July 26th to August 1st, Week 18
RuthAnn’s Weekly Garden Diary
Documenting Progress and Reflections in the Garden
My attempt to document the planting, growth, harvesting, and preserving of our family’s 8000 square feet of garden.
Northeast Iowa Gardening in growing zone 4
Last frost date May15, First frost date September 15
July 26th to August 1st, WEEK 18
The crickets sing all day long, the sunrises and sunset are closer together and although in many places fall is still weeks away, our mornings and evenings are already a bit crisp, and the sweatshirts have been making an appearance.
We harvested 3rd cutting hay off our hay field and now that haymaking is done for the season it feels as if we are headed towards fall at breakneck speed. I spied a few purple grapes on the vines too.
What we harvested this week:
- 150 pounds of potatoes (russet and Yukon gold)
- 150 pounds of onions and garlic (set them up to cure for a few weeks) Watch the video here
- 30 ears of short season sweet corn (for fresh eating)
- A couple dozen tomatoes for salsa making
- A few Green and banana peppers for salsa making
- Red raspberries, by the bowl full. We’ve eaten our fill and started flash freezing them and putting into freezer bags.
- Cucumbers too many to count.
What we planted:
- 8lbs buckwheat seeds (as a cover crop)
Other Garden Tasks:
- We prepared the soil where the potatoes and onions were removed. We weeded and cultivated the soil and then sprinkled on buckwheat seeds and the boys took the garden rake and gently raked the seeds into the soil. Buckwheat makes an excellent cover crop in our region because it is fast growing. We could have a killing frost in less than 30 days, so any cover crop needs to be fast growing. Here are some benefits of planting buckwheat as a cover crop.
- Weed Smothering: Creates a shade canopy, blocking sunlight from reaching the soil and therefore suppressing weed seeds from sprouting.
- Nutrient Retrieval: Pulls hard-to-reach nutrients like phosphorus and calcium from the soil and releases them as it decomposes.
- Pollinator Magnet: Produces abundant white flowers that supply food for pollinators late in the season.
- Quick Breakdown: Hollow, succulent stems decompose rapidly. This is a benefit for our region because as winter sets in our soil goes dormant and no composting happens.
- We mowed the grass and piled more grass clippings around the red raspberries where previous grass clippings had composted and allowed weeds to come through.
- The Hollyhocks are done blooming, we broke down all the ugly stems containing seedpods, placed them on the soil so they can drop their seeds for next year.
Reflections
How I allowed a simple basket of cucumbers to steal my joy!
The cucumbers kept stacking up in their basket, getting taller each day. Every morning, I picked a few more and added them to the growing pile, reassuring myself I’d start fermenting them later. Yet, something always seemed more urgent, sometimes caring for a sick loved one, sometimes it was the sunshine that pulled me outside, away from the daunting heap of cucumbers. Eventually, I started steering clear of the part of the garden where the cucumbers grew because spotting more cucumbers on the vines only reminded me of the ones piling up on the kitchen counter awaiting attention. This was an internal struggle draining my energy and happiness, but it wasn’t obvious enough for me to fully recognize what was happening.
I moved the basket of cucumbers from the countertop to the table. And then at mealtime I would move it from the table to the countertop again. Each time I moved them I was riddled with guilt that I hadn’t preserved those cucumbers yet! Soon the cucumbers were limp, and the fruit flies were hovering. It wasn’t until I made the decision to feed that basket of cucumbers to the pigs that I became aware of how much of my energy those cucumbers were stealing just by innocently sitting there in the basket where I had placed them.
The problem wasn’t the cucumbers. I know they were completely innocent. The problem was that I had allowed them to take up energy. The solution in this case was simply to feed them to the pigs and move on. Problem solved.
I’ve been here before, where something niggles at my subconscious mind. It is small but irritating enough to rob me of peace and affect my behavior. It’s usually a spiritual conviction. When God is trying to get my attention about something, but I am determined to keep walking my own path.
When it came to the cucumbers, letting the pigs turn them into bacon made me feel less guilty. However, when facing matters of faith, it requires much more courage for me to surrender completely to God and say, ‘Alright, I’ll do the difficult thing you ask of me!’
Or even sometimes, “Lord I am not sure what you are trying to get my attention for, but I am listening.”
