Fruits of Your Labor

While at a family reunion this past weekend, I was filling my plate with various homemade goodies when a distant cousin of my husbands commented how she had bought live lettuce at the grocery store. My youngest daughter replied "Yeh, we have that in our garden." I know my small SE Ohio town is a little behind the times but our grocery store does carry organic veggies and gluten free foods but this was a first for me. My brother-in-law explained that Live Lettuce is sold with the roots still attached  in water) so the plant will last longer in your frdge. All I need to do is go to the garden, cut lettuce and wash it for a salad. It doesn't last long at all.

 With all this warm weather the berries are ripening. This is the first of the red raspberries, they will bear again in the fall. We are also getting bluebarries and will soon be harvesting black berries. I love raising small bush fruits, they need minimal care and produce lots of fruit for their size. I placed ramay over the tops of the berries and berry trellis to deter hungery birds.

Broccoli are heading out and I harvested over 18 heads to eat and put in the freezer There are still a few more to head but the bulk of the broccoli are now done and the ground will be prepared for a late summer or fall crop. I planted brussel sorout seeds and more lettuce for tender eating when the old lettuce gets bitter. I checked on them today and they are up. Not only am I growing veggies but I grow quite a lot of herbs for my Herbal Moth Repellant and for soap and salves. This is Lavender one of my favorites and the blossoms were thick and very fragrant. Harvesting this herb is like taking a little trip to France.

Garden Goodness

Despite all the rain lately, the garden is growing fast. We have been eating chinese cabbage, several varieties of lettuce, onions, beets(golden and red), sugar snap peas, and spinach. The picture above is broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower with snap peas in the back ground.

Here are the first tomatoes setting on. They are a little bigger than golf balls. This variety is an heirloom called Moskovich. I also have a variety called Indigo Rose with tomatoes setting on in my kitchen garden.

 

Here is the first Kohlrabi ready to eat. It has a mild broccoli flavor but a little sweeter. I peeled off the outer layer and sliced thin to munch on raw. For supper I steamed some slices with snap peas and red peppers and served with spagetti. Kohlrabi is earlier than broccoli and fills in for a fresh green veggie until the main crops arrive.

Pigs on Pasture

Yesterday spelled freedom for our two pigs, who finally were put out on pasture. With early grazing from the ram the clovers and grasses had recovered enough to turn the pigs out. As you can see they were delighted to root their noses into soft dirt and greens. The pen next to this one was rooted up by the pigs we butchered this winter and turned over by my husband and planted with open pollinated field corn. Pigs do a wonderful job at ploughing and fertilizing as well as provide delicious meat. We feed an organic non-GMO feed consisting of barley, field peas and corn. No soybean meal. The feed is ground by the mill and then we soak it with leftover milk or whey from the goats and our nieces cows who are all on organic pastures.