Greg Graves
Sep 17, 20212 min
Cherry Tomatoes
‘Tis the season to be picky, picking veggies that is. One of the real treats of living here at Old Goat Farm is having the space for a large vegetable garden. Our veggie garden is about 60 ft by 60 ft. That is enough space to generate a lot of food.
Before
Because we have all the birds we need to protect the crops from them. The chicken coop and bird-run goes completely across the back of the garden. On both sides there are fences with espalier apples, pears and plums on the outside. Across the front is another fence with a large perennial border on the outside. That leaves a lot of space on the inside dedicated to vegetable. Next to the espaliers on one side are raspberries and on the other side blueberries and strawberries. The rest is lined out with rows. The vegetables in the rows are rotated each year to prevent pests and diseases.
Red Beets and Carrots
Since we like to prolong the season we grow a lot of root vegetables; carrots, onions, beets and potatoes. We grow a few different varieties of each. All these will last for quite awhile in cold storage (the barn). Acorn and spaghetti squash will also last awhile. The soft squash like crookneck have softer skins so don’t last as long but that doesn’t really matter since that is one of our favorites to cook several different ways. Having a southern cook in the house, we often have it fried with potatoes and onions.
TOMATOES
Besides what I have already mentioned we also grow cabbages, corn, kale, radishes and TOMATOES. Since summer seems to be warmer the last few years we end up with a bumper crop. We have six different types and all are doing well. I’m usually optimistic and plant tomatoes and then about this time of year start looking for green tomato recipes. I think I have been eating tomatoes with every meal for the last month.
Crook-neck Squash
Being a gardener, I enjoy growing all sorts of plants but nothing compares with the vegetable garden. To have the luxury of going out into the garden and planning dinner around what is ripe is a real treat. Last night we had a veggie extravaganza, roasted beets, baked squash, steamed green beans, collards and tomatoes. Yum.
We did grow fewer veggies this year because I kind of messed up the garden rotation so gave half of the garden a rest and planted it in cut flowers, which was kind of a fun change. We still got lots of veggies and an ample supply of cut flowers.
Beet Greens
Purple Cabbage
Rainbow swiss Chard
Cucumbers
Spaghetti Squash
Garden Gate