Backyard Munchies Part 3

Posted at 12:37 am on October 15, 2009 by Heather

You may remember that I shared my garden this summer with some friends. How did it turn out? Well it looked like this at the peak of summer:

This was a tough growing season. There was too much rain…which meant not enough sun. Tomatoes and peppers were late. Potatoes were low yielding.My peppers are only now starting to produce fruit. Um, it’s October! Squash in Illinois got a blight (that’s a bad plant disease).

We had fun when our community garden friends came over.  I think we have a better idea of how to organize our crops and our time next summer. I think we’ll do it again. If you do a garden share with friends we would recommend the following:

• Square foot garden! Do as much of your gardening in this format as you can. It saves you time and energy! We all loved this method.
• Training. Pass around the garden book. If one of you knows what you are doing then make sure you show your friends as much as you can—hands on. We needed to do this more at the beginning.
• Make a schedule. Know whose turn it is to weed and water. Make a calendar for vacations so the garden gets tended.
• Try to share your garden with friends who live close by. This will make it easier for everyone to stop in and pull a few weeds or harvest tomatoes.

I had two extra special gifts from this years garden. One is my beautiful acorn squash. Just one ripened before the blight hit and it is gorgeous. I am saving it for a peaceful fall afternoon when I can roast a chicken, bake bread and sit down with my family to a cozy meal.

The other gift was my heirloom tomato plant. It is still bearing fruit. The tomatoes are ripening slowly and steadily. We get about 1-2 a week. They are big, irregular shaped pinky, orange-reddish fruits. They don’t look like anything I’ve been buying in the grocery store. Actually, I would probably walk right by them in the grocery store if I did see them.  Heirloom fruits and vegetables are  are old, open-pollinated, and mostly non-hybrid. In truth I would probably never see a tomato like mine in the grocery store. Well, maybe at Whole Foods. Did you know that there are hundreds of amazing varieties of fruits and vegetables and even varieties of meats that are nearly extinct from our plate, palette and farms? Check out the Ark of Taste to learn what about what we’re missing because after tasting my funny looking tomatoes there is no going back. Never before has a tomato made me take the Lord’s name in vain, but these did. My Brandywine tomatoes are so good I have eaten them by themselves…nothing on them…just tomato. I chose them because I am a Lord of the Rings fan and I thought it’d be cool to have Brandywine tomatoes. Thanks Tolkien! Oh and all the farmers that cultivated these tomatoes and saved their seeds.

To delve deeper into the world of local, heirloom and ‘slow’ food try reading, Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s a great one year memoir of her family’s commitment to eating local food. It has challenged and inspired me. I dream of making my own cheese soon! First things first though. Must harvest the last of the garden, store seeds, protect fall crops from frost, put away tomato cages and bite into the last of my Brandywines for the season….

Heather is a regular contributor for Dupage Mamas and also blogs at In Te Domine. Need a massage? Check out her business site: Massage Therapy for Women.

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