My excitement begins after the garden has been tilled in the Fall. I carefully harvest the seeds that I can, place them in paper bags since I don’t want moisture to ruin them and pack them in the “Winter at Uncle Erics” box since we turn off our heating, I don’t want them to freeze.
And then I sit and wait with anticipation for Spring.
Except this year, the excitement was short lived. In fact, it ended before it even got started.
This year, I planned a trip to Newfoundland in August so I moved our Farm visit from August to July. Therefore, since we weren’t going to be here to enjoy the fruits of our labour, I didn’t plant half the garden I normally would. That meant, no garlic, lettuce, spinach or cucumber.
I did plant beans, peas, beets and cherry tomato plants. All perfect vegetables that The Kids can grab right off the plant. The chives, tomatos, green onions and broccoli plants were volunteers from my compost stash so I just ignored them.
A few days before we left, I made sure that I took out every single weed. The garden plot was so clean that you could have eaten off it. Well, not exactly but you get my drift. I was so confident that I would come home to 2 foot plants and 1 foot weeds.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I came home to this…
Hidden in that mess I found a beet bigger than my hand, peas that are almost ready, beans ready for the eating (we had them last night with salmon on the BBQ) and cherry tomatoes that should be ready right before we leave again at the end of August.
As for the weeds, in a few hours they were history and in return, I had the perfect topic for a blog post. Life is good.
That really is a massive beet – yikes!
Dear J,
The best part is that it was as sweet as a smaller one.
Besos, Sarah
Sarah recently posted…It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
I always wonder what I am going to find in our garden when we return from vacation. I am either disappointed that nothing has grown or stunned at how the garden looks like a jungle. We have a watering system but In the UK the weather is pretty unpredictable (usually) so it’s hard to program it for both a heatwave and torrential rain for two weeks.
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Dear Tom,
I figure that the plants did just fine before I came along so I try not and bother them too much. Works well with my lifestyle too.
Thanks for making the trip across the ocean to visit The Zoo.
Besos, Sarah
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LOL!!!!!!!!!! I’m laughing because that’s what my garden looked like at one point. Both the veggies AND the weeds were huge! I had to figure out what was what. Note to self…put up little signs next year to help me tell what’s what 🙂 As for my flowers after vacation…they looked like a crispy haystack!
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Dear Sandy,
We both need goats. But ones that don’t eat plants, just weeds.
Besos, Sarah
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I like it! It’s like a mystery garden full of treasures! 😀
I have certainly seen worse! And look at how much bounty was there!
Imagine what it would have looked like if you hadn’t cleaned it all up before leaving. 😉
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You need to get a book on edible weeds, many of them are quite delicious when added to your salad.
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Dear AlwaysARedhead,
I’d be able to feed the entire neighbourhood with my weeds. I know that dandelion leaves are edible and we have tons of those too… http://www.journeysofthezoo.com/2013/05/flower-foe-or-wine.html
Besos, Sarah
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Beautiful! I love volunteer plants from compost. I have about 6-10 tomato plants that came up out of nowhere in the garden (that is below a black walnut tree, which is supposed to be toxic to tomatoes).
I really like your comment about growing vegetables (and fruits) that kids can pick themselves. I will keep that in mind for next year as my little toddler will be at least 2 years ago and hopefully more involved in the garden.
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Dear All Natural Katie,
This was the first year that I had so many volunteer plants. In fact, I should have thinned out some of my tomato plants because they’re everywhere and taking over the other vegetables. I’ll solve that next year but making the garden bigger. Everyone wins!
Thanks for stopping by The Zoo.
Besos, Sarah
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LOL my husband saw your beet on instagram and asked me exactly what exactly I thought you might be putting in your garden or do you live near a nuclear plant….
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Dear Shayna,
The beet is HUGE and one of many. As for the secret ingredient, that all depends on what the sheep were eating.
Besos, Sarah
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Mine looks worse…and I haven’t gone anywhere! Too bad the deer have eaten only the plants I wanted, and not the weeds!
Dear Rene,
Those deers know a good thing when they see it. I’m more than happy to share the fruits of our labour.
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
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My garden consists of two cherry tomato plants that are in planters. Hubby and I have had 1 tomato each so far
I don’t have a garden, but did growing up. The resilience of weeds is truly admirable, albeit infuriating! 😉
Haha, Sarah I have given up on my back garden because of the weed issue. I have carrots, potatoes, and beets growing and the weeds have gone berserk. You should do a poston how you collect the seeds, because I want to just too lazy to Google it. Better to read it from someone I already read!
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Dear Aneta,
Sorry to hear about your weed situation. I had to Google how to harvest some of the seeds myself so I’ve added your post idea to the list. Thanks for reading.
Besos, Sarah
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that is so awesome!!! I have always wanted my own garden! I have been holding off on it because i know it takes a lot of work and right now I am pregnant and dont really want to take that on right now but somewhere in the future (maybe next year) i will definitely have one
Dear Kristen,
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Gardens are a bit of work but you can start small with just one pot. Staying on top of the weeding is key. I usually spend 10 minutes a day watering and weeding.
