All the promise of a successful gardening season!
The first round of seed packets arrived in the mail this past week from Baker Creek. It’s a little like Christmas — anticipating the package delivery, opening it, and being so delighted by the colorful seed packets, and all the promise that each holds. Crazy, I know, but that’s how it is when your passion is digging in the dirt.
What will this garden season bring? Those seed packets may be filled with promise, but Mother Nature can break those with a single late-spring frost. There are no guarantees in gardening, just lots of planning, patience and yes, a bit o’ luck. As gardeners, we bask in the good fortune of warm, sunny days and roll with the bad (curse you, Mr. Blister Beetle!), undeterred we try again.
Gardeners are, in their hearts, true optimists.
Our 2013 garden season was long and hot (luck), which is rare for north Idaho. The fabulous weather allowed for a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes and other goodies. Here are a few pictures from last year’s garden and harvest at The Second Street Chicken Ranch.
A sampling of heirloom tomatoes grown at The Second Street Chicken Ranch.
The Cour Di Bue heirloom produced huge oxheart-shaped fruit. Large plants were great producers. These will be in the garden again this year!
The Striped Roman was stunning. Large, oblong with orange stripes. The starts were viney and straggly looking, but once in the ground, they really took off.
It’s easy to see why this gem is called Plum Lemon!
The Green Zebra’s were outstanding. Really nice, uniform fruit with great taste and color.
Ronde de Nice ~ a little round zucchini!
Nasturtiums self-seed throughout the garden. They’re wonderful in salads; the leaves have a peppery taste and the flowers are lovely.
The hot summer helped Glass Gem corn grow.
Madge and Helen — the senior citizens of the coop.
In memory of Sugar. She lays beneath the Japanese Maple…her favorite spot in the garden.
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