We were out in the garden yesterday, and as I went from row to row examining my plants, I came to my swing-set trellis and discovered that many of my sugar snap and purple podded peas were ready to harvest!

I picked off a pod and broke it open to reveal two nice rows of plump green peas. I had never in my life tasted a fresh pea before yesterday. I popped it in my mouth, and was shocked at how sweet and refreshing it was!

I called out in excitement to the kids, who were playing Robinhood in the woods, “Guys, come here! The peas are ready, you have to try them!

Jada and Ty ran to me equally as excited. Although, once I handed them the pea pods they both held them in hesitation for a moment, unsure of what they would taste like or how to even open them.

“Try them!” I encouraged. “They’re so good.” And I showed them how to split the pods apart.

Each took their turn slowly placing a round pea in their mouth. And I laughed as both faces lit up with delight!

And then it was all over for my peas, for the children devoured every plump pod they could find. But it was such a joy to me, I didn’t mind one bit. That is what the garden is for, after all!

First we tried the purple podded peas, breaking them open to enjoy. Then we moved to the other side of the trellis where the sugar snap peas are growing. These were so crisp and sweet, we happily crunched on the whole, unbroken pods!

The kids contented themselves with picking and munching until there were no more to eat, and their bellies were full.

So much for saving some for seed! Ha! This was our first year growing peas, so I didn’t plant a whole bunch. Now that I know how much we all love them, and how easy they are to grow, I’ll be sure to plant a lot more of both varieties next year.

I wonder, do you grow peas? What’s your favorite type of pea variety to grow?

If you remember, I planted this garlic from store-bought cloves.

Here is my bed ready to be harvested. The leaves have begun to yellow. You don’t want to wait until the leaves have all died back before you harvest, or your garlic cloves will begin to separate, and the head won’t be a nice, tight bulb.

You can brush the dirt aside to see how big the head is on your bulb before you pull it up.When you harvest, be sure to use a tool to help you pry up the head so that you don’t break the stem. You’ll need the stem intact so that you can string the garlic up to dry.

I was very pleased with the size of my finished garlic!! Most were the same size as the bulbs I purchased from the store for my seed.

I ended up harvesting 101 good sized heads, and a handful of smaller bulbs. Pretty darn good if you ask me, considering I started out with only nine heads for seed!

We’ve hung them to dry in our workshop for several weeks. To prepare them, all we did was gently brush the dirt from the bulbs and strung them up in bunches of five. DO NOT wash the bulbs before hanging, as this could encourage mold.

After they’ve dried well enough, I’ll braid them for storage. That’ll be another post

Are you a pro at harvesting garlic? Have any tips to share??

I think the last time I showed you guys my artichokes, they had been severely frost damaged. I’m happy to report they’ve bounced back just fine!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been watching with great excitement as my artichoke plants have begun setting their first fruits since I planted them last spring.

I check on their progress every day. EVERY DAY people.

Have I told you how much I love artichokes?

So, when I went outside to examine my little globes a couple of days ago and found this…

Noooooooo!

They were infested!!

Darned Earwigs.

I hopped online to look up a remedy. There were tales of people using a wet, rolled up newspaper laid out overnight to lure earwigs in. Or an empty tuna can full of oil or wine as a trap. But none of that was quick enough for me. The damage to my plants had to be stopped immediately!

This was war people.

I ran to the shed and grabbed the only thing I had, Garden Safe Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer. And I sprayed mercilessly.

No, it isn’t organic. But it’s made with “botanical insecticides”, and it was better than letting the bugs destroy my plants. So yeah, that was that.

And the problem was taken care of almost immediately. Ha! Take that mean ol’ bugs.

And then I cleaned out all the old mulch from underneath the plants, clipped off the dead branches, added some aged chicken manure and several inches of new compost, hoping to boost the plant’s health and ability to withstand new pests.

Here’s hoping for some fresh artichokes!

But what about on those days when it’s just too hot for the kids to be outside?? What about those days when so many other things preoccupy my time and I just can’t get out at all?

Well my friends, I’ll let you in on a little secret.

Sometimes, I garden at night.

When my husband is home from work, and is able to stay inside with the kids… there are times when I slip outside in the cool evening air with a headband light strapped to my forehead, or a floodlight hung high on a pole, and I dig and plant to my hearts content.

And it’s a perfect time to water the garden, when there’s no danger of the sun baking the wet plants.

Warm Spring and Summer nights are the best. The stars are bright overhead, the crisp air is refreshing to my soul, and the night noises keep me company while I become completely engrossed in tending to my beds.

I am especially prone to night gardening when I have plants that just have to get in the ground, and the smell of rain in the wind promises a nice greeting to my freshly planted sprouts.

To those of you who feel like it’s impossible to find the time or convenience to get outdoors and in the dirt… buy a good light… I suggest night gardening.

I’ve developed the habit of pruning the suckers off of my tomato plants as they grow, with the purpose of helping the main stem to grow stronger. Suckers develop in the crotch of the stem and a branch, as illustrated.

For a while I thought that these suckers would just become branches that didn’t even produce any fruit, just sucking energy from the plant, but that isn’t true- they do fruit. (Update: after doing more reading, it seems there are contradicting thoughts on whether suckers will produce or not. Some people say they do not blossom and fruit. Anybody know for sure??)

I also tend to snap off the bottom leaves when they start to yellow and look bad, and any additional little suckers growing on the stems below that first set of leaves.

Now I wonder if I’m pruning too much! I think I’ll stop pinching off the suckers, now that my plants are blossoming on top.

Here are my two greenhouse tomatoes about a week ago- Brandywines. I reckon I should stake them soon.

I’m curious if you guys prune your tomatoes, or if you just let them do whatever. Have you had more success one way or another?

It was so sad.

Even though I covered them, 32 of my 38 tomatoes were killed by the unexpected cold streak. I don’t know what temperature it got down to that night, but after weeks of being almost 80*, that morning when I went outside the frost was so thick on the ground it looked like it had snowed.

When I went to uncover all of my plants, this is what I found. They were shriveled, and limp. And by the next day, almost all had turned brown and dried completely up.

Bummer.

I was SO looking forward to having enough tomatoes to can up spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato juice, ketchup…

At least I left a couple of plants in the greenhouse. And I’m grateful that there are still a few remaining tomato plants alive in the garden. I’m not sure what happened, other than that maybe the containers I covered them with were touching the plants’ leaves. My mother-in-law always tells me that whatever you cover them with cannot touch them, or the plants will die.

*Sigh* Such is life. I had three tiny little Amish Paste tomato seeds left in my envelope, so I got them started in the greenhouse. I think I still have time to start a few plants over again.

I’m not going to pull the dead ones up yet. Yesterday, when I went out to mourn my tomatoes again, I was examining them up close and I noticed that a couple of the formerly largest of the plants had a tiny green sprig growing up from the stump that remained in the ground. Signs of life!! There may be hope yet for some of them! So, I’ll leave them where they are, and see what happens. Maybe I’ll get lucky after all.

Although a few other plants got some major frost damage to their leaves, I think they’ll be okay. My fig trees and grapevines look especially pitiful, but they’ll recover.

Man!! I’ll have to be more careful next year, and not fall for the rookie mistake of trusting unseasonably warm weather. Next year, I’ll keep my seedlings in the greenhouse longer.

I’m wondering, have you ever had frost damaged plants come back? Any advice for me for next time around?