IN THE GARDEN

My favorite time to be in the garden is in the evening... when the shadows are long and the heat of the day is loosing it's grip on the land!

So, June 21st was the perfect time to spend a long evening in the garden.

Come walk with me and see how my garden grows...

Lettuce was first to be planted from seed early in the spring.  We have been harvesting it for a good month.  It is so fresh right from the garden with a sprinkle of homemade dressing!

 Soon it will be too hot for it and it will bolt and get bitter.

Then in August we will plant more seeds for a fall harvest!

If zucchini were worth their weight in gold...

Our zucchini are riotous every year!!!! They are the happiest campers in my garden!

As the sunny blossoms wither tiny zucchini begins to grow from them. 

Some of the tiny zucchini will probably be ready to harvest tomorrow... they grow FAST.

Cucumbers are a relative of zukes. Cucumbers are bed hogs... they like to spread out... and their curly tendrils grab on to anything standing... Their little blossoms will soon be delicious juicy cucumbers ready to eat or be turned into pickles!

Beets are another happy veggie... they are huddled together in one corner of a raised bed.

Their bright stems give away the color of the beet under the earth! I think their veiny leaves are so striking!

Eggplants are one of my very favorite. Their stems are a beautiful purple and their flowers are a lovely lavender.  Here is a bud just a day or two from blooming. Their fruit looks like it is too heavy for the plant.

Later this summer, we will have traditional aubergine eggplants, ones that look like round streaked globes and the long Japanese variety.

Just the thought of garden onions and leeks make me swoon! They are one of the stars of my garden!

There is something so satisfying about pulling them out from the earth.  It's a surprise! You never know exactly how big they have become over the summer.

I plant a variety called "Candy Sweet". Yes, the name suites them well!

Peppers abound at StoneGable. This year I planted several varieties. Green bell, red, yellow, banana, and a new small sweet variety.   

Our garden is organic so I pick them and eat them right in the garden!!!

What is a garden without tomatoes. I wait all year for the couple of months of tomato harvest!!!!

This year we planted Early Girl, Jet Star, Brandywine, Roma, Cherry and Pear tomatoes.

A couple of plants go a long way!

Tomatoes love our soil, but cannot tolerate long periods without rain. In dry July and August we water them regularly.

Our reward is tomatoes dripping with flavor!

Two newcomers to our garden this year are... celery and brussels sprouts.

Celery like tomatoes need lots of water.

We planted just 6 plants to see how they grow. I love watching and learning and experiencing new adventures in the garden.

So far... so good!

Brussels sprouts will stay in the garden long after I have put the rest of the garden to bed in the fall.

They taste best and get sweeter after a good hard frost.

It will be a delight to be harvesting from the garden between Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I cannot forget the only perennial in my veggie garden... rhubarb.

It starts to appear in very early spring. I have been pulling out it's tart strawberry red stalks for a month. When sweetened, it is tangy and delicious and makes scrumptious jam.

This year... so far... has been one of my garden's best. We have had a good amount of rain and nice summer days!

Our sour cherry tree is amazing this year... 

We have never had so much fruit!!!

Bobby and I are heading out again to pick more fruit. This afternoon I am making sour cherry Jam!

YUMMY!

As the summer progresses into the long dog days... my garden will start to get out of hand!!!  I'll invite you for another walk when the plants are mature and it becomes hard to keep up with the harvest... and the weeds!