Not on Blooms Alone

Jackmanii Clematis

     One of the casualties  of this season's frantic pace has been a report  on our vegetable garden. I picked spinach daily through our April-like May until the weather shifted to August and my plants bolted.

     By then we started to get overwhelmed with broccoli. In addition to all our broccoli-based dinners, I began to blanch a pound or two for the refrigerator so I could toss some into a quick salad at lunch.

First Crop

     I still had one head of the first crop in the fridge when a second crop was ready to  cut. We had to prevail on some old friends to take much of #2 home with them. After the first large single heads, broccoli plants  will  continue to produce smaller heads for the rest of the summer.

     Yesterday we picked our first snow peas and had a big chicken and  snow pea stir fry for dinner. Our pea plants are over 6 feet tall.

     We are starting to use our leafy greens like Swiss chard, kale and collards. Herbs like mint, oregano, parsley, and basil are open for business. Our little patch of fingerling potatoes is also thriving.

Fingerling Potatoes

     Bringing up the rear, as usual, are our "fruit" crops like peppers,tomatoes, and cucumbers. We saw our first tomato flower today, but it will be July before we get to eat any of these treasures. We will have a few real fruits as well -- like raspberries and  blueberries. But that will be another story.