Putting Up Strawberries

Right now strawberries are in full swing in my neck of the woods.

This past week, my mother-in-law and I took my girl strawberry picking! We picked 10 quarts of berries which ended up being $2 per quart. It was a beautiful day and the plants were full of berries which made picking not such a chore.

I ended up cleaning and freezing a lot of berries for the depths of winter. Along with that I made 2 batches of strawberry jam which came out to be 16 1/2 jars of jam. It's so very good! I used the low sugar recipe but it's still sweet!

This year I planted Rhubarb. It's nowhere near ready to be picked, perhaps next year I can make a strawberry/rhubarb jam.

I have about 1 1/2 quarts left and we've been eating those. I wanted to try drying some for oatmeal or granola but the ones I have are past their prime. If I feel ambitious next week I may go and pick 5 more quarts.

Growing Malaria Right In My Own Backyard

This past spring I planted some lettuce in a large container. It never did well. It didn't drain well, I seemed to have a problem with squirrels in it and the lettuce didn't do squat really. The lettuce I direct sowed into the garden did much better.

I've been meaning to dump the whole thing in the compost pile but last week and this weekend were so rainy and it filled up with water and I didn't want to be bothered until things were drier. I've also just been peering out the window at my garden over the last few days rather than walk out to it in the rain.

This morning dawned and it was finally nice and sunny. Upon peering into my lettuce planter I noticed it was just teeming with new life-LOTS OF NEW LIFE. In the form of about 10,000 mosquito larvae swimming around in it. They were small but large enough for me to see they were nibbling around the lettuce.

EEEWWWWWW......................

I dispensed my husband to take care of it as it was completely grossing me out! (Yes, I realize I made him do this on Father's Day!)

Anyway, this is a pretty gross story but it's really a cautionary tale. Anything can be a breeding ground for these things as long as there is some standing water. This planter has only a few inches of water above the soil. (upon emptying the container I noticed I never took the stoppers out of the bottom so of course there was no drainage.) I was always good with the birdbath last year because it was a really obvious place for "standing water" This planter, no so much.

In our old house I had a small garden fountain. It was mostly on, but sometimes off. Our dog would drink out of it when we were not looking. She swallowed water infested with larvae and was sick the likes of which you NEVER want to see or have your pet experience. I thought she was going to die and I imagine she thought so as well. Please don't yell at me over this, I felt bad enough. I'm just sharing to scare you enough that this never happens to you.

I also cannot imagine my yard with 10,000 mosquitoes flying around and what this would mean for my daughter playing outside!

Lesson Learned! (For some reason as I write this I feel so darn itchy all over, I'm probably going to have bug nightmares)

My Brother's Radishes!!!

This past winter I convinced my brother he should grow a garden. He's a landscaper and great with plants and last year grew two enormous tomato plants. Why not, I urged, try and grow more of your own food.

We've chatted on and on about what he should grown, when he should sow seeds, etc.... A lot of this he was unfamiliar with. I planted my own radishes & spinach and then gave him some seeds for himself and told him what to do.

I've been looking at my garden lately, for some reason the spinach just didn't want to grow. They got to about 3 inches tall and literally stopped growing. Tomorrow I'm harvesting them all into one little green smoothie. The radishes are growing and the other day I picked a little one. Alas, it had already been chewed on by some critter or another. The other ones are slowly developing.

I got a call the other day from my brother wondering when he can pick his spinach. Because his, he says ARE 12 INCHES TALL......A FREAKING FOOT TALL!!!....... Oh and do I want some radishes because he has a bunch. Today when my husband was over there he sent me 3 beautiful LARGE radishes for my salad. I think he was showing off.

I guess you can teach a man to fish!