How Our Garden Grew

Labor Day 2015 and a time to look back at a summer of gardening and do an assessment of what vegetables did well and which didn’t.  The following are the collective scores of Steve and Natasha, who did most of the planting,weeding and harvesting, and me, dubbed  the Senior Adviser.

The scores range from 0 (the crop that didn’t come up) to 10 (beyond all doubt outstanding).

Onions-10 (Best crop ever on our sandy soil,)

Broccoli-10 (Keeps on producing, earlier in the season cut a head 10” across.)

Cabbage-10 (Wow, never have we grown such big, beautiful heads)

Zucchini-9 (If you can’t grow zucchini—don’t know what to say.)

Rutabaga- 8-9 (A short row, not yet harvested but looking very good.)

Potatoes-8  (Good, clean crop.  But better last year.  Will harvest several bushels.)

Egg Plant-8 (Big and beautiful)

Collards-8 (Four times harvested and more to come)

Radishes-8 (Early and quite good)

Leaf Lettuce-7 (Earlier good, doesn’t like hot weather)

Cucumbers-6 (Germination poor, what grew, did well)

Sweet Corn-5 (We’ve had better years)

Tomatoes-5-6 (Decent yield, but hit with blight, which killed several plants.)

Peppers-5 (Harvested several, but we’ve done better)

Beets-5 (So-so year.)

Carrots-4 (Those growing are good, but so few.)

Gourds -4 ((Terrible germination, due to cold, wet spring)

Squash-3 (Only a few hills due to poor germination.)

Pumpkins -0 (Planted a dozen hills.  Not one pumpkin this year.  Awful.  Germination problem.)

Average score for 19 vegetables planted is 6.5-7.0.  Always room for improvement.

Steve gave a score of 5 to the weeds this year—he does the rototilling.  He also gives high marks to Natasha for the outstanding onions.  She hand weeded two long rows four times.

How did your garden grow?  Let me know.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Every garden year has its surprises.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: Know how to polka?  Like polka music?  Then you will like POLKA HEARTLAND by Rick March with photos by Dick Blau. (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2015).  March not only writes about polkas and their history, by he is a band leader and knows how to get the most out of a concertina.

Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fund raiser for them):

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs, Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps and Jerry Apps a Farm Story.

Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including The Quiet Season (on which the DVD A Farm Winter is based), as well as Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm, (which are related to the DVD Jerry Apps a Farm Story). Also available is Jerry’s new novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County.

Contact the library for prices and special package deals.

Patterson Memorial Library

500 Division Street

Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 12, 2-4 p.m. Remarks at 3:00 p.m. West Madison Agriculture Research Station, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.  Call 888-748-7479 for reservations. Alice in Dairyland will be there.

September 16, 11:00-11:45.  Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio.  Wisconsin agricultural history.

September 17, 11:-a.m.  St. Luke’s Church, Middleton, WI   Limping through Life.

September 19 , Stonefield Village, Cassville.  Whispers and Shadows and Wisconsin Agriculture a History. 

September 23, 6:00 p.m. Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose. Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.

September 26, 10:30 -2:00, Dregni’s, Westby, Book signing.

October 4, 1-3 p.m.  Readers Realm bookstore, Montello. Ag. History

October 7, 6:30 p.m. Reedsburg Library, Whispers and Shadows

October 11, 10-12:00 a,m.  Heartland Forum, Chicago. Signing Whispers and Shadows.

October 11, 3:00 p.m. Old World Wisconsin-Wisconsin Ag. History

October 12, 6:00 p.m. Coloma Historical Society.  Limping Through Life

October 15, Prairie du Sac Library, Whispers and Shadows

October 17, 9-4 Teaching writing workshop at The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI

October 17, 4:30-6:00 p.m. The Clearing.  Book signing, Whispers and Shadows, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.

October 23, 10-11:00 a.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (on the square). Whispers and Shadows.  Wisconsin Book Festival.

October 23, 3:30 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium (On UW Campus) Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.  Wisconsin Book Festival.

October 25, 2:00 p.m. Schlitz Nature Center, Milwaukee with Boswell Books.  Whispers and Shadows.

October 29, Brown County Library.  Premier of TV Documentary,” The Land With Jerry Apps. “ Book signing, Whispers and Shadows.

November 1, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green. Ag History and Wisconsin Place Names.

November 5, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Library, Whispers and Shadows.

November 7, Edgerton Book Festival, The Land (TV documentary) and Whispers and Shadows

November 10, 6:00 p.m. Wausau Public Library, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.

November 12, 7:00 p.m. Bellville High School Auditorium with Bellville Public Library.  Wisconsin Agriculture: A History

November 14, 9:30 -11:30 a.m. Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.  Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.

November 15, 9:15 Midvale Lutheran Church, The Land (TV documentary)  plus discussion of Whispers and Shadows.

November 17, 7:00 p.m. Hotel Red (1501 Monroe Street- corner of Regent and Monroe, Madison.)  “Wisconsin Agriculture: A History, a discussion with Doug Moe. Sponsored by Mystery to me Bookstore.  Book signing to follow.

November 18, Preview of TV Documentary, “The Land With Jerry Apps” Wild Rose High School Auditorium.  Whispers and Shadows book signing. (Time to be announced)