This is another self-indulgent, no-recipe post. You’ve been warned.
I mentioned yesterday that I was looking forward to harvesting my father-in-law’s garden. He’s already started getting enough out of it to make salad. Like the lettuce in the front here.
And the basil is producing like crazy. Close to time for some pesto.
The girls already know how to find the tomatoes that are ready.
Unfortunately the squirrels also know when they’re ready. This little sack of whatever-the-heck-it-is is the latest attempt to keep the little vermin away.
Hmm, there’s some maple trees growing in there. I’ll have to go pull those.
The peppers aren’t nearly as high as the tomatoes. I thought they’d be higher by now.
But maybe plant height doesn’t matter much. These things are gonna be huge.
And there’ll be plenty of red ones, too.
The potatoes look like they’re doing well, except for that one that the bugs seem to have found.
The zucchini, on the other hand, are downright mutantly-big.
The David is just about ready to harvest.
Ana’s become quite attached to the little guy.
And Winnie thinks it’s cool that she’s taller than him this year.
Maybe this will be the year we keep the raccoons away long enough to get some of the grapes ourselves. (Don’t tell Lou, but I’m not betting on it.)
Maybe I’ll shoot some pictures of my stuff. Or not, it’s pretty embarrassing next to these.
Well, that’s it for my pointless weekend post. See you next week with some more recipes. I’m not sure yet what it’ll be, but I’m betting it will involve the grill at some point.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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17 Comments
A garden post is even MORE exciting than a canning post! But I always become vaguely ashamed of the state of my garden when I see perfectly laid-out and weeded gardens like this one.
I’m also jealous of the peppers. My plants are very tempermental and have not yet produced anything edible, though they’re coming. Those huge things are just begging to be stuffed. You are going to do stuffed peppers, right?
I’m so envious! My grandparents had a huge, beautiful garden every year and I miss that so much. I tried my hand at tomatoes and peppers this year to start out slow. My tomatoes are doing great so far, but my bell peppers not so much. I do container gardening for now, but one day I hope to have a nice sized garden. My hubby is military so until we settle down containers are the way to go.
Thanks for a beautiful entry!
Kristin, I don’t get to do anything with them until there’s more coming in than he can keep up with. And that’s usually not until late August. When I asked if he noticed those two tomatoes he said, “And if you touch them I’ll kill you.”
And weeded? Did you miss the part where we’ve got freaking maple trees growing with the tomatoes?
April, have you tried bringing the peppers inside for the winter? I’ve seen them used as an indoor plant and they look reasonably attractive. Then as soon as it’s summer you put them out and get blooms within a week.
It’s a lovely garden. I wish I was better about getting things planted and tending them. I’ve tried growing herbs with absolutely no success. They always die as soon as I buy them.
Trixie, I’m going to try to do the herbs in a window box next year. I did oregano, basil and chives last year, and the basil went crazy. I still have pesto in the freezer. Next time I stick to smaller, more pungent plants.
What a beautiful garden! My husband and I are definitely inspired by the tomato trellis. Thanks for sharing!
Inspired? I’m intimidated by it. I bought the wood to build mine three weeks ago and keep putting it off.
I just wanted you to know that I enjoy your blog!☺
And I wanted to let you know that I appreciate the feedback.
Go Lou! What a fab garden.
Wow. Nice looking green peppers. I love putting those in my homemade spagetti sauce.
Kim
I’m totally jealous of the garden. I could only dream to have one that great. I do have to admit though, the David creeps me out. I’d totally have to cover his naughty bits with a fig leaf. I’m a child like that, what can I say?
Sweetie (or do you prefer Birdy?) that’s just so … so … 18th century. Are you sure you’re a grown-up?
I’ll take SB, and it’s just something about 16th-18th century sculptures. Venus creeps me out too. I think I just prefer the subtlety of cleverly draped clothing on my sculptures rather than all the goods out there for the whole world to see.
That and I feel kinda sorry for David. Musta been cooooold…
A-ha! So you have checked out his goods. Otherwise you wouldn’t know he was posing on a cold day.
We were having problems with squirrels stealing all our tomatoes, too. If you spray them with very dilute Tabasco sauce, you’ll soon have more tomatoes for yourself–not to mention a bit of entertainment!
While we’re on the subject of varmint repellents … anyone know a good one for raccoons?
Yup, they got into the grapes again. This year’s attempt was mothballs. No luck.