Midwest Gardening 2026: Veggies, Varmints and Weeds.

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Midwest Gardening: VEGGIES

This post will be quite a hodge podge, we have Veggies planted and replanted and replanted everywhere this year. 

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We have two large Rhubarb plants...and I'm waiting until next week to cut and make some jam. All our homemade jams are gone. Strawberry Rhubarb is one of our favorites.

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In the section we call the back 40, which is about 12 x 12 and hasn't been used at all for years we have planted in pumpkins and squash. So far they are doing well, and there are a bunch of flowers in there also. This gets morning sun only, I hope that's enough.

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Early morning sun was so strong yesterday...Peas need to be picked again...Totally loving the peapod peas! 

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We have two big pots full! Semi shade in the afternoon, keeps them cooler.

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Here's another shot of the pots...just thick with plants and peas.

My lettuce and radish containers are pretty much done. The radishes bolted during the rain and didn't radish...but we did get quite a few early. Those containers are ready for new seeds this week. We've had fresh lettuce for almost a month now, and it should continue with late plantings.

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I had to go and purchase 2 yellow summer squash plants and two green zucchini plants, 2 separate plantings only yielded one of each. So they are late, but are now established...Some of the 'weedy' looking plants are parsnips! Next week I'm cutting the bare fronds for mono printing and gel plate printing, can't wait.

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Opposite the zuchs are 5 tomato plants in front of the Asparagus which has all gone to seed. Next year will be the bumper crop of Asparagus I think. There are tomato plants under there!

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Across the now cardboard path are 8 broccoli plants with beets in between, I have some great grown from seed Dill going....YAY, but we are a long time before cucumbers start.

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I have 4 purchased Brussel Sprouts planted, and lots of WEEDS. Waiting for the Squash /Pumpkins for the fence to come up??? More failed seeds! or maybe critter munchers, seemed like nothing lasted more than a day when it popped up?

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I planted Bush Beans three times in 4 places...???Very hit or miss. At the price of seeds, I'm very disappointed. The Whirly-gigs are supposed to be deterrents for critters? I also have vines planted up the fence, but again, poor germination. 

I will be doing an analyzed post on the seed failures across the board this year...UGH! 

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Across the way are the big planters which are doing well. Radishes bolted, we've had some nice chard. The Chinese beans, did not come up on the end closest to the left of the pic. We also had a large burrowing animal (woodchuck, squirrel, ???) that made quite a mess in both large planters. We've sprinkled enough deterrent, that I wouldn't think anything would want to be in there. Critters are a problem...no bunnies this year, though...they are too busy eating decorative grasses and Hostas in the front yard.

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A couple of random sunflowers popped up in both the big planters, and will give some shade to the plants if it gets to hot. I have long Delicata Squash planted in the first box. 

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The back one we have big Cucumbers planted and they are doing well. 

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Well supposedly Squash and pumpkins are supposed to be coming up in the back, along with Beans...on one lattice. NO LUCK, lots of weird looking plants, seems hubby threw wildflower seeds back there, behind the tomatoes.

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New addition is the old windmill frame added to grow pumpkins and Squash up . So far I have some good growth.

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With all the repeated plantings, I really don't know what is coming up where, this is a PIE PUMPKIN though...at least I think so.

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My stool and bucket are ready for me to trim the tomatoes back (lower leaves and unproducing leaves.)

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Around the bedspring and lattice are Cucumbers on one side and climbing Beans on the other. These are going well, and a few pots of Peppers which I had started in the greenhouse.

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And LOOK, real peppers already, these I hope are long sweet peppers???we won't know until.....LOL. 

We have potatoes in a garbage can, and tomatoes, peppers, peas, lettuces, and Herbs on the front porch. 

Hopefully we will start having some fruit on the vine, soon! 

How Does Your Garden Grow? 

How are your Flowers Blossoming?

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Garden Popping with Produce, Blanche and Freezing Veggies!

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Hi, All...well you are probably sick of my painting, but the other half of my life is gardening. Honestly, we have had a ton of rain here, so you have to run out and do something whenever it is not pouring. 

But, HOT...our humidity actually has been in the 90%, the bugs love it, I don't.

