Verdant garden

The garden is peaking. Everything is lush and producing fresh produce for our table. Each day, I pick another pint of grape tomatoes. The bush beans are on the verge of a third picking, but the Kentucky Wonders are holding out on us--lots of flowers, but still no beans. And the squashes, well the winter squashes are creeping over the flower beds, into the driveway, and up the walkway. We should have a decent crop of buttercup and delicata for the fall. The yellow summer squashes are putting forth just enough at a time to keep caught up eating them--grilled, sauteed with onion, and maybe with some fresh tomatoes! My nemesis, the fully red-ripened bell pepper still eludes me. Not enough water, sun, good soil? I never have achieved the end product featured in the catalogs! As for the eggplant, it looks like we may have another late crop again, due to my late start this spring. But there's still time for us to get in some late carrots, lettuce, spinach, and garlic. Lord knows, with the number of carrots Harley eats, we need a big bumper crop!

Tomatoes...at last!

All winter, I crave the sweet juiciness of a tomato, and none of the store-bought varieties can come close. At last, the grape tomatoes are coming in fast and furious, and the first Amish Paste tomato dropped off the vine. The Brandywines are slowly swelling, but still green as their leaves. They will be the last tomatoes, picked just as fall is starting to show her colors in the maples. But now summer's sweetness has arrived on our doorstep. It's too bad there's  no way to preserve that same fresh-from-the-vine flavor. Yes, I'll can them for sauce and other recipes, but the sun-warmed flavor is different. For a few months out of the year, we can savor summer's freshness. Tonight, fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella on homemade bread--our own bruschetta!

Rain, rain, go away!

I think it's time to grow gills. This constant rain and dismal grey is beginning to wear on me. Kudos to those inhabitants of the Pacific northwest. I don't know how they do it!

I've neglected the garden (not that there's much to do except weed), leaving the lettuce beds to the slugs and snails. We finally had a brief respite last evening. The sun actually shone! I grabbed my hoe and made a dash to the potatoes which needed some serious hilling. Then I tackled the greens. Bolting spinach and slug-chewed lettuce were on last night's menu. Our basil, well it's just throwing in the towel. The plants are yellowed and chewed by some critter. I may have to dash to the greenhouse and see if they still have some potted plants so I can start anew. Yet, Ocimum basilica (Genovese basil) really needs some hot temperatures and strong sun, so maybe I'd be wasting money. Same for the tomatoes--very lush green, but the flowers.....hmmm....