The rains finally came, and the garden is watered. It’s a good gardening rain too – the kind that stops and starts, giving the earth time to soak up the rainfall, pause, then take another drink.
Because of the rains, we haven’t worked outside since Saturday. The first draft of my gardening book for beginners went to two writer friends yesterday to critique, and also to one of my former editors who’s agreed to edit it. I am very thankful for everyone’s time and feedback before it is published later this month!
All of the tomato plants are in and most of the peppers. I was hoping to hide from hubby how many pepper seedlings I had (I admit, I went a little nuts this year planting them and I have yet another flat sort of hidden in the basement, if you can hide something under grow lights) but he immediately saw how many there were. I reassured him we can freeze the peppers and he looked relieved. Actually, there’s nothing that conjures memories of the garden like taking a bag of homegrown peppers out of the freezer on a cold January night to make pepper steak or stir fry.
So the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and cucumber plants are in. I planted sweet corn seeds and watermelon seeds. I’ve also put in two cantaloupe plants. The herbs too are all in, except for the peppermint, which needs a bit more time in the house. I’ve got tons of basil, cinnamon basil, dill, chives, oregano, rosemary, sage, parsley, lavender, thyme, and calendula all over the garden. I like to plant herbs all around the vegetables.
And lastly, the big news from the weekend working in the vegetable garden: the blueberry bushes LIVE! I was going to pull them out of the fruit garden to make room for more cantaloupes, but suddenly I spied new leaves growing from the brown stem. Hurray! I left both bushes in the fruit bed, hoping they will both make a return.
The carrots, turnips, and beets are all thriving, and yesterday I harvested my first fresh salad right from the garden. Lettuce, spinach, and rashes went right from the garden to the sink to my salad bowl. The spinach was melt-in-your mouth good, not a hint of bitterness like store bought spinach.
I’d better start eating more salads. Yesterday we took both pets to the vet for their annual checkups. And while both got clean bills of health and we got some nice praise from Dr. Gates for our well cared for pets, little Pierre is no longer little Pierre. That darn cat is now 15 pounds! So he’s on a diet, and Shadow has to watch her waistline too. Now it’s me, Shadow AND Pierre all on diets.
So more salad and bike riding for me…and a little cutback in the crunchies for kitty….and no more cookies for Shadow.
Congrats on the new book! How amazing to actually be published and have such great editing friends to help with the process! Your garden looks great!
Hmmm! wonder if animals like salads *grin* Congrats on the new book.
Your garden IS beautiful. You are making my mouth water. How do you use your cinnamon herb? When you freeze peppers, they can flavor the whole freezer. It works best to double or triple bag them.
My mom makes a dressing from mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice, and a bit of sugar and pours it over a large pile of lettuce. It helps to shrink the lettuce. I use health food mayo and some agave sweetner for the sugar. So good. It’s what’s for supper tonight plus baked potatoes.
Thanks Heather – and happy birthday to you!
Thank you also Keewee!
Annie, that sounds heavenly. I have always just use zip-loc bags for the peppers but yes, that double bagging sounds like a great idea. And thank you for the comments!
Oh and as for cinnamon basil – you can use it anytime you want cinnamon. It tastes just like it. I chop it up and mix it with diced mango and other fruits. I also use it in smoothies. It’s delicious and has really pretty purple flowers and a bronze-green foliage when mature. Very attractive. The bees love it too!
Cinnamon basil is news to me–thank you!
Congrats on both your book and your very pretty garden.