Is that Spring I See?

The cardinals are excitedly calling and I put the first load of laundry out on the line today, so spring must just be around the corner.  Time to start planning my garden for this year.

For the most part, last year was a huge success!  I had some things that didn’t grow very well, but a lot of things did.  This was the last harvest before the season ended:

With so much coming out of my garden, I made my first attempts at hot water bath canning.  By the end of the season I had 4 pints of salsa, 2 quarts + 8 pints of bread & butter pickles, 3 quarts of whole tomatoes, 4 pints of chopped tomatoes, and 19 half-pints of sweet pepper & onion relish (like the one from Harry & David’s!).

The tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini grew very well where they were, so they get to stay.  I’m going to move the peppers and eggplants to a more shady spot where they won’t get so burned up by the sun, and I’m going to put the leeks where the corn was.  I’ve tried to grow corn two years in a row, but my soil just isn’t right for it.  I put a rhubarb root down last year, and am now waiting to see if it comes up.  John loves rhubarb.  I’m thinking about growing some yellow squach in addition to the green squash since we enjoy both.

With spring almost here, hopefully the box elder bugs will go away.  We’ve never had them before, but with the warm-cold-warm-cold back and forth this year, they’ve come out in full force.  They’re everywhere, and I keep having to deal with them in the house…. and no one near us has box elders.  Go figure?

So.. that’s the latest from moooo country.  I guess I’d better get my pecan pies out of the oven before they burn!

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