Besos, Sarah
Sarah recently posted…It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
We were gone for most of July and had dried weather. There were a tons of weeds covering everthing that my husband planted. Enjoy your trip to Newfoundland.
We have a garden that looks more like an overgrown jungle and the sad part? We haven’t gone on vacation. LOL It sounds like despite not planting all you wanted because of your vacation you still got quite a bit of bounty! There’s nothing like picking fruits or veggies right off the vine and enjoying them, that’s for sure 🙂
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Dear Kayla,
Sorry to hear about your garden. The key really is to weed and water if necessary. I spend 15 minutes a day and really find the time therapeutic. Better luck next year?
Besos, Sarah
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I dont take a vacation so it works out for me. Its a weekly, sometimes daily chore to weed the flower beds as well as veg garden
Dear Karen,
When I’m not on vacation, I try and weed and water the garden every evening. It takes less than 15 minutes but makes all the difference.
Besos, Sarah
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love your garden….go on vacation and i thing when you drive out the weeds drive in ….
Dear Kathy,
Thanks for the garden compliment. If you live in Eastern Ontario, you’re free to some of the produce. The beets are bigger than my hand and oh so sweet! http://instagram.com/p/q-frMkq7hl/?modal=true
Besos, Sarah
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Thanks,If I lived closer I would take you up on that offer but I am over yonder in Newfoundland…Cheers have an awesome weekend
Dear Kathy,
We missed the boat on visiting you. Literally.
We were scheduled to visit Newfoundland tomorrow but ferry rides, accommodations and dog boarding made things confusing. Hopefully next year.
I’d love to connect if you’re up for it (journeysofthezoo@hotmail.com).
Besos, Sarah
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That would be nice,maybe you could drop in on your way thur ……
Thats crazyness! Ive never been gone long enough to tell! But I bet it would be insane!
We skipped on the garden this season….I just had other stuff to deal with. Next summer tho, it’s on. I’m looking forward to having my little girl help…and learn.
At my parents house, my younger siblings and I would go out back (they have a huge yard), and play a bit of baseball. More of me hitting the ball and them doing the catching. We have a rule that if the ball goes in the gardens, you have to grab two weeds when you go to get it…..we usually make a noticeable difference when we are done playing lol.
Dear Laurie,
I’ll have to try your great idea about having to pick two weeds. The only problem is that The Kids still don’t know a plant from a weed although they can definitely spot a bean or pea from a distance.
Besos, Sarah
Sarah recently posted…It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
yeah it was a bit of a learning experience for the younger ones at first lol.
Haha! Oh my!! That is amazing 😀 I garden myself and I know my own garden went from being pitiful to massive in what feels over night – it is amazing what a few really hot days will do for a garden to make it flourish 🙂
Enjoy the harvest!
What crazy growth you had! We have had pretty good success so far with our garden. We had tons of radishes, beans and peas and now the corn, carrots and potatoes are coming. Just amazing!
My garden usually just looks like a big pile of weeds. This year, we decided not to plant one and moved our gazebo where the garden was. A lot less maintenance this way. lol
Where I live now, I don’t have room for a garden, I miss that! There’s nothing better than fresh, homegrown fruits and veggies! The only thing I have are a few herb plants in little pots.
Dear Nena,
They have these new hanging garden contraptions now. While they aren’t the same as a garden, you can grow several different vegetables. Or, you can come over and have something from my garden.
Besos, Sarah
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Yes, I’ve tried those, but the problem is the kids in my neighborhood are not respectful of other people’s property and they ruined them 🙁
Dear Nena,
That is horrible. When we were young, someone would have busted us for that and we’d have to apologize and replace the item.
I’m sad for you, the kids that did it, their parents and society.
Besos, Sarah
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Yes, it’s very sad, most of the kids here have absolutely no parental supervision. I try to watch out for the little ones, and there are a few other good people here that do the same, but I worry about what’s to come for these kids.
yes it does and so does my lawn, after all the rain we have had in the past 2 weeks, they are a real mess
By the way, your link to “HALLOWEEN” doesn’t work, for me any way
Dear Darlene,
Glad that I’m not the only one with a “garden with a mind of it’s own”.
As for your comment about the “Halloween” link, was it linked to a picture at the bottom of the post under “You Might Also Like”? I can’t find a link to any Halloween post in the body of this post. Thanks for letting me know!
Besos, Sarah
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pretty good camouflage for the plants I’d say – maybe being hidden in the weeds protected them from pests and prevented too much evaporation? I once went back to England for 4 weeks at Easter & then couldn’t mow my lawn when I got back to Germany, the grass was that tall! My little old hover mower protested and just flattened the grass. My neighbour took pity on me and lent me her electric mower which soon cut it back down to size 🙂