Summer has completely died here in the Pacific Northwest. It really never got itself going this year and now what little summer we had has taken a nose dive into days of pouring rain and dark skies. I'm not normally bothered by the change of seasons or the prevalence of rain in our part of the world, but this year has me feeling sad. I just didn't get enough playing in the sun with my boys. Remarkably, the garden has managed to be productive, even with the lack of sun. (Mind you, plenty of things have been miserable flops, I just don't highlight them here! Flops: Spinach-never grew, majority of the broccoli-bolted, radishes-mealy, artichokes-aphids, cilantro-bolted, sweat peas-never flowered, melons-no fruit, bell peppers-no fruit, the list goes on...)
Blooms of August/September:
Squash blossoms...to saute for quesadillas or leave on to produce fruit? Can't decide.
Italian sunflowers.
The Lantana doing it's best to survive one more day.
Chives in the herb garden.
Beautiful, enormous dahlias.
Harvest (a.k.a. I've got my work cut out for me cooking and canning this week.):
Patty pan squash, swiss chard, carrots, blueberries, and Pasilla peppers.
Roma beans grown from an Italian seed packet with no English instructions. Prolific but a bit fibrous.
Heirloom tomatoes desperate for sun.
Tomatoes gone awry. They grew so big, broke their wire frames, tipped over the pots, and had to be bound up with twine and trellis. Haven't produced a single red tomato yet! Sheesh.
Finally, a head of broccoli.
Lovely dessert wine grapes. We'll see how brave we are on the wine making endeavor.
A ton of pumpkins destined for October front porch decorations, pumpkin butter, and my very favorite pumpkin pie. Can't wait!
Posts
