My Dad is an awesome gardener. He works out there for hours on end every Spring cultivating the land to prepare for his plants. He makes sure that each and every plant will succeed to produce an abundance of goodness for his family. He catches the rainwater from the drain spouts from the barn and building on his property in huge containers for the dry spells of the Summer. His garden is hard work. It's about an acre big and he has another small one back next to the barn. He takes great pride in the size and quality of the vegetables he grows. He is like a proud Pa Pa. He should be. God has given him this very special gift.
In my last post, I mentioned that he broke his knee two weeks ago. This was the end to the pampering he would be able to give his garden. He has been in the house recuperating for the last two weeks. Yesterday was the first day he left the house. I took him to his 2 week follow-up appointment. The Dr. said he is healing right on schedule but it takes time. He is getting better but his poor garden isn't. My sister stayed with them for a week the first week he broke his knee. She offered to work it for him but he declined. He said it just wasn't meant to be this year. It is so sad. They told some neighbors to take what they wanted but there still is a ton of it just rotting on the plants in the garden. He plants so much because he usually takes it to the auction and sells it. That's obviously not happening this year so there is plenty there. It breaks my heart that all of his hard work is just going to waste. I went out to pick some for me to take home and to share with Curtis's parents and brother but there was no way I could take all of it.
Here are some pictures I took of the state of his garden:
I don't know if you can see here but the pepper plants are falling over because of the weight of all of the peppers that are on them.
Here is a side view. Can you see the cornstalks in the back row? He plants them in stages so the corn comes in a little at a time. I have never seen the stalks that high. They are probably 10 feet high or higher. Usually after he picks all the corn off of them, he cuts them up for the cows. I wonder how high they will get? You can also see in this picture the tomato plants in the front drying up.
Here are some more tomato plants back against the barn. I was able to get 5 small tomatoes off of these. The rest is not ready or just rotting.
I thought I was being watched! Poor baby. He must miss my Dad.
I thought these were kind of interesting. They are Hungarian Wax HOT peppers. They grow towards the sky unlike the other kinds of peppers my Dad grows.
Here is what I brought home. Left to right are cubanelle peppers, more cubanelle peppers with the only tomatoes I was able to pick. Those red peppers are some kind of Italian pepper I don't remember the name to and the peppers on the right are the hot peppers. The cubanelle peppers are my favorite. They are considered sweet and they don't have the after taste of a green pepper. I like cutting them in half lengthwise and filling them with ground sausage, bread crumbs and an egg mixture. Then I cover them with pasta sauce and bake them in the oven. When they are just about done, I cover them with mozzarella cheese. Yummy!
Lastly, I was able to pick some eggplant, green peppers and a couple of red.
Have Fun!
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