Life With The Crew: August 2015

We don't have a lot of one thing or another coming out of our garden, but we do have enough to keep me puttering around in the kitchen.

Tomatoes are starting, both big and little. The little babe gets excited about the yellow ones, but then just walks around the yard, chewing on one, then pulling it out, holding it, and setting it down on places that she shouldn't. I've started not telling her that I've found one and just popping it in my mouth. I got tired of the straggly big potato plants taking up garden space, so I pulled them out even though I should probably have waited longer. Oh well. It is our first season growing potatoes, so I was excited to get ANY. And get some we did - the little babe had a good time digging for them and then liked eating her fresh french fries even more. We have several bush bean plants and one random runner bean vine that are doing quite well. I am currently taking an on-line workshop, Harvest, with Heather and Ben, and they suggest lacto-fermenting green beans as a way of preservation. I have not tried it before, so we shall see what happens. (And how they taste!)

We have two peach trees that are having a rough year. One looks pretty much dead and the other one looks half dead. The fruit that did grow this year is very small and most of it is dropping off before it ripens. However, harvesting peaches from my own trees is one of my favorite summer pleasures, so I am picking them anyway. It took about 30 little peaches to fill this small bowl - I had a hand cramp setting in by the time I was done. Now I have the conundrum of what to do with them. Since I only have a precious few, I want to use them in the best way possible. Topping my morning granola is my favorite way to eat them, also on top of pancakes. I thought about muffins with an almond streusel or an easy free form galette, but ended up simply freezing them for now.

Now I have a question for you. These green things are supposed to be cucumbers, but they are not normal cucumbers. Even as they are developing on the vine, they are soft and spongy like - oh, my goodness, I just answered my own question! As I typed "spongy", I realized that I planted loofah seeds so that I could give bath sponges as Christmas presents. A quick Google search just confirmed that yes, these are loofahs or luffas, not a weird cucumber/zucchini hybrid. My question for you was going to be, "Have you ever had a zucchini and cucumber cross pollinate?", even though all of the websites I read said that is not possible. Now that I know what this strange plant is, I am really excited! Yes, I was really looking forward to some cucumbers for tzatziki and raita, but bath sponges are pretty cool too. And the fruit is actually edible, so I can start harvesting some small fruits to use like zucchini and letting some grow larger to use as sponges. This just shows what an unorganized and free form gardener I am - just plant some seeds and see what grows!

Also in the yard, our apples are looking much bigger than last year. My husband pruned the tree back hard early this Spring and it seems to have improved the fruit. Two more months until cider pressing! We have a giant gourd vine climbing into the chicken pen and since the pumpkins died while we were on vacation, I'm really hoping the warty gourds produce something for Autumn decorations. When I returned home from vacation and saw my fence covered in self seeded Morning Glories, I realized that I started this blog two years ago. This was one of my first posts and so the Morning Glories are my blog anniversary flower.

Sorry for the long and wordy post, but I am glad that I actually have this much going on in my garden to talk about!

I shared this post on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop.

Today I am thankful for...

-stories of goats, groundhogs, Mrs. Ribby, Flopsy and Mopsy, and all of the other critters and characters that captivate my little babe. Her newest request is for her father or I to "talk about so and so..." On the nine hour car ride home from Maine, at least three of those were spent storytelling. What did families do before televisions in cars or hand held devices? They talked.

-the flowers in my garden that greeted me when I returned home. (Though the only place I can keep a vase inside is in the front hall. Darn cats.)

-learning new things. This beautiful blossom is an okra flower! Who would have known?!

-a wonderful vacation with family. Morning swims in the lake with just my husband. Family swims with a very happy and brave little pollywog. Good food. Crazy dinner conversations. Eerie loon calls at night.

What are you thankful for?