Am I the only one who feels like summer is half over? I know, I know…don’t rush it because it’s only here for a short period of time. But the weather hasn’t been the greatest, am I right?? It’s not -40 but it has been raining quite a bit.
Ah the perils of trying to enjoy a short season!
But the joys of growing your own food far outweigh the sadness of a short growing season. Even picking a few wild daisies that grow alongside my veggies make me happy when they grace my dinner table!!
Here are my the black currants that I planted 5 years ago….and they haven’t stop growing ever since! Last year, I picked 4 huge Ziploc bags and it didn’t even make a dent. I gave a bag to my dear friend Pat and she sent me a jar of lovely black currant jam that she made with them. I’m definitely going to try that this year. I’m also going to try to make a black currant simple syrup, directions courtesy of my other friend Joanna! Gotta get busy!!
Last year I had a whole hedge of chamomile but this year I have only lonely flower…so sad because it was so fragrant!!
Potatoes for days! I am picking the new ones for now (you have to dig around the top of the surface as they come up and leave the bigger ones to grow underneath). So yummy as french fries or even cubed and cooked with your morning eggs!!
Swiss chard for days…thank goodness because I love Swiss chard. I cut it up in large chiffonade and freeze them to throw into soup all winter long!
I am so sad about my tomatoes. This is my second planting because I lost the first ones to frost. Now, some of these are turning brown (I think from too much rain) and others are being destroyed by ants!
This one shows the signs…the ants chew the bottom inch of the stalk and then they fall over. Arggghhhhh…an Italian without tomatoes!!
My zucchini plants are full of flowers….yippee…stuffed and fried zucchini blossoms…my fave!!
My red leaf lettuce has been fantastic! I just keep picking the outter leaves and the inner ones keep growing!!
Arugula is a peppery leaf that is nice to add to salad. These have been nice but they go to seed quickly (the stalk rises from the middle and flowers…if you don’t catch it before, the plant will be done growing).
When I was a kid, I had a friend who lived on my street that would give me cut up kholrabi …I saw it at the farmers market and bought it because it brought back nice memories but it has a radish flavour and I’m not a fan of radishes sooooo…
I planted beets this year. The actual beet won’t be ready for a while, but I love beet greens so I will use the greens as the beet itself grows underneath.
Kale chips!! If you haven’t tried making them, do it! What would cost you $8 at the health food store will cost you $1.99 and about 10 minutes of your time to make at home.
I think I told you about planting garlic. If you haven’t done it yet, read up on it and do it this fall. While the garlic grows underneath, you get these beautiful garlic scapes to play with (they are great pickled!!)
The beauty that comes from a planted home garden….so pretty you could even decorate your wall with it (pretty picture, huh??).
Happy growing!!
