An Interview with Kerri Howard

(Harv Estman, a deep radio-announcer-type voice) This is Harv Estman with the 2009 garden report and our special guest, gardener Kerri Howard. Welcome to the show, Kerri.

(Kerri) Thanks for having me, Harv. It's my pleasure to be here!

(Harv) Produce is still trickling in from the Howard garden, but already the pantry is well stocked for the coming winter and beyond. Kerri, tell us how you feel about this year's harvest.

(Kerri) It's been a great year in the garden, for sure! With the late planting we had for some of our veggies, and the lack of super hot days, I wondered whether all of the crops would thrive, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

(Harv) Is there anything that didn't fare well this year?

(Kerri) Two things. The cantaloupes really needed a longer growing season. They're the size of baseballs now, so unless the summery weather continues for several more weeks, those just aren't going to happen for us. The other crop flop was the broccoli, which really grew well, but it ended up full of worms. Next time I'm going to have to spray it earlier in the year to keep the bugs away.

(Harv) I see your pantry is filled with beans and pickles. How much produce have you canned this year?

(Kerri) We've got about 30 quarts plus 30 pints of green beans, and those are done for the year, other than gleaning the occasional handful for dinner. I've got 34 quarts of dill pickles, and those are still producing a little, but they're definitely slowing down. I may get another three or four quarts off of them yet. There are also ten pints of salsa hiding in there somewhere and I'm hoping to make another batch this week as more tomatoes ripen up.

(Harv) Does that represent the majority of your gardening?

(Kerri) The beans were definitely a good portion of the garden, as are the tomatoes, but we've also been enjoying lots of corn on the cob, which you won't see in the pantry. Those are definitely the three biggest space-takers in the garden this year, with cucumbers and pumpkins coming in close behind.

(Harv) Is there anything else you planted this year?

(Kerri) We did have carrots earlier in the summer. We've been enjoying strawberries since June -- they're ever-bearing plants and will keep on going until a hard frost. Besides tomatoes for salsa, we also have four cherry tomato plants which have been going great guns! We've got lots of zucchini, which I've been pawning off on anyone who will take it. Would you like some?

(Harv, laughing) That's very generous of you, but remember I'm only a fictional character. I don't really eat anything.

(Kerri) Oh, right, sorry. Let's see, the pumpkins are coming along nicely and I'm optimistic that they'll be big, beautiful and orange by Halloween. We planted raspberries this year, but they're just baby plants yet and only produced a handful of berries. Oh, dill! I'm so glad I planted dill! With all the pickles I've been doing it's been a lifesaver having a very abundant supply of dill on hand!

(Harv) Will next year's garden be much the same as this year's?

(Kerri) Some things I'll always plant -- corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, beans. But I've been able to can enough beans and cucumbers this year that I probably won't need to do any next year, so I may just plant a few to eat fresh and try something different in their places next summer, possibly potatoes, maybe some onions and garlic.

(Harv) Sounds delicious! If I had a mouth I'm certain it would be watering! That wraps up our interview with Kerri Howard and the 2009 garden report. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Kerri, and thank-you to all our listeners for tuning in!