The Farmer in the Dell?

The recent hail and wind did some damage to the backyard garden. But not as much as I had expected. Bobby lost a few little tree seedlings and some of the leaves of the veggies had holes in them. But all in all things did ok.

Yesterday we pulled some turnips. I cleaned them up and ate a couple of the turnips. Not bad. Then Aryn helped me clean the leaves and get them ready to cook. Bobby had never had pot liquor (the juice from cooking). I remember hearing about people drinking a little glass of that while eating some cornbread from when I was a kid. Good ole Southern tradition...

We looked around the garden and discovered tiny little brussel sprouts hidden around the base of the plants. Very exciting. Well maybe not to everyone, but since I have never grown them I was fascinated to see them. I love to eat them but rarely bought them because my kids sneered at the idea of eating them. But what do they know? Bobby and I were happy to see them. Now we will know where to look as they grow.

Two of the broccoli plants had big green heads at the top of the plant. The stalk was thick and the florets were lush and green. I was so tempted to run inside, cut the stem off and and indulge myself in a little broccoli and Ranch dressing. After we had cut off the tops of those two, we discovered tiny little ones around the branches which were just starting. I always wondered how they grow.

Then later in the afternoon, the euphoria of the day was slightly marred by the fact that Brad and Aryn had decided to play in the mud at the back of the garden where the fence is. Think Tom Sawyer. They decided it would be fun to grab handfuls of mud and throw them at the wooden fence. So now there are big globs of mud smeared on the fence. Let's just say that "farmer Bob" was not happy. All I could think of was now who was going to wash the fence? Such is the life of the "gentleman farmer".