A little surprise....

The past few days we have had some good thunderstorms roll in during the nights. This was good, because it meant I didn't need to water my veggie garden. That saves me about 45 minutes. It also meant that I didn't have to go out in this horrible muggy heat and stand in the garden, so I chose to stay put right inside with the AC cranking and the fans blowing. That's what you need to do to survive around here during the "Muggies". OK...so really, that's what I NEED to do! Go ahead, call me a wimp. I don't care....much.

Anyway, it seems my fresh veggies were still stacking up on my counter. K would go outside and come in with a few(hundred) cucumbers and a ripe tomato every once in a while. Sometimes, Mike would go out, look around and walk back in and plop a handful of teeny grape tomatoes in my bowl. I would just look from my back window and see the plants still standing and that was good enough for me.

This morning I realized I had a whole tray full of big ripe tomatoes and I wasn't about to let those babies go bad. So, I gathered them and made the most delicious homemade spaghetti sauce. I even sent K out for some parsley, oregano and basil fresh off the plants. There is such an incredible feeling of satisfaction when cooking from your own garden. It also didn't hurt that around the dinner table the prevalent sound was "yummmm".

While the sauce was simmering, I decided to take a little inventory. I used up ALL my big tomatoes with the sauce. I have a little bowl of grape tomatoes to use, but I have some plans for those involving avocados and jalapenos. My jalapeno bowl is getting a little full, so I made plans to freeze them tomorrow. The cucumbers, WELL....I try not to think about the cucumbers. They are my "zucchini" this year. You know...the vegetable that just keeps coming and coming. Other than those pesky cucumbers, which I do love but can't manage to eat 6 a day, I was feeling a little on top of my game this evening. No veggie is going to rot on my watch!

When we came home from errands this evening I said to Mike, "Hey, meet me in the garden. We have a few minutes of light left and we should probably poke around. I hope we have some of those purple beans ready. I would like some for dinner tomorrow." hehehe...

There are purple beans out there, but it was too dark in the bean pole teepee that we made, so I'll get them tomorrow. Besides, I was too busy picking these veggies. Our peppers are finally turning red, which was exciting. Notice the cucumbers....sigh.....

However, this would be considered a nice harvest from our backyard garden, but NO....this was not all. In fact the picture below doesn't show it all. We had flashlights out there, but the mosquitoes chased us in the house before we could finish. The neighbors probably thought we were a tad loony if they were listening to us at all. "Squealing with delight" is the best way to describe the sounds heard from our garden this evening!

Guess, I need to get busy again.

Signed,
"No longer feeling on top of my game"