The colder than usual summer has led to a mellow pace in the garden this year and I am finding it to be just the right fit for me. We are steadily harvesting produce, but not too much. With a little farmers' market shopping and some gifts from my dad, we have all we need for eating and a manageable amount for putting by.
Our broccoli is one of our most ambitious crops this year. It appears that it has become a tradition to document a side by side comparison of our broccoli crowns with my noggin. We are again eating as much as we can and putting the rest in the freezer.
Now in its 3rd season, the front yard herb garden is largely a volunteer situation with a few annual herbs thrown in there. This dill plant was growing up from a crack in the sidewalk. It amused me to see it there so I left it for a long time...until I needed it for pickles!
The cool summer has been ideal for growing kale. A bunny (see below) got into our garden and totally decimated our row of kale at the start of the season. It has made a comeback!
I am really loving fresh mint tea as a nightcap. Sometimes I add a little lemon, sometimes I add a little honey and when I am really feeling extravagant, I'll add both.
The raspberry crop is about to get its second wind. The first round is always the lighter one, so I am hoping I'll get a good crop of berries before it gets too cold this fall.
We are growing a lot of new varieties of tomatoes this year, but the standby variety is still our favorite. You just can't beat the sweetness of Sungolds.
This caterpillar and its friend ate a lot of my dill. I didn't mind sharing.
I DO mind sharing with bunnies, though. They are greedy! This one and another one have been spending far too much time in our yard, if you ask me. Our old dog isn't doing a great job of patrolling the place anymore, so this bunny has gotten pretty comfortable.
We think the garden is pretty well fenced, but there are still a few week spots we are hoping the bunny doesn't discover.
Purple pole beans! I learned this year that I prefer pole beans over bush beans. I think they are easier to pick, the plants are prettier to look at and they come in purple! Unfortunately, the purple doesn't stick around when you cook them.
These blanched beans are also headed for the freezer.
Garlic dill refrigerator pickles made with my dad's cucumbers.
And, curried zucchini pickles made with dad's zucchini.
Our cucumber and zucchini plants are really not thriving this year, so I was grateful to get a bag of each from my dad.
Soybean was our super volunteer crop this year. For the story of how this crop planted itself, check out my first garden post of 2013. A bunch of these made it into the freezer, too!
And, tomatoes. Oh, tomatoes, how I love thee. We have had no trouble eating these as fast as they ripen so far. Although, I think that scale will soon by tipping as we are expecting some warm and sunny temperatures to be with us this week.
It seems you are capturing all that summer has to offer! I love your photo of the black swallowtail caterpillar. I knew they liked parsley, but hadn't heard about dill.
ReplyDeleteElise, you are so smart! I had to go to an online resource to identify it and had determined it was the the same thing you said. I originally thought it was a monarch caterpillar but they are slightly different.
DeleteWhat a great update on the garden! My zucchini and cucumbers didn't do well this year, either. The tomatoes have been tasty and plentiful and the green beans have been out of control. It's been mostly cool here, too, so things have seemed slower than last year. Always fun to have a few good things from the garden, though. :)
ReplyDeleteBeth, I am glad you have a garden again this year. I am just starting the tomato preserving part of the season and am excited to restock my pantry and freezer. Did you get a dehydrator?
DeleteHey Trinity - We did not get a dehydrator...yet. Our small kitchen is pretty much at capacity, so we'll have to wait on that until we get a bigger place. Someday... :)
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