Experience has taught me that the only thing that brings true and lasting peace is obedience to Him. I may have momentary peace or joy. But the deep peace that passes all understanding only comes from being in perfect communion with God.
As I threw those offending cucumbers over the fence to the pigs I sang a favorite passage of psalms. “Create in me a clean heart oh God! Renew a right spirit within me!
If tossing old cucumbers eased my daily stress of piled up responsibilities, surrendering my burdens to God will uplift my spirit even more.
24 Responses
This is exactly what was happening to me this year with my cucumbers and okra!! Thank you for this post.
Thank you for another uplifting message!
Thank you for sharing your story. It came at the right time as God always is on time with His ways! I have been laid up this summer due to having shoulder surgery making it hard for me to manage my garden. I have had to watch it from my window as it grew out of control while I healed. My control that is! Soon fall will be here in zone 7 and I will hopefully be recovered enough to put the garden to bed and harvest some flower seeds. I did get one very large pumpkin though!! Blessings on you Ruthann!
RuthAnn, absolutely marvelous cuke story … 🙂
I guess we are all going through these ‘happpenings’, when we had pigs I didn’t mind feeding it to them either, or the chickens for that matter.
LIFE happens and that is okay.
It’s always a pleasure reading your stories and watching your YT videos!
Love your perspective! Your blogs are always a good read.
Thank you for sharing your cucumber story. I had the same problem with cucumbers last year! I couldn’t even give them away. People wouldn’t take them!
We ate so many we couldn’t look at them any more. Even the chickens stopped eating them.
I felt so guilty throwing them over the fence. We don’t have pigs or cows hopefully the wildlife benefitted from them.
I can tell we are having the same “problem” again this year.
Dear Ruth Ann,
Thank you for sharing! Yesterday I had a similar issue, not with cucumbers but still comparable to your situation:
” It is small but irritating enough to rob me of peace and affect my behavior. It’s usually a spiritual conviction. When God is trying to get my attention about something, but I am determined to keep walking my own path.”
Yes, I’ve been here before, too. I almost struggled until dawn until i surrendered and was able to fall asleep. This morning, the issue was irritating me again and I knew I had to do something about it.
” Experience has taught me that the only thing that brings true and lasting peace is obedience to Him”
I can confirm that this is true! That’s what I had / have to do, too.
Curious about the song oft the Psalm you mentioned, I went to YT music and found a very uplifting song of the Psalm. (I’m from Germany, and I love to discover hymns and songs that I don’t know yet)
Your post came just in time to remind me what is really important and peace giving in this world.
Thank you so much!
God bless
I absolutely love that song. I have been struggling with not enough time in the garden. We live in Southern Idaho between Twin Falls and Boise. We are sometimes a 6b, and sometimes a 7a growing zone. We are beyond busy doing a huge home remodel, and living in our home smack dab in the middle of all the mess. My garden is absolutely beautiful, but it is quickly becoming neglected. In the spring, I jumped up out of bed excited to get out there and work from sunlight to sundown. I found so much purpose and peace being out there. Now that I am much more busy I barely have time to keep it watered everyday. My beautiful San Marzano tomatoes have the worst case of blossom end rot that I have ever seen. I have treated them with calcium earlier this spring, and desperately need to do it again, but like your basket of cucumbers I am struggling with it all. I had visions of quart jars full of beautiful and delicious San Marzano tomatoes all lined up in my cold room downstairs. I have heard that they are the very best tomatoes for sauces. That little dream of mine is fading fast. I keep thinking of all energy I put into the growing of the seeds into plants, then all the pruning and love I put into the plants once they were in the garden. I know it sounds ridiculous to most people, but I truly enjoyed growing them! Those silly tomatoes that earlier brought me so much joy are now making me feel like I have just wasted a ton of time. I don’t have pigs I can feed mine too, but I do have a big compost pile. I am praying I will let God “Create in me a clean heart, and Renew a right spirit within me! Thank you for this encouragement.
Well stated, Ruthanne!
This is so encouraging ♥️
I’ve done that so many times. I’m thankful for chickens who love vegetables! I appreciate your transparency. Love watching your videos!
