Musings from the Junque Pile

it's been forever and a day since I've posted. I'm sorry. There hasn't been a lot of exciting things happening in the garden, even though it's technically harvest time.

daHubster pulled about 10 lbs of potatoes out of the garden about 2 weeks ago. They were wrapped in burlap and boxed, and are currently hardening their skins in a cool, dark place. They were all different sizes, from the size of a grape to the size of a lemon. Not bad for $1.50 bag of seed potatoes planted a month late!

The Loofa plant just flowered about a week ago. I think that there might be 2 loofas that set, but the weather turned cold quickly afterward the flowers started, and I don't think much will come. I was happy to see that it tried! Next year, I will plant them way earlier. I I think I need to put them in a sunnier spot. Definitely need to water them more.

My pumpkins are still growing. We have one good sized, one medium sized, and one dinky one. All are still green, though. I'm hoping all grow more before first frost.

We had quite a tomato haul this year. We picked them and froze them for processing this winter. I feel smuggly smart about this - instead of sweating over the stove in the summer putting tomatoes up, I can do it in the winter when I *want* the house heated up.


I was unhappy with the variety of cucumbers I planted this year. They were a bush variety, but they didn't get very bushy. There were still runners that leaked over the side of the raised bed, and most of the cukes were bitter. They also produced very round, bulbous cukes...that ripened uber fast, and weren't much good for anything other than grinding up into relish. Another "live and learn" lesson.


Unfortunately, care of the garden has taken a back seat lately, as I run from doctor's appt to doctor's appt. I finally have the answers for my hand problems, and will probably be having surgery soon. Add that to dislocating my knee a month ago, I haven't been able to give my plants the love they've needed during the end of summer and beginning of fall. I hope they can forgive me.

These last few weekends, thru the end of this month, I've been working with my mother to close up her apartment. She will be moving in with daHubster and I for awhile. As with everyone else, she's been hit with difficult times due to the economy tanking. I'm happy she is willing to come here and get back on her feet again.

But it re-enforces my hate of packing and moving. It's just not a fun job anyway you look at it.

So, if I'm scarce for awhile, it's because of all of this. It's my hope that as Autumn ramps up, with the expectation of Winter, I'll be able to experiment more with cooking, dehydrating, and canning, and be able to share it all with you.  :)