Yes we CAN

(Okay, I stole that from Bob the Builder)

This has been a bumper crop, a banner year, a true bin-buster. Due to timely rains (virtually weekly until late July) and mild weather, perhaps some due to the tons of manure I imported, too...we had a great garden.

I measure greatness by how much I learned, more than how much we raised or saved.

1. I learned I must do something radical to get rid of squash bugs. They decimated our potatoes and squash, put a dent in our pumpkins, and generally annoyed us.
2. I learned we just have to move our tomatoes next year (I did not even know the rule about relocation for them, but it makes sense for they tire the ground and recirculate illness and insects.).
3. I learned I want to TRAIN tomatoes, not let them run wild like we always have. For one, they will yield better if pruned. For another, it will be more pleasant harvesting them (this year it was like fighting through a jungle!)
4. I learned watermelons and cantaloupe are attracting something with teeth--likely rabbits--which we need to fend off with FENCE.
5. I learned that we're better off with some elevated trellis affair for every crop that can bear such rearing--because my lovely farm wife and I are not fond of stooping.
6. I learned that corn needs more attention than I've given it.
7. I learned that we are really good at raising pumpkins.

BEST OF ALL, we are learning to preserve and just generally do something with what we have on our place. My wife canned probably 36 pickle jars, some peach jelly, and we've been figuring out what to do with a blessed over-abundance of pears (so far pear crisp, pear pie, and some dehydrated pear novelties).

We CAN.

Now, we hope to learn much more about self-sufficiency and raising our own food. I recently read an article about a family who set a modest goal of raising their Thanksgiving dinner. That's a good goal for us to explore. I'd also like to get into family gardening more, something for the kids they'll ALL enjoy (right now we have one gardener, anyway).