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We've had two meals of Beans, the Broccoli is starting- 4 nice heads this week. The first heads are always the best 

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Yellow summer squash are starting. Lots of blossoms, but with the rain the blossoms have limped up and fallen off before polination.  I have flowers here and there to encourage flowering, and the sunflowers are everywhere.

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We've had one small Zucchini, and a small Cucumber is waiting for salad tonight.

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The Snow Peas are done, I'm leaving them to dry for seed. And, I will replant in August. We can always pop them in the greenhouse if it ever turns COLD.

 Meanwhile we have had multiple meals, and now a bag that needs to be frozen.

Monday is clean the fridge day...hubby and I both shop when we are out and we both bought a bag of those small peppers that keep so well and are sweet and tasty.  So, long as I'm going to clean the fridge, I decided to blanch and freeze all our miscellaneous produce and some of the fresh from the garden.

A simple HOW TO:

BLANCHING AND FREEZING VEGETABLES

Equipment:

Knives, cutting board, compost container, large covered pot, Sieves or colander, medium metal bowl for icing, drainboard, pot holders, draining or straining spoon, timer, freezer bags, hot pad holders.

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Today I'm using my 1968 REVERE WARE WORKHORSE Dutch Oven. 

Specs online say this is 6 quarts, which is perfect for small batches of veggie blanching. This is the last of my Revere ware pots and pans from our wedding to survive all these years, it's from when they were still well made. I like using it because the lid rattles when it comes to a boil.

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The first veggie I did, was cleaned and de-stringed Snow Peapods. This was the last picking and there are a few mature peas in here, but they are still so tender.

 I  blanched them in boiling water for maybe 2 minutes, and then tossed into ice water until chilled. Scoop them onto the drain board and on to the next Veggies.

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I did roughly three cups of beans....very young and tender, these were blanched in the same kettle of water for 3 minutes and then sieve drained and tossed into fresh cold water and ice...completely chill and drain.

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The time in-between was just enough to prep the next veggie and let the water recover to boiling. I use a metal bowl because of the ability to chill fast and is also heat tolerant.

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My last batch for this kettle of water were three medium (@ 4-5") heads of fresh Broccoli, loosely chopped.

All were blanched for maybe 4-5 minutes.

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(or until the boil returned) and then chilled in ice water and put on the drainboard. Here, I dumped them in the hot water.

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After blanching and in the ice water, the Broccoli is still crunchy, but remember you are going to cook it one more time, so less time is better. Broccoli will break down if you pre-cook for too long, so I just cook it until it starts to boil.

Well about the rest, I was going to do the Summer Squash, too, but we will have that tonight for our Carb with Turkey burgers and Asparagus (purchased).

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So that leaves the 1/2 bag of peppers, a purchased Yellow Pepper and

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these homegrown garden onions. I have had lots of onions through the Spring and early summer. and the ones in the raised planters should be ready next week. Then I will plant some more for Fall.

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So chop, chop, chop...loosely and these I did a bit large, and the onions and other pepper a bit smaller.

These were tossed into boiling water and less than 2 minutes then into the a fresh ice bath.

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Perfect assortment for any cooked dish. Now into the freezer bags.

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The Pepper mix is still draining..but, these I just label the date..you can see what everything is.

I use GOOD quality freezer bags. I Reuse them by washing the bags out and drying them and then using for leftovers. 

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The fresh on sale Asparagus...pre-cooked in the microwave for 5 minutes so it can keep a day or two more. We will still have fresh for our omelets in the morning besides. Again, hubby bought extra because of the sale.

Cleaning up is always the REDO or REUSE  by Composting. We add some paper products, paper towels and coffee filters. Everything else is vegetable waste or green, egg shells, from the kitchen except for any meat or dairy products, NO Banana peels, and we are trying to eliminate seeds goes into the compost. (Bread products are toasted and fed to the birds)

All this gets layered with grass cuttings, bush clippings and any non-weed greenery we have from the yard. Hubby layers in Peat Moss and this year, Vermiculite to loosen our clay laden soil. We have been amending the soil here since the early 80's and well, it's still clay...blacker clay, but clay, lol.

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While cleaning the kitchen the full bowl of compost went out, and I started a new bowl. Mornings coffee grounds and an egg shell.

