Last week, in my garden. (July 18)
This morning, in my garden.
(If you're keeping garden notes and photographs and want to share it with the rest of us, do leave a comment with a link so that we may take a stroll through your garden too!)
In this, the height of summer in the garden, I feel as though my work has shifted a bit from the garden maintenance (though goodness, there are weeds to deal with and thinning I really should get before it's too late), and more to harvesting and food storage for the coming winter months. All the leafy greens are thriving, herbs galore (it's mint julep time!), cherry tomatoes ready, still a few lingering peas, shallots are drying in the garden shed, and early carrots and early potatoes ready for eating too. Cucumbers and summer squash are moving slowly this year, it seems, but they'll come soon.
There are - as my grandmother always said - beans coming out our ears! Thus far, that's just been eating and freezing, but canning some of those will happen soon, as well as some fermenting (which I haven't yet done with beans before). My family would like me to tell you - because they get such a kick out of it, that all those lovely poles I had Steve create for the pole beans? Yes, well I planted bush beans at the base of them all. Ahem. There is no climbing happening. (Oops.) In addition to all the other bush beans that I planted that I really did think to be bush beans, well, as I said, beans coming out of our ears. (Hooray!)
Speaking of beans, that - and the garlic and onions - are the one place where we really had enough fall leaves to use as mulch, and like last year, I am realizing that it's my very favorite mulch. Free (though I do pay the kids $1 for a garbage barrel - a packed garbage barrel, no fluffing it up with air!), easy to gather from the lawn or the trails and the woods, easy to store over the winter, and absolutely wonderful at keeping the weds at bay, moisture in the ground (but not too much), and on and on. I might just have to raise the going rate to make sure we have as much as we can gather this year. I think they'd go for that.
And the sunflowers, oh the sunflowers! They are just now beginning to bloom and we are all so enjoying them, and so very glad that we planted so many varieties. They're lining the fence of the garden and it's such a delight to see them each time we walk by - full of honeybees and bumblebees buzzing. Yes.
