“Gardens to me, represent freedom.”

~Ron Finley, ‘Gangsta Gardener‘

Happy 4th of July Greetings, Friend!

Wishing you and yours a beautiful, relaxing and freedom filled 4th of July holiday weekend.

Here’s to our independence and gratitude from our depths, to those who sacrificed to make it so. May we do it justice and uphold it.

THE SUMMER GARDENING FRENZY IS ON...

We’ve been busier than a squirrel with a barrel of acorns, working 7/12. We know you can relate because gardening season is in full swing, the good, the bad and the demanding. But, ever so GRATEFUL to be able to grow our own food!!! 

(BTW... send us your favorite “busier than” sayings and we’ll add them to our list to share).

ENOUGH INSANITY!!!

And no… I’m not talking about the insanity of politics and the media. We try to keep our heads on growing and out of that stuff as much as possible. 

The insanity I’m talking about is my own. (Coleman speaking here).

The standard definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same failed thing while expecting different results.

I’ll blame it on spring fever and hampered memory. Somehow, in the spring delight at another garden season, I started too many seeds and bought too many plants.

I had big ambitions to grow lots of squash. I thought I could hack it. My “experiment” was to get the plants growing strongly early, while fighting off insects and powdery mildew so that even with limited (4-5 hrs) sun per day, they might produce a relative bounty. 

It was before the leaves had returned to the trees in their full canopy glory, when it’s easy to forget just how much the sunlight will be blocked by full summer.

LeAura reminded me, again. But I ended up in denial. Again. 
(To her credit, she only said “I told you so” once. 😉 )

A UNIVERSAL TRUTH

But the lesson is a general concept helpful for all of us about something at some point in time:

"If you keep on doing what you've always done, then you'll keep on getting what you've always got." 

~multiple authors/variations

COUNTING BLESSINGS… EVER GRATEFUL

While we love living in the woods, a lack of sunlight is the price we pay especially in the summer growing season. This is the lesson now scorched into my memory, a mistake never to be repeated.

However, for fall and winter gardening, our little patch of Eden is perfect. As the trees lose their leaves, we gain sunlight, and zone 7a is mild enough for some vibrant fall and winter gardening.

RELATED: When to Plant Winter Squash

WHAT HAPPENED?

The result is that a huge chunk of garden real estate and growing time produced only one fruit per plant. Not good! 🤦🏼‍♂️😔

CUTTING OUR LOSSES

So, after making the wrong decision (pleading “insanity” wishing on a wing and a prayer here), we cut our losses, literally and figuratively.  Nearly all the vining winter squash got yanked out. It’s hard to destroy healthy plants, but in this case they weren’t serving their purpose of producing vegetables.

A POSITIVE DISCOVERY

Ahhh… BUT… there was one saving grace and a positive discovery (besides that hard lesson finally learnt). It turns out that the squash leaves are edible!! 😄 ❤️ 

WASTE NOT

Leave it to LeAura to search that out. She’s averse to waste and as such she tries to find uses for every part of every plant for food, prevention, remedies and/or medicine. Like… edible flowers and edible weeds. We can hardly go on a walk without her wondering if some unknown plant is edible or medicinal.

So yep, squash greens can be cooked and used much like other hefty greens.

MEANWHILE... WHAT VEGETABLES GROW WELL IN PARTIAL SUN OR SHADE ?

After that, I replaced the underperforming squash with okra and bell peppers which have performed admirably in past seasons. 

RELATED: Vegetables that grow in the shade

FINDING GOOD IN THE BAD

There was another bonus to the insanity. Thanks to stringent preventative maintenance, no insects or powdery mildew could be detected. Thus, we’re applying the same regimen to our other “full-sun” squash patch at the cabin. #prevention! 

RECIPES FROM THIS WEEK:

Grilled Marinated Asparagus With Gremolata

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert With Cream Cheese (we made this last night and will be enjoying it today with a sprinkling of homegrown blueberries for a red, white and blue treat)!

Zucchini recipes

Pesto Sauces using various garden fresh herbs

Thanks for visiting with us! We’d love to hear your tips and questions… feedback and suggestions.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your Independence Day weekend.

Coleman and LeAura Alderson

GardensAll.com