Tractor!

We went to Hays, KS to test drive this old beauty. A 1957 IH 330. They don't make tractors like this anymore - built to last a hundred years. I see this tractor tilling, blading, and mowing at the Haus of Brungardt for years to come.

Bushels of produce...

With the cool and rainy weather the produce is going crazy. We pick about a 5 gallon bucket 2-3 times a week. Not bad for the first year of gardening.

Corn, Corn, Corn...

We started picking corn on July 27. We picked, shucked, and ate the first of the harvest. I am still picking the Bodacous, and the Peaches and Cream will get picked last. Since I didn't spray it with pesticides about 90% of the corn had worms on the tips. I cut off about an inch or two off the top after shucking. So now Janet has started to blanch, cut, and bag some of it for freezer storage.

My 4 helpers...



Looking good...



Start your shucking...



Lets have a corn party....



Fire up the grill and boil the water...


And dig in. Tastes like candy!



Buckets and buckets more...

Another storm...

On July 20 we had another storm at night and I remember thinking the wind is going to blow down all the corn. I got lucky - it just bent them over. The stalks straightened up eventually though there was a big crook midway up.

Garden Update

The 2009 garden includes:

Corn:

Bodacious Corn, 16 foot rows x 15 rows = 240 feet of corn = 289 stalks
Peaches and Cream Corn, 14 foot rows x 5 rows = 70 feet of corn = 82 stalks
Total Corn = 310 feet and 371 stalks.

Each stalk is supposed to produce 1-2 ears of corn

Beans:

Blue Lake Bush Beans, 14 foot rows x 9 rows = 126 feet of beans

Tomatoes:

10 Roma, 5 Delicious, 5 Sweet Baby Girl.
Fungus got 7 of the Romas so I pulled them. We have been getting alot of the cherries and a few of the Delicous. I think the fungus stunted the remaining 3 Romas and they aren't producing like they should.

Peppers:

I planted 40 pepper plants consisting of Sweet Banana, Sweet Bell, Jalapeno, and Scotchbonnet Orange which are hotter than habeneros. I'll be eating all of them I am sure. The 40 plants are in 2 rows at 27 feet per row.

Cucumbers:

I had to expand the garden at the last minute to find a home for the cucumbers and pumpkins, since they were the last to get planted. I planted 4 hills of Burpless Bush and 4 hills of Straight Eight.

Pumpkins:

Like the cucumbers they are part of the new expanded garden. I planted 8 hills of Howden's Field pumkins. They have really taken off and we should have alot of pumkins at the end of September as they take 115 days to mature.

Squash/Zucchini:

I planted 3 hills of Black Zucchini and 3 hills of Early Prolific Straightneck Squash. They have been producing and are really starting to go crazy.

Onions:

Planted 4 rows of onions at 27 feet per row for a total of 108 feet of onions. Spacing them 2-4 inches apart thats a lot of onions! Varieties include: White Bunching Lisbon, Yellow Sweet Spanish, and Yellow Granex.

Carrots:

Tendersweet Carrot variety planted in 2 rows at 27 feet per row. They were a pain to thin out but they are looking good. No rabbits have eaten them yet!

Radishes:

Easter Egg variety, planted in 2 rows at 27 feet per row. Planted in April and they didn't do to good due to all the rain. The peppers plants took their place in the garden. I think I am going to grow a second crop in Mid-August and see what happens.

---------------------------

Here is a picture. If you look at the far end you can see where I just tilled up more ground for an expanded garden in 2010. That will nearly double its size. The neighbors probably think I am crazy.