I was careful not to throw any pepper seeds into here, 

 Honestly we have more plants growing in our compost pile then the garden. 

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I wonder what all those Squash/Pumpkin looking plants are?? 

Tomatoes, peppers, maybe Watermelon? We had Watermelon on Memorial Day...LOL.

All those in the back I think are Tomato plants?

How are your 

Garden Veggies Doing?

Thanks always for visiting, 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own unless identified, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

Midwest Gardening 2025: Large Raised Container Gardening and more.

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Midwest Gardening 2025: Large Container Gardening

Last year's purchase for container gardening. This year I will actually fill them with dirt...and herbs.

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We are definitely getting older, so I explored Large Container Gardening in the form of metal Raised Beds in January/February. I hit a sale on a cheap site  and ordered two large 6'x3'x2' high metal planters for our vegetable garden. Good quality, but of course the directions weren't great, American to Chinese to American...not so good. Many sites sell these, and I could not get a photo without attaching a specific source...so just search raised metal planters.

PS...American made would be 4 times the cost..so as fixed income seniors...I ordered these in February.

Hubby doesn't bend over, and while I do---I can't do everything on our little .27 acres, so we thought this would be a good idea. 

Think: 6 panels, 4 corners, 2 side supports, 3 cross bars and a thousand screws, LOL.

Assembling the raised beds was really a pain---but easy once you figured out a system. We finally set up two table surfaces out on the patio, placed the walls half put together and then worked inside between the walls of the planter. Between Hubby's shaky hands and my hand-numb finger weakness we got them together in about 6 hours for the two. 

Lightweight we carried them into the garden. That was the easy part. Now we had to fill them with 32 cubic feet of something.

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  I filled them a third full of brush and branches, neighbor's bamboo stalks, and lots of leaves. Then came the dirt...we ordered two pallets of 40# -150 bags of dirt, a good mixture without fertilizer. Alternating with our compost dirt and the new dirt, they got filled to the top. I stirred it all up and we watered between the layers.

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Hubby built a plastic conduit trellis frame between them and I used some wide netting to make the sides and top. The idea is to train Zucchini and Yellow Summer squash to go up the trellis, so we can walk through and pick them...HA, we will see. 

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The mesh is hard to see on the sides, but here on the top it's visible.

On the fence raised bed (we added 6 more bags  of dirt to that) and I planted Pickle Bush pickles in one and Bush Beans in another along with squashes to climb up the grid on the fence.

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I'm hoping to freeze a ton of beans which our favorites this year. So easy blanch, chill, drain and bag. Mesh helps to keep out the squirrels and birds from eating the seeds. 

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So this week we are planting the beds and lots of pots.  Hopefully I can get the greenhouse emptied this wee. We think we have the bunnies ostracized from the garden at this point, I did see one hiding under the grill...but no sign they are eating anything...two bags of Critter-Rid has also helped so far.

I am moving the sunflowers all into the garden or fenced areas, so they have a chance to grow from the large seedlings we have in the greenhouse. I hope to plant Tomatoes in pots, I did get some Pepper Plants in pots before the rain.

Last night we had quite a rain, FINALLY, so we can til the rest of the garden after we get rid of all the WingyDingy's the Maple trees gave up in the wind last night. 

We were spared the worst of the storms that traveled across the Midwest  last night...So glad we had the plants were safe and sound in the greenhouse. Leggy tomatoes wouldn't have made it outside with the pelting rain and the WIND...!

We had over 90 yesterday and high 80's today, so I have to plant, PLANT, PLANT!

Some pretty...Transplanted Hydrangeas 

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I did get all the beds cleaned out...finally this week. Our tulips were so gorgeous.

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Our Viburnum isn't very happy this year, I will cull many branches out of here to encourage the new growth. This shrub/tree is over 38 years old best we can recollect, and the heat and dry of last year took it's toll.

Wasp catchers are everywhere---because I'm allergic, they really do work as do the Fly catchers which reduces the flies, too.

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Tulips were gorgeous....and the colors were super!

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I have two pansy pots with a Peppermint plant in them for bee protection.

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

Thanks always for visiting, 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission.  

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi