Officially Summer

I have a bowl that was given to me last year for my birthday. It's a regular bowl...not very big, not over the top pricey....BUT it makes me smile. It speaks to me. (whatever that really means!) So, maybe it doesn't say actual "words", yet somehow whenever it catches my eye I hear a little voice in my head whispering " Be Happy".

Do you know what makes my smile even brighter?? What makes me 187 times happier?

When I look in my bowl and see this......

Oh yeah, baby! Summer is officially here in my backyard!!

I can hardly wait until my bowl looks like this.

Getting Excited About Harvest 2011...

It's that time of the year again! All the vegetable plants are safely in the ground, the sun is warm and the days are long. Woohoo!! We were late getting the summer veggies in the ground this year because I underestimated my spring harvest time, but they seem to be taking to the dirt like a duck in water.

Speaking of water....I wish it would rain every once in a while. It was all kinds of wet around here until I planted one week ago. Then, BAM, the waterworks from the sky shut off. Personally, I don't see why it just can't rain every night from 1 am to 4 am. Yep, that would do the trick! Sure wish we could arrange that. For now, I'm spending my evenings in the garden watering and weeding. Hopefully soon, I will add harvesting to that list. Of course, it is awfully peaceful and quiet in the garden...

Hmm, maybe I don't need the rain!

My oregano has grown bigger than I ever imagined. Need to look up recipes using oregano! Have any to share?

We have at least 4 different pepper plants this year. I see signs of peppers on all of them.


I just love when cucumbers grab onto things. It's so cute. I know these will be coming out my ears soon. They usually do really well, here.


See those tomatoes already growing! Yum! The two in the back are sweet 100's. They should be called sweet 1000's, because they produce UNBELIEVABLE amounts of yumminess.

Just trying to be patient and waiting til mid July.

These peas are so delicious. We picked a bowl yesterday and ate them all.

I had to pull this one because it was too crowded. Well, that and I wanted to see how they were coming along. It actually looks like a carrot!

No garden is complete without the squash section.

We have other herbs and veggies growing, as well. I'll share more as they grow and I discover new ways to prepare them.

How is your garden going this year? What do you do when certain vegetables overtake your kitchen table?

I'd love to hear!

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"

it has begun....

Earlier this season I had a battle with creatures of the winged variety. Yes, the early bird was getting up before me and checking out the garden. I have no problem sharing for the most part....but I must draw the line on some things. I have been waiting since last summer for a nice, sun-ripened, homegrown tomato. Our plants are so full and their poor branches are sagging from the weight of large GREEN tomatoes. We bought three plants that produce the smaller cherry tomato variety. One reason I made sure to plant the cherry tomatoes was to tide me over until the big boys ripened. I waited and waited and was beyond excited to see a hint of pink on a few of the little cherry ones. I knew the time was coming and I'd be able to just pop that baby right in my mouth and squeeze out the juicy yumminess. Imagine my shock to come out one morning and find what was to be my very first tomato of the 2010 season pecked to pieces!

Ugh!!

Well, I quickly told myself it was ok. I figured this was some sort of testing of character or perhaps there was a lesson on patience that I should be gleaning from this...and I certainly didn't want to fail any test or opportunity to grow. Plus...there was another tomato that was just about ready! It was so close that I was sure another 24 hours would do the trick. I could wait...

Next day...it, too was pecked to pieces. I officially (well, posted on Facebook..that's official, right?) declared war and got some wonderful advice from friends. I didn't have to do anything because it seemed like my little feathered friend had left town overnight. I thought maybe word got out that I was about to go ugly on him and he packed his little bags and hit the road. (I didn't hurt him...I promise!!) Well, apparently he just went to visit his cousin to let my jets cool....because he's now back and busy pecking tomatoes that are just about ready.

So...this weekend netting is going up.

Nobody messes with my tomatoes!!

Here's a bowl full of the ones the little birdie missed along with some fresh basil picked from our garden.

It went into a veggie dish for dinner that the family declared a winner!

Bounty

Yea, harvesting has begun!! We've been eating squash and cucumbers for a good week now.

The cukes are coming in like crazy. Tomorrow, I plan to try a freezer pickle recipe I found online. I wish I grew up on a farm and this kind of stuff didn't scare me....but it does!!

There are bushels of peppers ready to pick, so I'm hunting for pickled pepper ring recipes, too. Yet again, scaring myself silly. I figure I might as well jump right in and send myself right over the edge.

Oh, and to make it even more frightening, I'm venturing into gluten free baking. Oh, yes I am! This week I will be attempting chocolate zucchini muffins. Who knows, by the end of the summer I may no longer shake (and sweat!) when the mere thought of canning, preserving or gluten free baking enters my mind. It could happen!

You may notice there is a lot of green and yellow in the picture. One color is missing....RED! I have a pesky bird (or two or twenty) that is delighting in ripe tomatoes. MY ripe tomatoes!! The very ones that I have been watching and drooling over for weeks. I've gotten lots of good suggestions and I've declared war. I will win! My plan of making homemade spaghetti sauce and salsa hinges on my victory.

I can almost taste it...

garden time...

This year our garden has taken off with a bang. It's amazing to go out there each day to see the changes. Last year the garden was lame and that was sad. This year, we just keep on smiling.

I find it hard to believe the squash has only been in the ground for 3 weeks. We'll be eating fresh by the end of this week.

Just thought I'd share a few (hundred) photos of our vegetable garden.

I didn't get any close up of the bush beans over there on the right, but they are doing well and are covered with blossoms.

Patty Pan Squash


Our Squash bed

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Anyone have a good pickle recipe?

We just added some bamboo poles for the cukes to keep growing.

Hungarian Wax Peppers

Jalapenos

Pole Beans
These beans will be purple, but they turn green when cooked.

Tomato Berry plant
Don't they look like little green strawberries?

We have 16 tomato plants this summer.

I'm hoping for bunches and bunches of tomatoes.
Remind me I said that come August....

How is your garden growing?

planting day....

Woohoo, the day has finally come. Yes, sirree...today is the day to get some serious veggies in the ground. Last night Mike and I laid them all out in their respective beds. This morning my mom came over and helped me plant them. We were done before lunch, thank goodness. I did plant seeds and have my radishes getting close to harvesting...hopefully! Now, with some sun, water and luck they will do their job and grow and produce. I want lots and lots of yummy veggies.

Here's an early morning picture of the garden. Every plant has been placed in a spot and is just waiting to get plopped down in the dirt to spread it's roots.

We have 16 pepper plants, so far.....hot ones and sweet ones.

We bought three kinds of squash this year, including these patty pans.

Here's one bed of tomatoes and cukes. (we have two)

Here's the squash bed...


...the pepper bed and



the full garden shot.



We have bush beans, bush pickle cucumbers, bush cucumbers, regular cucumbers, hungarian wax peppers, jalapenos, red bells, orange bells, green bells, sweet banana peppers, serrano peppers, a chocolate pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan, Mr. Stripey tomatoes, better boy, beef master, sweet 100's, yellow pear tomatoes, an orange heirloom tomato, plum tomatoes and a few other kinds of tomatoes. Also, some herbs, radishes, lettuce and carrots. Although...the lettuce looks a little....sad. We'll see. I'm hoping to bring you lots of good yummy pictures during the summer. Wish me luck!

veggie garden update

It's been a while since we checked out our big spring project. Remember we built six raised veggie garden beds.

Let's take a peek....

Ah....the fresh dirt is ready for planting. I checked and its loaded with big juicy worms, too. Just perfect for growing baskets and baskets of produce.

Wait...what's that in the far bed. Is something coming up already? Let's move in for a closer look.

By golly, is it what I think it is?


YEP!


Our first batch of iceberg lettuce is up! I told you all we were garden masters. Wait till you see what's happening tomorrow in the garden.

HINT....it's quite a bit better then our first harvest.

Spring project....part 3

Today was H.O.T. There is nothing like waking up in April and jumping right into mid-summer. We knew we were a little behind on working on the garden, but this heat made us kick ourselves for not finishing the job sooner! Check out what we accomplished.

This is landscape fabric and we decided to put it down on the walkways in between the beds. The thought is that we may get some mulch later on, but for now this will work.

Here's a casualty of the garden project. It was a "cute little bush type thingie" that was in the way. Can you tell I'm a seasoned gardener?? I have all the right vocabulary down pat.

Almost finished with the landscape fabric. The temp is in the 90's and we had to keep taking water breaks. Not exactly the type of day to be doing this work, but the clock is ticking.


Next up are the fence stakes. We need to keep the dogs out of the garden beds. I can imagine puppies racing right through my tomatoes and hearing snap, snap. That would make me cry. So, the fence went up. I don't want to cry.




Dodger is feeling better and is back on duty. Mike said he was "guardin' the garden". Get it?



Ah, the fence is up. We invited my parents over with their dog to test it out. It worked. He looked puzzled, but he didn't try to run through it. Success!

It was getting dark, but we set up a grid on the small bed. I plan to plant herbs in here and wanted a way to keep them straight until they come up. The herb seeds will go in tomorrow. I ran out of daylight. The lettuce, carrots and radishes are planted. Crossing my fingers and hoping for something green to pop up....

other than a weed!!

Dogwoods....

There are many, many reasons I love this time of the year. I keep saying that!!

Here is one reason....

(don't forget you can click on any of the pictures to get a nice full size view. I think #4 is my favorite!)