Nothing beats home grown!

Mid way through the month of July already!

The garden is doing well and the harvest has begun!

I am thankful that I am able to do a quick clean up around the patches with the lawn mower, 

however the new problem seems to be the grass/weeds creeping into the patch.

I just don't have the time to pull weeds this time of year and so I have discovered that my string trimmer does a great job. Not exactly environmentally friendly so I will have to come up with another plan of attack. I am thinking raised beds maybe the way to go next year - IF it's in the budget!

From the 3 Black Current bushes I was able to harvest 7 pounds of currents!

I have also been keeping ahead of the birds this year and been able to pick a bowl of Black Berries every day. Some get eaten right away, the rest are frozen.

Tomatoes are doing well and I have been able to pick about 6 ripe cherry tomatoes so far.

They never seem to make it back to the house ... I crave home grown tomatoes most of the year. When it is finally time to harvest one, I just can't seem to control myself!

The Zucchini are coming alone too ... in just a few days I should be able to harvest the first one

 

The peas are doing amazing this year. I discovered that I need a better trellis for them ... a 3 foot chicken wire fence isn't tall or strong enough! Next year this shall be resolved, but for now the peas are strung up with twine, happily producing many MANY peas

The beans are being harvested every 2 days or so. This year we planted 'Royal Burgundy' and 'Blue Lake Bush'. I am please with both so far. I also planted 2 'Scarlett Runner' plants for my Hummingbirds late this spring and they are blooming well but I have only picked 1 bean so far. That is fine with me ... they are a tough, sort of fuzzy bean that I am not very fond of.

This was yesterdays pick of beans and peas.

Friday, before the heat, I decided to make the first dilly beans. I had also purchased some baby english cucumbers at the market and did the first jars of pickles. I love how the 'Royal Burgundy' made a lovely purple brine in the jar after processing.

My own cucumber plants are just starting to fruit, and my 5 pots of experimental pickles in a pot are doing well now ... hopefully some to pick soon. I hope they start to climb the fence, but it looks like I'm going to have to teach them how.

I harvested the heritage garlic yesterday. It was my first time, and they did produce scapes (which we glady ate YUM!) and small, very strong bulbs. I will replant most of these and purchase more bulbs and have a large garlic patch next year. We use a LOT of garlic around here!

Lots of kale in the garden, the dinosaur Kale seems to be doing the best. It is such a beautiful plant that I am reluctant to cut it!

We ate our share of spinach, leaf lettuce and romaine. I will definitely grow 'Little Gem' romaine again next year! Swiss Chard is looking good, but sadly we aren't fond of it. I will harvest it for my Mom and a work mate to eat. It sure looks pretty though!

 

I am looking forward to the rest of the harvest, and I am taking notes this year and already planning next years garden. You know what they say ... there is no garden so great as next years garden! ;)