Our garden is A MESS.
What began with promise in the spring has turned into summer's dry, hot reality: a garden where the weeds have zoomed ahead of us, triumphantly soaring to the sky, as if to prove that they are the victors. But we award no trophies for tallest weeds!
Instead, we look among the weeds for the treasure tucked away. And we find it.
Basil, my favorite herb...
Green peppers...
...some to be eaten now, and some to be chopped and frozen to be pulled out in winter's bleakness and used in recipes for food that tastes like summer. I'm giddy every time I think about how I won't need to buy green peppers this coming winter at the grocery store; they're expensive in the winter, and I'm pleased at the thought of saving some money. :)
Tomatoes...
...oh, the tomatoes! We've got all stages of growth: blossoms...
...green ones...
...all the way to red ones. Home-grown tomatoes are probably my most favorite item of garden produce. If we only had enough room for one plant, I would want it to be a tomato plant. :)
We have cucumbers...
...and more cantaloupe than we know what to do with.
Our corn didn't win any records for maturing the earliest in the county...
...but at last, I believe it's ready. We'll be eating it soon.The grapes are coming along wonderfully, and we have high hopes that an abundant harvest this fall will compensate for the last two years of very poor harvests.
And then there are the potatoes.
How many people does it take to dig potatoes?*insert your own punch line here...because I can't think of one* :)
But yeah, we've got potatoes.
Lots and lots of potatoes.
In dirt so hard, you'd think you were digging in a brickyard.
Our mighty men have managed to unearth quite a few of them...but hey, we're not stingy with our potato-digging excitement. If you'd like the chance to show us your stuff, or if you're in the need of exercise and don't want to drive all the way to town to go to a gym, or if you just want to take pity on us, we'll do this for you:We'll leave the fork out for you. ;-)
There are also the non-edible items growing around here. Crepe myrtle, for example, is glorious right now...
...but David's marigolds, humble though they may be, are almost as brilliant in their flashy orange hues.Speaking of non-edibles (although technically, I suppose they could very well be edibles, at least in some parts of the world), our two goats still inhabit our pastureland. They've grown so much since we got them two summers ago that our old descriptions of "the little one" and "the bigger one" don't apply. They're both bigger ones now!
Growth around here isn't confined to plants and animals, and this little one is a fine example of that.
Almost on a daily basis, we see changes in Shav. New words, new expressions, new actions all spring forth, amazing and delighting us.
These lovely days of summer are good for growing things.
These are golden days.
Absolutely adorable new header! LOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to do a garden post. However it keeps getting away from me. We went away for the weekend and we came back to a huge growth explosion in the garden. Not only are the veggies out of control, Sadly so are the weeds. I have not been very diligent about getting out there and using the hoe to dig them up.
Pretty sure there is scripture about this. . .
Your pictures are beautiful as well! thanks for sharing!!!
JDaniel would love to dig potatoes. I would love to be able to pull out green peppers in the winter. They are so expensive.
ReplyDeleteI love how you end with a picture of Shav, or of one of the boys, at least. Lovely as the plant life, and animal life is.... nothing beats seeing these lovely faces :)
ReplyDeleteSo.... peppers - you freeze them? Just chop them and freeze them??
And tomatoes - how long do they take before they begin to turn red? I have some at the green stage and this is our first time with tomatoes.... please tell me it wont be long - I'm so impatient!
A x
Wonderful garden, weeds and all! We'd gladly take some of that cantaloupe off your hands...my kids eat it like candy. Is it hard to grow? We grow tomatoes, squash, and corn..never tried cantaloupe. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun, CUTE, HANDSOME!! new header!! I love it! You are brave to show pictures of your garden :) I have not been so brave. Yet. I love canning and freezing for the winter. Well, really it's one of those things that I usually wish I could snap my fingers and it be done for me ;) But I do love the benefits, which is the greatest reason I do it. I'm envious of your beautiful potatoes! We have too many moles and voles (that we *could* treat for, but it's far from top priority) and they just eat the potatoes.
ReplyDeleteLove that header! Yay for garden produce!! :-)
ReplyDeletei love this post. reminds me all the awesome memories I have of the summer so far.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness...so yummy, so beautiful, and so handsome!!!!
ReplyDeletei believe i read somewhere that goats are actually the most consumed animal worldwide....and i have eaten it, in the caribbean! :)
ReplyDelete