Not-So-Bountiful Harvest

Well, we dug up the taters from the one stack of tires and here is what we found:

Not what we had hoped for. We haven't tackled the second stack yet. Probably the same results. We think that they probably didn't get enough water. It's been real dry this summer, and with all that dirt, I guess I just didn't water them enough. I did water them every other day. I thought I was doing good. There were lots of roots, just not many taters. We are not going to give up on this method. We plan on trying again next year. We may cut the tires and run a soaker hose through them at the bottom.

The tomatoes are just as pitiful this year. Here is what I have picked to far.

These are supposed to be full sized Roma's. Not so big are they? Note they also have blossom end rot. From what I understand, that comes from a calcium deficiency and water uptake. Again, these were watered ever other day since they are in a raised bed. But it has been dry as I said. Sigh. These poor maters have had a rough year. Fungus (from when we got TOO much rain), tomato horn worms, drought conditions and I'm sure something else will occur yet! To the right of the maters, there is a well-aged over-ripe greenbean. I have let quite a few beans go to seed for saving for next year. I never did this before and I was curious to see how far along they were. Not far enough. They are still quite wet inside.

On the bright side, the carrots look well and I planted peas last week and they are sprouting. Also I have 4 good sized pumpkins. And I have 12 pints and 5 quarts of green beans canned, along with another 6 or so pints to can. So I really can't complain. Except we still need rain.

This is what showed up on my porch today!

I ordered an accessory kit for my Roma strainer, a 1-cup ladle and the catalog was thrown in for free all from Lehman's non-electric hardware store. I love this place. We went there a few years back and I fell in love with it. It is my kind of store! I would much rather shop at Lehman's than Macy's or JCPenneys! I really wanted this kit so I can process berries without all the seeds. Now I can can some blackberry jam! The ladle will help my canning go faster. I've been using a ladle that seems to only hold 1/4 cup. It took forever to fill jars.