AT THE WATER’S EDGE:

Can you identify? I think it’s just some variety of green chili pepper…

My garden is not doing so well.  I’ll be honest.  I’m disappointed.  The heat, and my sporadic watering, coupled with the deer and squash bugs have left my garden lacking in produce.  The deer have eaten my Swiss chard again, so I have to wait for another growth of leaves from that.  The tomatoes are sparse, and there’s not much else that’s growing now.  I’ve gotten a few peppers including one that I can’t identify.  It must’ve been something I picked up from the roadside plant stand.  They’re good – a little bit spicy.  It’s some sort of green chile pepper, but I can’t nail down the exact variety.  They get really curly at the end, and it’s the only pepper that’s growing well in my garden. My asparagus will probably need another year yet before I can start harvesting, but it’s fun to watch the new spears grow and the ferns that spring from that.


I’ve decided that next year I’m going to go back to what I did my first year in regards to tomatoes.   I’ll order the regular type seeds, nothing crazy, and start them in regular soil…being sure to give them plenty of water and food at the right time.  I’m also going to plant gobs of peas – possibly snow peas AND sugar peas.  I’ll do the Swiss chard again, and lots of lettuce – but I’ll be more diligent in finding ways to keep the deer out.

But, all is not lost this year.  Although there’s not much going on above ground, there are still things growing underground!  My carrots need some time yet, but they’re getting there (despite the deer that keep chomping on the tops!).  But, there are potatoes!  I grew potatoes on a whim this year—because I had gotten some from the supermarket that I kept around too long and they began to sprout.  I planted them just to see what would happen.  Lo and behold, they grew!  I didn’t think they were supposed to be ready yet, but perhaps because of the heat or lack of water, most of the plants have died off.  That means, the potatoes are done growing.  I decided to try digging some up to see what I could find.  I dug around where I thought the plants were and it was totally like digging for buried treasure!  I found a few prize rubies and a bunch of little tiny potatoes.  I don’t normally mind small potatoes, but these are supposed to be large russet potatoes…so, I’m not sure how the small ones will taste.  It was so much fun digging around and seeing what I could find.  I took the ones I dug up and put them in the basement for storage.  Hopefully it’s cool enough down there so that they keep well.  I’ve not tried them yet, but will soon!


Potatoes have always been one of my favorite foods.  Perhaps it comes from being a quarter Irish, I don’t know – but I think it’s very fitting that I should grow them.  Next year I may order some real seed potatoes and try some smaller varieties.  I got some purple potatoes from the farmer’s market this year – it would be super neat to grow those!  Besides, I figure they have to be healthier with the purple pigment and all – more color usually means more antioxidants!  At any rate, I’ve got a stash of potatoes for now, and another stash still in the ground that I can dig up later.  Only…I wish I would have drawn a treasure map…or at least marked where I’d planted them so I could remember after the plants die!