Summer Crops Arrive

The garden was in full swing when we arrived home from vacation. Our son, Andrew, had done what he could to manage the bounty while we were away... watering, tidying, picking, eating, and giving away the produce. Still, plenty to welcome us back!

The blueberries were plump in their ripeness. We picked 5-1/2 pounds right away! with plenty more to come. We ate our fill and got started on the cache of frozen berries that will carry us through the winter. The wineberries looked a bit over-ripe, but in reality were perfect! They will be cooked down into beautiful sweet jam.

Many of the rattlesnake beans looked stressed, with pods not nearly as plump as one would expect. I'm guessing this was related to dry conditions at the critical time of growth. Indeed, upon experimentation in the kitchen I found these beans to be too starchy for my taste.

Still, I managed to pick 8 pounds of delicious, well-formed rattlesnake pole beans! Notice the difference.

Alas, no picture of the Jade bush beans, but I did pick 3 pounds of them. A funny thing happened to the bush bean bed. It was overtaken by a volunteer squash! Thankfully, Andrew pushed the trailing vines away from the bean plants. It looks like it's going to be a monster gourd plant ... time will tell.

We have a bunch of serendipitous squash plants throughout the garden. They're little surprises from the obviously not-fully-composted compost pile. I let them grow, waiting to see what would come of them. So far I like what I see. Here's a sample of what's volunteering this year:

Delicata and Acorn squash

Spaguetti Squash?

The cucumber trellis is working very well. Look at these picture-perfect cucumbers!

The sweet Italian frying pepper plants are loaded!

A pile of produce! Let the summer feast begin!!

Home Again

We are back from our arctic travels. We saw lovely forests in Norway, but we sure did miss trees and plants while exploring Svalbard! We traveled as far north as 80 degrees 36 minutes north. Now THAT truly feels like the edge of the world. Wow!

Lupine - Gardermoen, Norway

Saxafrage - Svalbard

Arctic Landscape - Svalbard

Navigating the pack ice, heading for 80 degrees 36 minutes North

cucumbers

Beets on the Menu Tonight

The beet roots are pushing themselves out of the ground! I guess it's time to harvest the biggest ones. Plus, I haven't been good at thinning the plants this season. I'll be sure to pull some of the nicest fresh-green tops. The roots will go into the pressure pot for 15 minutes, then peeled, sliced and treated with a sweet-sour glaze, ala Harvard Beets. The greens will be sautéd ... maybe in some tasty bacon grease? and splashed with some vinegar? The cook will follow her nose - and taste buds!

Memorial Day - Black Raspberries at their Peak

I've been picking a handful... a cupful... a bowlful of berries every morning or so over the past couple of weeks. This morning I picked two quarts!

We've been snacking on raspberries out-of-hand and embellishing our morning cereal. Over the weekend I cooked down a batch with a dose of honey to make a berry compote that I used to enhance Susanna's birthday cake. My next project will be our favorite raspberry cobbler recipe... 

Raspberry Roll

Pastry

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

~1/4 cup milk

Sift together dry ingredients; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Add egg and enough milk to make a soft dough. Stir gently with fork until mixture holds together. Press into a smooth ball. Divide dough in half; cover and set aside.

Filling

1 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup sugar per cup of berries used)

2 tablespoons flour

4 cups fresh berries (can use as few as 3 cups)

1/2 cup butter, divided

3/4 - 1 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 13"x 9" x2" baking dish. Carefully fold sugar and 2 tablespoons flour into berries. Roll out half the dough into a 14" x 10" rectangle. Cover with half the berries, spreading them within 2" of the edge. Dot with half the butter. Roll up jelly-roll fashion, folding ends under. Place in prepared dish. Repeat. Cut slits in top of each roll. Pour water into dish around rolls. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake ~ 60 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

Favorite Lettuce Ever Grown

We've had a wonderful long, cool, rainy spring. It's the first time I've had true success growing lettuce from seed in the spring. And I've discovered my all-time favorite garden lettuce!

Nevada Lettuce from High Mowing organic seeds

From the seed pack: "Heat tolerant Batavian type with shiny green leaves forming a heavy head. Ribs are crunchy like an iceburg while the leaves are soft like a leaf lettuce."

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Interesting how the ribs are growing in a spiral.

Potatoes Blooming

 

Temperatures to reach 89 degrees today...

Sugar Snap Peas

Beetle damage on salad turnip tops. The roots are fine. Harvested all remaining.

Took  my coffee to the garden and picked in the coolness of the morning.
The lettuce and cilantro will not like the coming hot temps!