Saturday, August 10, 2013

Bountiful...

My Basket

 Today was Bountiful Baskets Day.  Since I had never volunteered, I decided today was the day.  I left home at 7:30 a.m. and arrived at 8:30 to help unload the truck.  There were about 10 other volunteers there.  Unloading the cases of fruit and veggies was the easy part.  Then came the sorting -- fruits in their baskets and veggies in their baskets, side by side.  A pair makes a Basket for each person who orders one.  We sorted any rotted fruit or veg out and left that in it's own box.  I spoke for throw-aways to feed my chickens, and they were glad to let me haul it away.  There wasn't much, but a nice assortment for the girls.  After that, we let the masses in.  We had prepared for 180 baskets along with add-ons and extra cases of apples, green beans, chilis, breads, coconut oil, and granola.  After all the baskets were sent out the door to the contributors, then came the clean up.  There were 360 baskets to wipe down, floors to sweep and mop, tables to clean, and boxes to break down and haul out.  It was a big day for us.  All of us were breaking a sweat by the end of the morning with all the chores we had to do.  We could have used a few more volunteers, but we did it.  The volunteers were hard-working, nice folks and the coordinators do a bang-up job.  If you've never tried Bountiful Baskets, I encourage you to give it a try.  It's the Best Buy Around -- just $16.50 for a basket of delicious fruits and veggies.  I'd say you will get around 25-30 pounds of produce per basket, and you'll get a great variety!  Check it out HERE. 

My garden is coming right along, but still not as bountiful as my Bountiful Baskets yet.  This is a giant pumpkin vine and it has a few babies setting on it right now.  

 There are zucchini, squash, cucumbers, carrots, new lettuce and tomato vines with marigolds in the background.  You can see a few zinnias peeking out from amongst the zucchini.  Poor dears, they have to fight for sunshine.  I planted a couple watermelon plants as an experiment.  I know they take a long time to produce, but I thought I'd try.

Green beans have been picked a couple times and the lettuce that was planted in spring was great.  There are just a couple heads left to eat so I replanted some more lettuce for fall picking.  The cucumbers are loaded with blossoms, but nary a cuke yet.  Rats!  Zucchini has been good and the squash vines are making some beautiful big acorn babies.  The peppers are really producing and I'm ready to pick a few green ones any day.  I sometimes let the peppers stay on the vine longer and get fully ripe -- red or orange.  They are so much sweeter that way.

Of course, I can't garden without a few towering sunflowers keeping watch over the garden.  Soon the goldfinches will be stuffing their beaks full of seeds.  Aren't these red & yellow sunflowers beautiful?  I love them.  Every now and then I just have to pick a couple and put them on my kitchen table.  I've still got a nice patch of rhubarb that I plan to pick.  I'm craving a pie!  What's growing in your garden?  Thank you for stopping by and saying hello.  I enjoy your visits.

21 comments:

  1. Wow! You worked hard! Good job, Jody!
    Your garden is absolutely beautiful! I love it!
    Don't you love zinnias? Me, too!
    Yay for summer!

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    1. Yay for summer zinnias and garden goodies!

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  2. Your garden is grand! Just hadhyto put some fencing around the tomatoes as the chickens have been finding all the red ones lately. I love Zinneas too we plant them everwhere and they are so hardy.

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    1. I love my chickens but would be frustrated with them if they were munching on my tomatoes. Glad you stopped by.

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  3. You made me feel better. My pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers are just blooming with a few things set. I thought I was behind. Your garden looks wonderful. I just pulled up some garlic, onions, and carrots. I picked my beans and found the last of peas hiding out. I put it all together and canned some stew veggies. I even had enough beans to can 4 pints, but here I sit waiting for the canner to cool with the stew veggies and the beans are waiting their turn. It may be a late night. Thanks for sharing. Someday, I will give bountiful baskets a try.

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    1. I wonder if we've been a little "cool" this summer? I'm not sure why everything is so late. My carrots look good, but they need quite a bit more time before I start pulling them in earnest.

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  4. Beautiful, Jody - thanks for the tour of your garden. I don't have a yard right now that's conducive to gardening -- tall pine trees, little space, all shade, and plus it's a rental. I miss having a pretty yard! Maybe next year. But I can still enjoy yours :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping in and enjoying my little garden spot with me.

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  5. What a fabulous garden! I just have herbs growing in mine - and we have carefully moved the fig tree out of our conservatory, so that it gets watered by the rain whilst we are on holiday for 2 weeks.
    Thanks for kind comments on my blog

    I LOVE the bountiful baskets and would definitely order one if I lived nearer

    Summer Blessings xx

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    1. Thanks Angela. Hoping you have a wonderful holiday!

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  6. Zinnias are my favorite flower. Your garden is beautiful. Mine is not doing so well this summer. It's been record heat and it's suffering. I had to tell you I love the cute little sunflower face peeking through your wire fence on your heaader. It looks like it wants to join the party.

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    1. I love zinnias too. My garden is doing "ok" but not as prolific as I think it ought to be at this stage. I'm not sure why. Thanks for the banner love.

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  7. Karen, your gardens are fabulous! Never heard of the Bountiful Baskets, off to read more about them now.

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    1. I hope you find a bountiful basket site near you. It's the best.

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  8. Beautiful garden, Jody, and I love the color of your sunflower! I just pulled a peach blueberry cobbler out of the oven but I am going to wait a little bit before I have any.

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  9. Such an abundant garden! Ours is slow this year - we were too late getting it in. We're eating some carrots and potatoes - along with a few beans and lettuce but everything else has a few weeks to go yet. I have one sunflower coming - the others didn't take. I'm really going to enjoy it!! :)

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  10. Wow Ms. Gumbo, your garden is gorgeous! Mine teeny tiny patch is very sad this year -- between the hail storm that ate the zinnias and my two-week absence -- it isn't pretty!

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  11. Your garden looks great! That is a good deal for all those fresh goodies!

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  12. just love your garden and I'll
    have to look into Bountiful Baskets....sounds
    so good!...just love your sunflower..can't seem to grow them where I am just not the right climate or soil maybe....love Zinnias!
    Corinne

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  13. I wish Bountiful Baskets was offered in my area, but it's not. Your garden looks very tempting!

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  14. Did you know you can eat pumpkin leaves? The newest three or four leaves on the end of the vine are delicious (especially cooked in coconut cream, curry, and salt)! It's my favorite leafy green over here :-)

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