Here at week 013 it feels like summer and this garden have been going on forever. Things are hot, overgrown and starting to putter out. Nonetheless, there have been some developments in our garden.

Ryan discovered these hornworms.

These are bad news for tomato plants. Thankfully we were able to pick them off the plants and find some natural solutions for keeping them away. They are boogers and extremely well camouflaged.

We have apples! 

Our pear and apple trees are in full bloom. Ryan has picked gallons of apples and I “get” to find a use for them. I mostly just washed and cored and sliced them. Then I froze them in gallon bags for some yummy apple and pear crisps & cakes this fall.

I discovered (after living at this house for a full year) that we have blueberry bushes!

It would seem that we don’t really ever have enough to make more than a small smoothie, as it is very likely our neighborhood pets (aka, the deer) are cleaning us out. But still! Blueberries!

Ryan has garnered a modicum of fame over his prize winning tomatoes. 

And by fame, I mean some happy neighbors and family members who enjoyed these tomatoes at a Fourth of July celebration. We have also stewed many quarts of tomatoes and I have frozen them in quart size bags for soups and stews in the fall and winter.

The tomato plants are still producing tomatoes! 

This is a victory as we have had soil issues, deer issues, and then hornworm issues. Now it’s the time of summer where the heat is unrelenting and we are starting to see some wilting and over-heavy plants. It’s been a good run and we will continue to pick what we can and share and enjoy these fruits.

Our herbs have turned into landscaping shrubs!

We have let our herbs grow to the point of flowering and haven’t used them too much over the past few weeks with our travels and absences from home. (As pictured, right-below, our cucumbers are also dying off from the heat!) The herbs do make a nice filler in our landscaping beds and they look pretty. I’m not sure we’ll plant them again.

Ryan and I have talked some about the garden. I’m practical and I add up the total investment of having a garden and in my head I almost can’t justify the expense for a few frozen bags of stewed tomatoes and a steady stream of BLTs. Ryan, however, reminded me that part of the fun of the garden is the tending and reward of watching something grow. There have been some lessons that we’ll carry with us for next year in terms of what to plant, how to better prepare the soil, and maintenance.

Thank you all for reading along as we have journey’d through the past few months of our Georgia garden. It’s been fun documenting the process and enjoying the bounty!