Friday's feature

First Pascale zucchini last night.  Sauteed it with Padron peppers, shallots and garlic, all my harvest.  It doesn't get any better than this!

The Galeux d'Eysines squash plants must have grown 4 feet this week! They have crossed the path between beds.

And I do believe I need to harvest the first cabbage this week. Small batch of sauerkraut?

Oh and not to forget our divine Blenheim apricots. I have picked most of a trugful every night.  I have been cutting and freezing bags for 9 inch pies and single batches of jam. 

Summer is here!

Sunday, Sunday

I started the day in the garden, sitting with one of the dogs, Hector, and my cup of coffee, watching the dawn light and listening to the birds. Of course, my first sip of coffee was bloody awful; I had used orange juice instead of milk!  Really, don't try it. Otherwise, the dawn was just mesmerizing.

The new raised bed was finished. Yesterday the dirt was topped and watered. It was ready to go and this evening I planted Calypso beans in the bed.

Morning light and evening light. Ready to plant and planted. The big green lovely in the background of the evening photo is the Squash Galeux d'Eysines.

Later in the morning I dug into the shallots bed and harvested them.  I was happily surprised by the yield.  Looks at these!

My next task was the German Butterball potatoes. It was time to harvest. I think the size of them and the yield was low, but I have a trug full.  I read that you stop watering the plants once they flower and when the leafy bits die you dig the potatoes; so I did. Aren't they lovely? 

And lastly, this weekend the apricots have begun to ripen; only a few so far and with the first bite I had sweet apricot juice running onto my fingers.  It has been years since I  have had such a delicious apricot.

Lovely weekend, lovely.

Wordless Wednesday

Not a lot of gardening today

It's 101 degrees out there.  I am happy in my 80 degree  house watching the US Open.  I did get out early this morning and watered.

Cherry tomatoes are very happily producing, not a heavy yield yet, but getting there.  The other tomatoes are looking strong and there is a lot of green fruit.  Such a far cry from last year's crop. 

Apricots will be ripe in a few more days and I will start the green bean harvest tonight.

I had my first Padrone pepper.  Oh, what a sublime taste.  I sauteed it in olive oil and sprinkled with salt.  So very tasty!  Thank you, Joyce, for telling me about them!

I'll have a new garden bed soon.  It is in the making but obviously, not today! Too hot out out there.  The clay, can't call it soil, is nearly black so it must have some great nutrients but it is hard enough to make pottery, I think.  We will certainly,once again, buy soil.

Once it is set up, and I hope that is soon, I want to plant calypso beans for drying.

My pretty picture today is one of those bromeliads sold as air plants and it is sitting in a tea cup. It was looking a bit funny last week so I moved it and this morning I saw that it was flowering.

Grad weekend

Two high school seniors and one junior high grad, and of course, the attendant parties all weekend long.  This girl is tired!  We are also in the start of one of our 3 or 4 day heat waves.

I did get in some gardening this weekend.  I harvested the garlic and it is beautiful.  The best heads yet.

My first cherry tomatoes "Sweet Olive" are just about ready to harvest!  The photo is a bit redder than the tomatoes.  They should be wonderful tomorrow, especially with this heat.

I am also very pleased with my peppers, Padrone and Topepo Rosso.
       Padron Pimientos de Padron are amazingly tasty, tiny fresh peppers originally from a medieval town in Galicia, northwest Spain. Fried and sprinkled with sea salt, they have a delicious flavor and most are mild. But every once in a while you will bit into a spicy pepper.
       Topepo Rosso This Italian heirloom produces tasty, blood red, round pimento-type peppers that are very sweet. The flesh is very thick and crisp. Short, compact plants produce huge yields; great fresh or cooked. A wonderful specialty variety that has many uses.



They have tiny peppers growing and lots of flowers. The first photo is the Padones and the second is the Topepo Rosso.

Angie's Garden

Spent a delightful afternoon/evening at Chris and Angie's (Eunju Jang).  It was also artist open house and Angie is a wonderful artist.  See her work at www.eunjujang.com.  Needless to say, I walked away with a painting purchase and these photos of her beautiful flowers.