Even though it is still summer, its time to start thinking about the winter garden. Gardening in the winter is a little different from gardening in other seasons. The winter garden is more about harvesting then growing. For a winter garden you need to have all of your crops close to full size by the time the days start getting shorter and the weather starts getting colder.
With the extremely warm days behind us, we have had some really nice weather the last week or so. Unlike much of the country we have been receiving a good rain storm every few days, which is really helping the vegetables grows.
As you can see in the picture above, the green beans l planted a few weeks ago are really off to a good start. If things continue to go well we should have a really nice crop of green beans come fall.
If you’ve never enjoyed home-canned peaches in the middle of winter, I urge you to try them. Nothing brings back the warm days of summer like the taste of a home-canned peach. Sure you can buy canned peaches in the supermarket, but I have yet to find one that comes close to those canned at home at the peak of ripeness.
There are very few things as rewarding as growing vegetables from seeds you have saved. For the last four years I have been growing and saving sugar snap pea seeds. From my experience, saving sugar snap pea seeds can be a fairly simple process.
Depending on your location it may be time to start thinking about planting for a fall garden. I have been growing a fall garden for the last six years and I have really come to enjoy gardening in the fall rather than in the heat of summer.
Growing a fall garden is a great way to extend your harvesting season. It is also a great way to grow more vegetables in less space. With a little planning you can have a great fall harvest.
The rain has finally arrived, so now the weeds are really growing. Overall this summer is really producing some good crops, despite our higher than normal temperatures. All our plants seem to be staying healthy and the insect damage has been minimal.
In part III of this series we are going to focus on apple trees and planting. Once the trellis is completed it is time to start thinking about planting the trees. If you have not already selected your apple trees, here are a few things to consider when you are buying apple trees.
This is not your grandfather’s reel mower. This is the latest in green mowing technology, the Fiskars Momentum™ Mower (now the StaySharp™ Max Reel Mower). I have been using this mower to mow my small town lot for over a year now and I have been very pleased with this mower.
The one thing always growing in our garden during the summer is basil. We grow several different varieties of basil; sweet, large leaf Italian, and genovese. One thing we like to do with all our basil is make pesto. Pesto can be used on a variety of things: pasta, burgers, tuna, sandwiches, etc. We make enough throughout the summer to keep us supplied until next summer.
With the arrival of Summer this week the garden is really going strong. We had some great spring weather this year, the perfect combination of sun and rain. Hopefully our summer weather will be as perfect.
The Year Round Harvest 
