Well… as you can see, between the heavy rains and the business of summer my garden kinda got out of control.
Actually, there’s no kinda about it, it just flat out decided it wanted to have a life of its own and it did.
And that was that. Of course, it didn’t help that I got burned out on the upkeep of it and slacked off. I do have to say though, that this garden has been one of the most productive ones we’ve grown. Just keeping everything picked was a chore and consumed a lot of time so my energy just fizzled out when it came weeding. I always say this every year, but I think next year we really need to downsize the garden a bit so that it’s a little more manageable. I’m sure, as it always goes though, once spring comes after being cooped up all winter, we’ll be overly ambitious and plant the entire thing again.
The cantaloupe started ripening around the beginning of August.
Luckily they all didn’t ripen at once, like they’ve done in the past, so we were able to enjoy them throughout the month. Between my mom and us, we had just the right amount to go around without any of it going to waste or any of us getting tired of it. The largest one in the bottom picture came from a volunteer plant, so that was an extra bonus.
We harvested all the beets and potatoes and got them packed and put in the freezer.
I haven’t ever tried freezing beets before so it will be interesting to see how they turn out. If nothing else, I thought they’d be an interesting addition to stews this winter.
We picked all the onions…
and should have enough to last us a while.
We’ve picked plenty of cucumbers, tomatoes and okra too. There’s been just enough to have lots of good stuff to eat but not enough to can. The tomatoes are coming on again and we’re hoping to have a nice bunch ripen before it freezes.
Here’s a quick walk through of the garden…
That video was taken early to middle part of August. Since then we’ve done some clean-up, which was a lot of hard work, and now we have fall beans, lettuce and cucumbers planted. We got all that done a little later than we really planned on so it will be a race to see if it all produces before frost. Check back soon to see how our fall crops are doing.
Do you have problems with weeds taking over your garden? If so, what do you do to prevent them?
Humble Little Homestead 
I really love beet pesto. You can google for recipes, as there are several ways. If you unfreeze the beets and they’re mushy, that might be a good way to use them. Of course, borscht will also work with thawed beets.
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Thank you for the suggestions, I’ll definitely google recipes and try them out. It’s always nice to have new ideas of things to make instead of the same ole same ole.
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Pingback: August Garden Update… It’s a Jungle! | Humble Little Homestead | WORLD ORGANIC NEWS
You seem to have gotten lots of food, Shelly, despite the jungle! I didn’t get any melons, partly because they need to be indoors here and I just couldn’t justify the space. For the beets, as well as the cold beet soup on my blog you could try making beet kraut. It’s the same as sauerkraut only with grated beets instead of cabbage. Use 20 g (1 Tbsp) of fine salt per kilo (2 lbs) of grated beet. Squish with your hands (wear gloves!) until there is enough liquid to cover the grated beets. Transfer to a glass jar and use another smaller jar or a ziplock bag filled with water to weigh down the beets and keep them under the liquid. Leave in a cool place for about a week to ferment. Once it gets to your preferred sourness, transfer to smaller jars. It will then keep in a cool place for months! It stays nice an crisp. Perfect with a salad or added to stews and soups. I sometimes use this to make the cold beet soup as it’s so handy.
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Yum! Beet kraut sounds good, we all enjoy fermented veggies, so I’ll definitely have to try it. Thank you for the suggestion!
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Hi Shelly, my husband and I have beet/apple juice almost every morning for breakfast. We have a juicer and for the two of us, I juice one large beet and 6 small gala apples – all organic for juicing of course 🙂 This drink is deeeeelicious and is extremely good for you. I tried to watch your video, but it was not working… I’ll try back as I love your videos!
Blessings,
Constance
SimplyLiving101.com
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Yum! That does sound good and I will have to try that sometime. We have an apple tree that will have apples ready soon. We don’t have a juicer, but I just might have to get one so I can try that juice out.
Humm.. that’s weird about the video not working. Maybe if you try to click the youtube link so that you watch it on the youtube site, it might work. I’ll have to check it out. Thank you for visiting!
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