My family teases me about trying to transform Mordor into The Hundred Acre Woods. I live in the land of extremes: Extremely cold winters, very hot summers, little precipitation,and high winds that blow the leaves right off the seedlings. Why do I attempt gardening under such conditions? I love a challenge, I enjoy providing inexpensive organic food for my family, but mostly I garden because I love playing in the dirt!
The roving herds of wild rabbits make it impossible for me to grow pansies any where other than hanging baskets. The wee pests also force me to grow most of my vegetables in raised garden beds.
Baby Raspberries! I also have strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, blueberries, and grapes. I have only harvested a handful of strawberries so far.
I have 4 varieties of lettuces growing. I planted the lettuces outside a little too early and had to improvise greenhouses to keep the plants alive. I grow lettuce and spinach all summer. I just switch to heat resistant varieties.
My Swiss Chard is almost ready to harvest. Confession: I have pinched some leaves for salad.
A Baby Bell Pepper. I have only planted two plants so far and have left the others in the portable greenhouse in case we have a cold snap.
A couple more days and we will be enjoying home grown tomatoes! How I grow tomatoes with our short growing season.
Troy says
Young Jackrabbit in Marinade
2 jackrabbits, sectioned
*Marinade for young jackrabbit
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. onion salt or powder
1/8 black or white pepper
¾ cup cracker crumbs
Canola oil or margarine
Marinate sectioned rabbits for 24 hours in sealable plastic bag.
Discard marinade.
Add flour, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper and cracker crumbs to sectioned meat in bag. Seal bag and shake to coat meat.
Fry meat over low to medium heat in skillet with canola oil or margarine. Servings: 6-8
*Marinade for Young Jackrabbit
1 can beer
2 onions, sliced
Garlic powder, sprinkle
Paprika, sprinkle
¼ tsp. ground clove
¼ tsp. nutmeg
2 large bay leaves
Tarragon, pinch
Mix all ingredients together for a marinade that will help "tame" jackrabbit, which is a strong-flavored dark meat. This may be cooked separately and served on top of the meat.
Alea says
Melissa- The rabbits are so cute…until your plants start disappearing! I have become a big fan of chicken wire. I posted a recipe for repellent today that might help with the flowers, but I wouldn’t advise putting it on anything edible ; )
Thanks Lori and Stephanie! I have to start my plants inside in March so they are big enough to get a jump start on growing season. Our average first frost is Aug. 21rst, so I have to make the most of the little time that I have.
Lori- Is there a way to keep racoons out of the garden? We will probably have them in our next location.
Stephanie says
Your garden looks great!I love how you are persevering even though you live in challenging conditions! Thanks for participating in How Does Your Garden Grow! I hope to see more from your garden!
Lori says
Wowee Girl, your garden is looking great!!! We aren’t bothered with rabbits but unless we put up electric fence around our garden, the deer will eat everything!! And one year, the raccoons were watching our corn ripen like we were….and overnight they destroyed the entire patch! Ugh! I could have cried! 🙂
Melissa says
We’ve had a family of rabbits in our neighborhood for several years. Last year they ate some of my flowers. This year I think they’ve attacked two of my poor defenseless tomato plants. I’m liking the idea of chicken wire more and more! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!