Karen's Garden Delights Journal
1st week of August 2011

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It's August and it is still hot and the weeds are loving it. This week it was time to knock them back a notch and here is our garden cart laden and ready for a trip to the compost pile. I had some Amish helpers one evening and we whipped the greenhouse back into shape plus cleaned up many more beds. It is a good feeling to look behind you and see clean ground again and when there is a group working together, the work goes fast. I am a little behind normal schedule in getting some fall things planted like beets and carrots and the first step is making sure there are beds cleared and ready. This week we planted Daikon radishes on Monday and by Friday they were up! I also planted more seeds into flats that will be used for my cold frame seminars. August seems to be a time when everything crashes together - weeds, summer harvest, more weeds, garlic cleaning, still more weeds and preparations for fall planting.

One of the most prolific crops right now are the cherry tomatoes. I thought I was careful in not overdoing it in planting but when each of my five children put several cherry tomatoes in their garden spots, the harvest really is adding up. The kids love snacking on them and also have been picking pints of them for me to "buy" from them. Fortunately I have been able to sell most of them so far, both at Local Roots and sending some to the North Canton Farmers market with an Amish friend. Here is a box ready to go to market. I love making the mixes, I think they are both beautiful and have a lovely blend of flavors. The varieties I use most in the mixes are Sungold, Yellow Pear, Peacevine, Red Fig and Black Cherry. Entering August though, I know the time is coming when it will be hard to sell any tomatoes since they will be so prolific in both home gardens and at the farmers market. That will be the time when we start making sauce, and I may even need to toss a few cherries in the pot too.

I was delighted to have a group of girls visit my garden this week. These gals are part of a youth outreach group at a nearby church and we had a fun time tasting and smelling our way though the garden. They were able to pick cherry tomatoes to take back for lunch and to share with their families and we also picked several buckets of flowers. They had a super time choosing and playing with the flowers, ended up each taking home a peacock feather. Their craft activity for the day was making bouquets and sharing them first of all with someone whom they've had a disagreement with (peace offerings) and then the rest were passed out to families in their trailer court. Their leader commented that it was one of their best days all summer. I am so thankful when I can share the beauty of my garden in a way that blesses others!