Garden Recap

I have been horrible about blogging on our community garden this year. I am so sorry! I have hardly taken any pictures of the garden or the harvest. Below is a list of what we planted and how well it worked or if it failed completely:

Broccoli: We planted two rows of broccoli. The first row was from starter plants. These did well and we got about 4 heads of broccoli. The second row was started from seed. These did not do well. We got maybe a few small heads, nothing to be excited about. The starter plants were nice but Broccoli takes up a TON of space for what we get out of it. We might do it again next year, or we might try something else.

Cauliflower: We also used some started plants for these. We did get 4 heads of cauliflower from our 4 plants but we never knew when to harvest it. Apparently, you are supposed to cover the cauliflower head when it starts getting big so the sun doesn't harm it. So we tried that. But we ended up waiting too long to harvest and then it was bad. This also took up a lot of space. I don't think we will try this again next year.

Kohlrabi: We planted 4 kohlrabi from starter plants. They grew well and got big. But we didn't use even one of them! We got this plant back when we had a CSA in GA and liked it in stirfrys and slaw but apparently we didn't like it enough to use it this time around. We also left for Kauai right when the Kohlrabi were good. We picked two before we left and they were not good when we came back. And the two left in the garden were....stolen. Luckily this was the only time we had any food stolen from the garden!

Green Beans (Bush Beans): We planted one 5 foot row of bush beans and this was probably our best crop. We got a TON of beans from the plants. It produced all summer long and we really enjoyed eating the beans raw and cooked. We will definitely plant this again next year.

Green Bell Peppers: We started with six bell pepper starter plants and I would say one of them ended up producing good sized peppers. They all produced some but one was definitely better than the others. We did enjoy the peppers but I think next year I want to try more variety of pepper plants. This last weekend it did freeze so we lost all of our pepper plants for the season.

Radish: I did two plantings of radish. The first one went great and I got a lot of radishes. Eric doesn't eat them so I had to snack on them on my own. For some reason I decided to plant a 2nd crop after the first one was done. This was a mistake. I was basically radished-out and didn't eat any other the 2nd crop. Not to self, only plant ONE crop next year.

Carrots: These guys are super slow at growing. I was pulling them when they were little just to have some to snack on. I guess I was a little impatient. We did 3 plantings of carrots. The first planting has just now been harvested. The 2nd and 3rd are still maturing. I am hoping they continue to grow before it starts to be consistently cold here. This was by far the easiest to grow and I think I will try and do more of it next year.

Lettuce: We planted 3 rows of Romaine and one row of mixed greens. I loved this part. The lettuce did really well and I ate salad for lunch for a long time. It was fun to have a salad from my own garden! The lettuce lasted until about mid June before it got hot and the leaves turned bitter. We will definitely plant lettuce again next year. Maybe we will also try a late summer/fall crop.

Herbs: We planted dill, cilantro, basil, and rosemary in the garden. We barley used any of it. :( woops! Everything did well but we just were really bad at using all the herbs. Next year we need to be better with this!!

Tomatoes: We started with 5 tomato plants - two roma and 3 basic tomatoes. The romas did OK but the others did better. It seems to take a long time for the plants to mature and the tomatoes to start turning. We have been getting consistent tomatoes for the last 3 weeks or so. The plants have basically died but we have a lot of green ones waiting to turn. I am going to try canning some tomatoes tonight so we can save the bounty that we have now. We will plan tomatoes again next year but I would like to try more varieties.

Once the cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce were done earlier in the season I tried planing a few more things. I planted two starter cabbage plants. They are now about the size of an orange. Maybe they will get bigger before the colder weather, maybe they will not, but I tried something new. Next year I will plant one or two earlier so we can have one. I also planted a form of Bock Choy. This did amazingly well! Unfortunately, all we knew to use it in was stirfry and we could only eat so much of that. After our beans looked like they were done I also tried to plant some peas. These did not last either. Once they came out of the ground an urban rabbit (the city has a TON of rabbits around) ate the nice fresh greens down to the ground.

Zinnias: I also planted a row of zinnias. I enjoyed these very much! I was able to have fresh flowers almost all summer long. It was nice to be able to grow and cut my own flowers!

Overall I think we are pleased with our garden this year! We didn't have a problem with too many pests. A rabbit here and there but nothing too bad. I think next year we will try some more variety and other plants we didn't try this year. It was an exciting summer watching everything grow and eating food we grew. We will definitely do it again!!

