How does a grasshopper eat a watermelon?

Question...

So, how does a grasshopper eat a watermelon?

One bite at a time...

Luckily they ate the smallest one and I have 3 more!

I'm going to harvest the seeds from what's left!

Tomato Sauce... the canning has begun!

Just finished up my first batch of sauce for canning!

After processing... I had one jar break on me during processing... darn!

Just picked about 2 pounds of tomatoes.  These need to ripen up a bit more...

And sitting on my counter... 

Well 9/16, our average first frost day has come and gone.  Our night temperatures have been in the 40s.   But... that could change fast... so I'm beginning to pick my tomatoes as soon as they start to ripen.  Soon I may have to pick the green ones too!

I'm afraid that my gardening season here in northern Wyoming will be coming to a close for the season... within a few short weeks!

I am so upset!

I was just out to water our giant pumpkin when I noticed that my precious escarole... yes... the escarole that I've been drooling over... the escarole that I was going to make into our favorite Italian Wedding Soup.... 

HAS BEEN MUNCHED UPON BY....

YES...

GRASSHOPPERS!!!

I'm so upset....   : (

Royal Burgundy Beans and dried Cherry Tomatoes

The grasshoppers did a job on my Royal Burgundy Beans!  They totally defoliated them!

Didn't take a picture to share... just picture in your mind... your beautiful bean plants stripped of leaves... so that you're looking at stems and branches... kind of like a tree in the dead of winter.... sigh...

So, I picked what was left and pulled all the plants.

I really liked these mild tasting beans and  they have beautiful burgundy pods which turn green when you cook them.  No... it has nothing to do with the fact that burgundy is my favorite color... lol!

Some of these pods will be kept for the seeds.  WILL BE planting them again next year!


I dug out my food dehydrator and got it all cleaned up!  Man was it a mess after sitting around in storage for um... 7 years!

So far I've dried... cherry and grape tomatoes, viva italia slices, champagne grapes (from my Bountiful Basket co-op), black grapes (also from BB co-op), apple slices, mint, and oregano.

I decided that this year I wanted to add some dried fruit (and eventually veggies) to my food storage.  So now I have a small collection!  Man those grapes made the BEST raisins I have ever tasted!!!!  Going to be yummy in scones!

Plum Juice using my Steam Juicer...

Remember those Plums that my Mom gave me?  She has a Plum tree in her backyard!  Here they are!

Well today they are becoming Plum Juice!  And then Plum Jelly!

First I got them all washed up using my favorite non-toxic clean everything formula!  (Don't forget to request your FREE sample before they're all gone!!!  Yes, you can clean your veggies and your floor with the same stuff... and not worry about Fluffy getting into it... or Charlie in my case!)

I'm using my steam juicer to create wonderfully clear Plum Juice!  Here it is in action!

Next up... Make Plum Jelly!!!!  Hope I have enough sugar on hand!

ice ice baby...

So about 6am this morning as I let the dog out, I decided to meander around the garden... a favorite morning pastime!  And there... in the bird bath... a thin layer of ice!!!

But alas the garden looks fine!  Must be the ambient heat from my gravel paths...  the rest of this week is forecasted to be in the 40s at night. Whew...

I grabbed my little bucket and began the day's harvest of tomatoes, royal burgundy beans (mild tasting and delicious... a definite redo for next year!), lettuce, baby carrots, and some beet greens (to be added to my morning smoothie with some frozen fruit!)

My mom shared some of her red plums with me!  I got them all washed up and will be steam juicing them shortly for Plum Jelly!  Yum!

I happened to catch a youtube video about creating a high poly tunnel for the garden... so now I'm in dream mode...

The Great Pumpkin and washing up...

Good day my Gardening Friends!  And happy looooonnngg weekend!

I'm just back in from watering my garden.  As I meandered around my awesome gravel pathways... I found that my Early Girls are finally starting to turn red!  

I haven't really shared with you about the Giant Pumpkin that we're growing!!!  Here she is!  She gets bigger and bigger every day!!!  

Our local lumber yard is having a Great Pumpkin contest... my 12 year old son entered... so here's hoping!!!!  Isn't she beautiful???

As I picked some Swiss Chard this morning for my smoothie... I thought that I'd share a video with you of how I clean up my garden yummies... I have to warn you though... my kitten Charlie thinks that he's the star of this little clip!!!

I have some samples coming in and would love to share some Basic-H2 with you!  It's my gift to you!  See the instructions in the column to the right of this post!

I'm going to try some!

Garden Harvest 9/1/10

With cooler temperatures the garden is in full swing now.  Today I was able to harvest a bucket of garden yummies!

About half the bucket is tomatoes!  I've got a bunch of different varieties including Early Girl, Viva Italia, Lemon Boy, Celebrity, Cherry, Grape, Sweet Tangerine (not picture because it didn't make it into the bucket...) 

And... maybe you know what this green variety is???

Here's some pictures of my harvest today!

Here's a close up of my Swiss Chard... yum!  Some of this is going into my morning smoothie and the rest will be for dinner!

And this photo shows an ear of Mandan Corn.  This corn was grown by the Mandan Indians along the Missouri River.

Isn't it pretty?  The stalks are short between 3 & 4 feet and the ears are small about 5 or 6 inches in length.  Perfect for my square foot garden!