Picking Carrots in Winter

Wife and I picked our first carrot back in the summer, but it was pitifully small. I had no idea how long to wait, so I started asking some locals about their experiences.


Old men know a lot.
I asked an old man what to do, and he seemed to know right away.

"Leave 'em carrots in the ground 'til winter.
Ain't nuthin' gonna happen to 'em."

--Old Man

It's a deal.


Carrots at Christmas?
Just after Christmas I did a test run and pulled up few. They looked great!

After washing the carrots, I was surprised how bright orange and fragrant they were. Much more than store-bought carrots.

Carrots in February
With such a mild winter this year, I thought the rest of the carrots could wait a little longer--but February seemed long enough.

Carrot life in the dead of winter.

Safe in nature's refrigerator.

Quite a haul for carrots in February!

About 90 carrots in all. A great veggie surprise for our winter meals.

And that, my friends, is how an old man's advice filled my belly with winter produce.

Groundhog Problem Solved: An Issued Statement

Friends, family, and 88caprice readers:

The groundhog problem has been resolved.

As you know, a groundhog got into the garden. Tomatoes and beans were damaged in the attack. A whole head of red cabbage disappeared. Holes were dug under the fence. Something needed to be done.

Redneck Friend was commissioned to remedy the situation. Within 48 hours, victory was achieved. Additional details of the operation will not be released.

Redneck Friend confirmed this victory via text message, which read: "In Your face ground pig!"

Wife and I, the 88caprice blog, and the garden are grateful to Redneck Friend for freeing the vegetables from the constant threat of groundhog pests.

Together, we will regrow.

Groundhog Ate My Garden!

THAT'S IT! That groundhog has gone too far!

There's been a fat groundhog living under my shed for a long time, but he has never bothered anything...until now.

Just when Wife and I were starting to get some bounty out of our backyard garden the groundhog decided to help himself and eat my vegetables. I object!

First, the groundhog dug under my garden fence.

I filled the whole in and covered it with a block, but he dug under the fence AND the block the very next day. Lame!

Then, he decided to take a few bites out of my roma tomatoes.

He wasn't even decent enough to take them with him. He just ate half and left the rest. Waste! Even worse, he ate almost every bloom off of our green bean vines. The beans are looking pretty sad now.

AND THEN, as if that were not bad enough, he committed the ultimate crime: that groundhog ate a whole head of purple cabbage!

Look at that! He just leveled the whole thing.

I try to be patient. I really do. But don't eat my vegetables. Not cool.

Wife and I already have a city garden, which can be trying. On top of that we fight off city deer and maintain a fence to keep them out. And now I've got a groundhog digging holes and eating my bounty!

*Solution: Redneck Friend. This is a city garden, and groundhogs are country critters. I need a man with county experience to take care of this.

I called my secret weapon, Redneck Friend. He is pumped and ready to take care of this. I won't meddle in methods: that's his job. All I know is that groundhogs and my garden don't mix.

The next time my vegetables are eaten, it will be with my own teeth.

Home Gardening Makes Free Vegetables

I have no awesome gardening skills, but I do have a backyard garden.
Gardens make free vegetables.
Free vegetables make me happy.

Now if the suburban groundhogs and city deer will leave it alone, I'll be in business.

Wife and I are on our third-annual backyard garden. We don't grow anything too crazy, but we do grow vegetables we can use or store up. We started getting our first bounty a few weeks ago.

Tomatoes
This year we have three types of tomatoes: romas, better boys, and Cherokee purple heirlooms.

Romas everywhere!

 

I love the taste of a home-grown tomato, but I am not a snob when it comes to variety. The romas are producing far more than the others types, but they are also smaller. The better boys are pretty average and consistent, and the Cherokee purples are BIG and meaty.

Peppers

This year we're growing jalapeno peppers, green bell peppers, banana peppers, and poblanos.  

Jalapeno peppers!

 

Wife makes pickled jalapenos that rock my face off. Had I tasted her pickled jalapenos before we got married, we probably would have skipped our wedding and eloped months sooner.

 

Does this look like a poblano to you?

It doesn't look like a poblano to me, but that's what the sign called it when we bought the plant. Whatever it is, it tastes good.

Red Cabbage
We've never grown red cabbage, so I'll let you know how it works out.

If we get sick of buckets of slaw, I'll have to find other uses for these big heads of magic.

Carrots
Also a first: carrots. In cartoons, critters and people can just yank on a carrot top and pull the whole thing up out of the ground. I have learned this is a lie.

Look at this skinny thing! I dug this guy up as a test, and it was not easy. I nearly broke it. It sure was sweet, though. Mmmm.

Okra
I like a little fried okra. I LOVE a lot of fried okra.

When it comes to okra, bigger is NOT better. This one is a little small still, but I don't let them get much bigger. Eating a foot-long okra is like eating a couch cushion. Or a log.

Also...
A few beans, one strawberry plant, and a bunch of herbs round out the rest.

 Not bad for a little backyard garden!