Fall at the Cabin

This past weekend we spent at the Cabin (only one more weekend to go before it is closed up for the winter - so sad!). The weather had definitely changed from summer to fall. The temps during the days were warm in the sun, cool in the shade and wind. The nights were cold! We actually had to turn the heat on in the cabin and we had a fire going in the stove our first night there.

We did two hiking/walking trails this weekend. One on the Tislon Creek hiking trail and one on the Tilson Creek ski trail. Eric's cousin Blaine joined us on the hiking trail on Saturday. The leaves were perfect! I think we made it up there just in time to see all the peak colors. There was a lot of yellows but also some red and orange. On the Tilson Creek Ski trail we walked about a mile. It was hard walking because this area is kinda swampy and is only used in the winter for cross-country skiing. The DNR had just mowed the trails though (to get ready for winter) and the ground wasnt that wet so we gave it a try. Not my fav. place to walk but it was pretty.

Eric and a few crazy family members did get in the water last weekend. Eric did a short run around the bay on Saturday and Blaine did a quick Wakeboard run. They both said the water was cold but the worst of it was the wind whipping you while being wet. I was not brave enough to try skiing again in these temps. I guess my next try water skiing will have to be next summer!







On Sunday a few more people joined the ranks to ski in the cold water. Eric's Uncle Charles and family friend George showed up in their wet suits all bundled up and ready to ski. Blaine and cousin-in-law Tara also got in the water -without wetsuits- they are so brave!! I dont think I would ever do that. Tara did come prepared with her winter hat and tried to start off the dock - so not to get wet.

Over all we had a great weekend with family. Even though it was cold, we had fun and still enjoyed being at the lake!

Last Days of Summer

Here are a few pics from our weekend at the Cabin over Labor Day. It was the last warm weekend we would have here. There are always good memories to be had on Rainy Lake!

It is already Fall!

We have two more weekends scheduled at the Cabin and they will most likely be too cold to really enjoy the lake by swimming and skiing. We were last at the cabin over Labor Day weekend. I unfortunately was sick for the first full day while we were there but as the weekend went on, I got better! As always, we spent a lot of our time with Eric's family and went water skiing/wake boarding, and the like. I am sad to think that this was probably my last time getting in the Lake. Eric will probably jump in once or twice more but he is crazy!

The secret this summer is......I learned to water ski! I started out about mid summer and over labor day I did a full loop around the bay we are on. I was scared the whole time I was being pulled by the boat. It was such a weird feeling! Of course I don't have any pictures of myself, but once I get one from someone else, I will post them!

We also had a family awards ceremony for the best in water sports! Eric won "best fall" and I won "most determined"! It was a lot of fun and I cant wait to be "most improved" next year!

Its hard to think the Fall is already here in MN. The leaves are turning and I have switched up my wardrobe for the season. I am excited for the change and to hopefully be less busy soon. But I am also going to miss being at Rainy Lake, being on the boat in the St. Croix, and enjoying all the fun things Minneapolis has to offer in the summer.

SHT: Reeves Rd to Castle Danger

Well, we have finally hiked some more of the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT)! It has only taken almost a year but we did it! We hiked about 11 miles in two days. We decided to do day hikes so we could spend more time with Eric's Aunt and Uncle who live up there. We got some decent mileage in and decided to try to get up at least one more time before the snow comes. For now, here are some pictures of where we were.

60th Birthday Weekend

My dad recently turned 60 so we spent a weekend with him and my mom on their boat for the big event. We took the boat down the St. Croix in Stillwater to Red Wing, MN. It was a nice boat ride and the weather was wonderful. At the end of the weekend we pulled off surprising my dad with a big party at their Marina. I think he was pretty surprised and had a great weekend for his 60th! This weekend reminded me why we love being back in MN. It is so wonderful spending time with my parents and being able to be around for special events!



ps. Go UGA!!



Costume Ski Party

And I am behind again. Sooo.... after our camping trip we celebrated Eric's cousins birthday. She was turning 14 and we had an awesome costume ski party! Everyone was supposed to dress up to the party and then go water skiing. Eric as a wizard, I was a witch, and we also had Katniss - the girl on fire, characters from Star Wars, and a few other crazy costumes. It was such a fun day and I couldn't stop smiling and laughing! I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story....

The birthday girl!



Our Crazy Family!




Katniss - the girl on fire!



Eric, the wizard