Garden Production

Its August already...when did that happen!!! The produce is rolling in. My bean bed has been amazing and its far from done yet. The Eastern Butterwax, and Provider bush beans have been prolific, and the climbers have been producing steadily as well. The second sowing of bush beans is blooming now, so there will be no shortage of beans this winter! We had our first toasted BLT sandwich yesterday for lunch...a big Mule Team beefsteak whose juicy slice pretty much covered the slice of toast....yum... The sweet Rapunzel cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen, tresses of little red jewels, and the paste tomatoes are turning yellow and orange on their way to red. One batch of Bread and Butter pickles is on the shelves in the storage room, and a batch of 9 day pickles are in the brine. I've managed, so far, to keep up with just one Black Beauty Zucchini plant. The turnips are big and pushing their tops up out of the soil and mulch, onions are starting to keel over, and I've dug a few hills of new spuds and a couple of garlic bulbs, and they are beautiful. The butternut squash and pie pumpkin vines are competing to see who can produce the most fruit. A batch of basil pesto is portioned and frozen, as well as a batch of garlic scape pesto. Broccoli are giving enough side shoots for fresh eating every few days, and the ever-bearing strawberries are producing about half a cup every few days as well. Just enough to decorate two servings of ice cream! The first planting of carrots is just perfect now, and the second planting is almost big enough to be thinned. The California Wonder peppers are loving this hot summer. We've already used a few, and there are more hanging on the plants, as well as a myriad of blooms. The first planting of beets is processed, pickled and frozen, and the second planting is up. A fresh planting of lettuce, spinach, kale, chard and radishes are growing. The 4' X 4' bed of parsnips are growing large leaves, with the promise of big delicious roots to be dug early next spring. Its such a delight to go out and wander through the garden beds, picking something here, pulling something there, and having fresh, 'dirt to table' meals. Its the very best time of the summer! (At the far end of the second picture is a new bed, just created, that I am 'lasagna' layering with cardboard, grass clippings and manure. It will be ready to be dug up next spring!)