Amen, wonderful and lovely revelation! Even during our convictions God can bring beauty from ashes. You are a blessing and thank you for sharing your passion and your walk with God as you persevere through the seasons of home life and farm life. I don’t grow as much as you do, but even then I am caught up in other matters and I too don’t like anything going to waste and sometimes, we just have to see things from God’s lens. Thank you for taking time to share. God bless you and your household.
Great Work! Your garden is beautiful. Pigs need to eat, too, and the eaters of those cucumbers certainly did appreciate your efforts in their behalf. Food grown and eaten by any animal on the farm is healthy food, and is not food wasted. It is turned into future healthy food. Yum!
I’m in a season where it would be easy to have ” baskets of cucumbers ” on my mind. We just had baby 8– while daddy and child#7 were in Boston for #7 to have major surgery. They left April the 4th- we expected them to be home before mother’s day. God has had other plans. As off today we are 113 days into the hospital stay- the 21st of July they were able to transfer JJ to the big hospital in ia city from boston via jet ambulance. The 26th we almost lost him. I am trying to keep my focus on the most important things. Our 7 other children, him , my husband, and my walk with God.. and yet the “cucumbers ” of life seem to want take precedent.. thank you for this reminder.
Julie
Exactly what I needed to read today. My husband’s going in for cardiac bypass surgery on the 17th. Letting go of my task list and resting in the Lord is a gift. Thank you so much for the reminder!! You are a blessing ! Please know we pray over you daily!
Love this Ruth Ann. I’m convicted about a pile that is stealing my joy❤️
I have had the same experience. A loved one was in the hospital for days while bushels of fruit and veggies piled up at home. I finally chopped up the squash and cucumbers for my chickens to enjoy. We are humans with limited time and energy. From my front porch I cried out to God that I needed help. Three people showed up to help!
Wow! Just what I needed to read this morning. I too have an ever-enlarging bowl of cucumbers in the fridge. Once it stops raining I will venture out into the mud, harvest what’s left on the withering & spent vines and will make your sweet dill pickles- my husband is addicted.
A while ago I read in my Oswald Chambers devotional that we must completely abandon ourselves to Jesus…your post reminded me of this. Thank you for your inspiration and vulnerability.
Now…to attempt completely abandon myself to God’s leading today.
That was beautiful Ruthann! I got to spend the long weekend with our youth from church (54!) at the Movement Conference in Kalispell Montana. I caught myself many times tryi g to do my own thing when God had other plans.
I met a wonderful lady too and guess what? She was also raised Old Order Meninite and is now Christian! She made me think so much of you and your family, it was such a joy to be able to Serve with her, she even said the family name was Zimmerman!
Keep what you’re doing Ruthann, you’re such an inspiration.
Patty Gnuse
I’m still enjoying the peace I’ve achieved from leaving IG. Missing my morning dose of joy from you and Chas along with a few others.
Reading 3+ books per week and going to Mass more often helps me accept God’s gift of grace, finding peace and quiet in the craziness.
My mother-in-law is in hospice, now. We are the only family close, so we visit daily switching between us. The emotional toll is heavy, but we continue.
I’ve missed two planned trips, two weeks in Scotland and another 10 days in Greece. I’m okay with it, would never leave my husband during this time.
I’m thinking of you and your lovely, expanding family.
Love,
Karen Kraynak
@seniorsolotraveling
Oh so true! Thank you!
I totally understand your cucumber problem. I am stacking them up in a bag in the refrigerator. I really don’t need to can dill pickles which is what is eaten here or lime pickles. On the other hand, I don’t want to see them go to waste. I don’t have any other way to use them. No animals to give them to. Guess the best thing is to get busy and can them. Sweet pickles aren’t my families thing. God tells me don’t waste. Think I will listen and maybe can dill pickles for my granddaughter. God bless you and your family. I love your videos and have learned so much from you. Thank you so much.
Such a great truth, Ruthann. Thank you. Anything can be a seed! A seed of distraction pulling us away from God’s best, or a seed of connection to him. Thank you for sharing.
As I opened your email my mind quickly went to the cucumbers sitting on my kitchen bar. They have been moved around the kitchen for several days waiting for me to come up with the energy to turn them onto something healthy and delicious.
I am 68 years old and noticible slowing down in my canning endeavors. Your email has inspired me to get this done.