden Gardens

The first herb garden my Hubby constructed several years ago was initially a great success. However, each succeeding year the garden became less productive. We had heard that Black Walnut trees could be harmful to nearby plants, so we did some research. Sure enough, articles like Black Walnut: The Killer Tree confirmed our suspicions. Those ‘killer trees’ produce a chemical (juglone) that is toxic to most plants we had in the herb garden. Consequently, we’ve heeded the article’s advice: “Gardeners who have large walnut trees near their vegetable gardens should consider an alternate site.” This year, Hubby has set up a second herb garden located far from the offending Black Walnuts.

In the process, we’ve noted that some of our older raised beds are getting “long in the tooth.” They are warping and no longer hold together on their own. Hubby has temporarily reinforced the boxes with short fence posts.

Thanks to my dearest friend Nancy, I have a new, high-quality pot for a new mint plant.

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St. Isidore, of course you know Mr. Monte holds you in high regard due to your kindness to animals. This year, he made his first venture into farming. Rather unsurprisingly, he chose to start his agricultural career with Nepeta Cataria (commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, or catmint).

Feline Farmer
A pot of great expectations

Part II – The Vegetable Garden Gardens

When we last reported to you, St. Isidore, we only had one vegetable garden containing four raised beds, each with two sections. Later, we fenced in a new vegetable garden containing two raised beds. Hubby was never happy with his fencing job on Vegetable Garden #2. All he had to drive in the posts was a 3-pound sledge. That just wasn’t good enough when going up against some of the clever and defiant rocks that abide here on the vast Serendipity Farmhouse estate. Rather than holding up the fence, the fence posts were held up by the fence and most were crooked.

Because we needed to move most of our herbs to a new location and because we wanted to increase the number and varieties of vegetable crops, we decided to add two more raised beds to Vegetable Garden #2. Under my expert supervision, Hubby engineered the garden expansion. He even went so far as to obtain a 12-pound heavy-duty hand post pounder with handle.

When we attempted to order raised bed kits similar to the ones we already had, they either couldn’t be found or were unreasonably expensive. We opted instead for two galvanized steel raised beds, which were slightly larger than the old ones. – – Two identical boxes arrived on the same day. Both boxes had identical instructions – Hubby got to work. The first box was completed in fairly good time – about 45 minutes. Hubby exclaimed he could assemble the second box in half the time! Two hours later ……… – – What caused the problem?? The contents of the two boxes were different. By the time Hubby assembled half of the box, he realized that he would have to disassemble everything and start from scratch. He also found that one key piece was broken. Dang!!

St. Isidore, although Hubby got visibly angry, to his credit, he said no bad words. – – Eventually, he developed a workaround solution and completed assembling the second box. – – Here are some pictures of the garden expansion and assembly.

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Part III – Plantings

There’s not enough time to go into detail on all the different plantings this year. Here’s a condensed recap: the garlic we planted last Autumn is thriving; we expect scapes to appear soon; and our vast SFH vineyard has had an exceptional start. We avoided the ravages of frost and wind, and all of our other plantings are doing well. A more detailed report can be seen here.

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Part IV – Flowers and Plants

Finally, with the exception of our rhododendron, all of our plants and flowers are doing well. In fact, the Irises in Mary’s Garden have been doing too well and we have to keep thinning them out. Hubby mowed over the remains of the discarded plants last year, and we thought that was that. Nope, they decided to invade the lawn and are growing in multiple patches. I guess they like it here.

That concludes our report, St. Isidore. We’ve tried to be good stewards of what God has bestowed on Serendipity. The fruits of these labors constantly bring us joy.

The Annual May Crowning – May 13th