Friday, August 22, 2008

Large Zucchinis


A sampling of our harvest: Peppers, Strawberries, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Tomatillos

When I left home ten days ago, the garden was on a slow and steady track toward producing all the fabulous food we've been waiting for, especially tomatoes, corn, beans, basil, eggplants, and peppers. In other words, all the delicious treats that we only get to eat fresh for a few months each year. They always seem to take forever. Each morning, I would venture out and cruise the aisles: "Nope, still no ripe tomatoes. Nope, the eggplant is still, well, egg sized."

Imagine my surprise when I stepped out of the car on Wednesday, and took in the changes of the previous ten days: corn doubled in size, nearly ripe ears, ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, giant zucchinis, a large eggplant, cucumbers, a bed of black beans three times larger, unbelievable winter squash expansion, a large bowl of sweet, ripe strawberries, etc. In short, EVERYTHING just GREW and GREW and GREW, and on my return, there is just an incredible amount of food coming out of the garden. Wow. I'm floored. Our neighbors are starting to offload their surplus, too. Today, Drew came home from lunch with a box of food from Trish, filled with Gravenstein apples, a bag of beautiful beans, a bag of purple potatoes, and a bag of small, yellow tomatoes. Wow!

As if all this isn't enough, Drew's mom and I picked blackberries this morning, so we can make jam to save for winter. The berries are almost past their prime, so the time is now, in spite of everything else we have to do. I know I'll appreciate the blackberry experience come January!

I was so excited about all the delicious, voluptuous treats, I took a bunch of photos for you all to look at, to enjoy the virtual bounty...


Corn planted with Pole Beans, reaching for the sky


Mixed Heirloom cutting Lettuce, Scallions, and Spinach


Tomatillos


Slicing Tomatoes


Winter Squash and Sweet Corn, beginning to hide the yurt


Young Butternut Squash

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