and still growing

another big, big week of everything the garden loves—much rain with some intensely sunny days to put the icing on the cake.

the plants have literally doubled in size and everything is flowering or fruiting.

i think i am most proud of our squash plants at the moment—we have not had such hardy, healthy ones in many years; they usually succumb to dusty mildew or insect infestation before we can even get a few squashes.

not so this year—i’ve been picking squash nearly every day (i like to get it when it is super young, less than eight inches long). this romanesque variety is new to us and we’ll have a chance to taste it tonight for supper.

yellow and green squash are the same; something to pick every day. and the bees are cramming into the flowers three at a time.

the jet acorn plant is also producing as if on steroids; i am so psyched. they are all so gorgeous.

just across the way, the eggplants are really spreading out—and to think david was concerned that we wouldn’t get them to grow.

there will be no shortage, i can see that now—little fruits are popping out on each branch.

i always grow a great variety, from long asian types to big round italian ones in purple and white.

we love them in many dishes, from indian and thai curries to ratatouille and ciambotta. each type works well for certain dishes. i picked this nice plump purple one to cook in ciambotta for dinner sometime this week, mmm.

we certainly have plenty of basil to go with it (and to make pesto another night!)

beyond the eggplant patch, the green beans are running a race up the fence; the early morning light is so pretty streaming through their leaves.

as helena and i pulled out on study morning, i noticed the very first bean blossom opening up.

by sunday afternoon, many more had popped, including the white ones on the bush beans and david took some pictures for me.

next door to the beans, the peas are twice as high as they were last week—they will be flowering soon as well, i think.

our swiss chard is also loving this weather—cool and wet, just what it wants to make big, fresh, sweet-tasting leaves. which we are happy to eat nearly any night of the week.

i cut them back to just a few leaves and a couple of days later, they have replaced themselves with more. it’s really quite amazing. i think my next weekend is cut out for me—putting some of these up in the freezer so we can eat them all winter.

on the other end of the garden, the potatoes are also blooming. one minute they weren’t and the next, pow, pow, pow, there they were. their flowers are a pretty as the eggplant flowers, delicate pastels and semi-sheer petals. just as the garlic is winding down its life in the ground, these are expanding. soon there will be new potatoes to eat . . .

and even more surprising, the apple tree is fairly loaded with fruit this year! last year the tree lost its buds to frost and this year it didn’t seem like it bloomed plentifully. but apparently, that doesn’t matter? i don’t know but every branch is loaded.

are you suspecting what i’m suspecting, that very VERY soon, i’m going to have my hands full with trafficking produce from the garden into the house and then into meals and freezer bags? yes, that’s what i was thinking too; it’s going to be a challenge. hopefully, i’m fit to meet it—i’d better keep eating my veggies.