Rain Rain Go Away...wait....what ?!?

Lately we've been having what can be considered typical weather here in Minnesota. Thunderstorms, strong winds, and humidity so high that there is condensation on the windows of your home with air conditioners working round the clock! Friday this past week was no exception, however, it was harvest day. We had to get veggies pulled and washed for our three markets the next day. Normally we are very thankful for the rains that come and give our garden a much needed drink to quench it's thirst in this heat wave we're experiencing now, but on Friday all we wished was that it could hold off for just a few hours so we could get our work done.

This past Friday we had three rounds of thunderstorms throughout the day and even lost power for awhile. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get the power up and running otherwise our produce wouldn't have looked nearly as nice as it usually does with all the sloppy wet mud clinging to it! Harvest was finally done closer to 6 pm on Friday when normally it's done around lunch time!

Gotta love it when the humidity is so high the camera lens is fogged up!

The poor table is a little over crowed as is the Prius with all the wonderful produce. I think I need to find a way to squeeze another table in the car somehow!

Ed and I enjoyed a walk through the garden this morning and I came back with muddy toes! Guess the weeding will have to wait until the soil can dry out more. We did find a few additional surprises this week in that our cauliflower is starting to produce, the sweet corn is continuing to grow nicely, okra is ready for harvest, watermelons are flowering and we have baby peppers!

Cauliflower

Stevia

Edamame flowers

Watermelon flower

Fennel

Sweet Corn

Baby Jalapenos

Okra

A spider keeping a look out for our eggplant!

Flowering Eggplant

What a difference a week makes!

This past week we've added a few additional trips to the market list with the opening of the New Ulm farmer's market after the 4th. So instead of attending 1 market Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday and 2 on Saturday we are now going to 1 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday & Thursday, with 3 on Saturday!

After Ed got home yesterday from the Annandale flea market & we unpacked the truck (tent included) and he took a nice long nap, we then took our stroll through the garden. It truly is amazing how much these plants grow in one week! We also had a nice discovery this week after harvesting cabbage, as Ed was removing leaves he found a surprise. The cabbage started to produce another head! It is the garden that keeps on giving...

You can see the secondary head growing just above where we harvested the first.

Pretty soon we will have produce coming out of our ears! We brought cabbage, broccoli, snow peas, carrots, cabbage, swiss chard, green beans and lettuce (iceberg, romaine & green leaf) to market on Saturday. The walk through the garden last night showed that the zucchini has grown about 3" in just a few days and should be ready soon, while the next batch of radishes are about grape size..probably 1 more week and we'll have those to sell as well. Other items coming soon are the roma tomatos, grape tomatos, and okra. 

Pole  beans...using tomato cages to help them climb

Sweet potatoes are coming along nicely

The next bed of cilantro to be picked

Cilantro that went to flower and will become coriander. I love how one plant can provide 2 amazing flavors!

Using fence posts and twine to keep the tomatoes upright. With over 1,000 tomato plants, cages would be quite expensive so a different, low cost alternative was thought up. It will be interesting to see how the twine holds up to the weight of the tomatoes as they grow.

Roma tomatoes

Orange blossom tomatoes...I made a wonderful sauce with them last year.

Help me Obi Weed Kanobi...

A great disturbance was felt in the garden this past week as many weeds were up-rooted, mowed or weed-whipped in order to provide growth and light to our emerging veggies and herbs! There is a great path of destruction in the walking paths along the plant beds and the veggies are rejoycing for all the space they now have to spread their roots and grow!

Onions started in the greenhouse and the planted by hand in the garden

 

 Watermelons are off to a good start...especially with the chickens doing their job and picking out the seeds from the straw before it was used as mulch to prevent weed growth!

mmm...tomatoes are well on the way..salsa fresca anyone?!?

Other adventures this weekend included camping at the Annandale Flea Market on Thursday night to make sure we had a good spot for Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately the heat and mugginess (is that even a word?) here in MN drove people away from the market Friday and to the lake or inside for much needed reprieve. Severe storms came Friday night and as the tent was collected and awning broken down the sirens went off and I raced to the safety of Bill and Julie's home...thankfully they were only 5 minutes away! I got indoors just as a tree snapped in their campground with the top laying in the roadway and we all crowded (20+ people) into the basement for safety. It was our nephew's 13th birthday and we opened presents by candle and lantern light. Just as he blew out the candles of the DQ (Dairy Queen) ice cream cake the lights came back on and we all rejoiced as there was much discussion whether the bathroom could be used if we were without power for the 24 hrs we were prepared to see happen. 

We arrived Saturday to see our awning was moved and our spot was lost, but at least we were safe and dry Friday night. We got to experience the overflow area and were incredibly thankful to those who searched among the 250+ vendors there to find us way in the back just to score some of our tasty lettuce and radishes! It was so touching to know that our produce was valued that greatly...