the pictures tell the story

Posted on annePosted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects

doesn’t this bright bouquet make you feel all summery?
it just couldn’t be a more superb weekend day here. yesterday we had a steady, drenching rain all day, which cooled things down and refreshed all the growing things considerably (they were looking quite wilty by thursday).

this is the best sleeping weather we’ve had in some time and i took full advantage of it for an afternoon nap and a good night’s sleep (not long, but good).

i worked on my swatch all of thursday and friday evening

it’s quite a big one because i’m dealing with several larger stitch patterns and the transitions between them are proving a bit tricky to design (but i’m getting there). i need to have a good swatch that represents all the parts in a measurable way for when i write the pattern. one more evening’s work should complete the knitting, after which i can block and show it to you in all its glory.

this morning i went over to my friend debby’s house to knit with her and susie and enjoy the gorgeous view of her gardens and the lake. i worked on the firefly shawlette for the first time since wednesday night and got another repeat of the field pattern done

i wish i’d had more time to knit on it over the last few days, but once i get working on that swatch, all else goes out the window—it’s very engrossing for me. but this morning i was reminded of how much fun it is to work on something that zips along without needing much input from me. so maybe this evening i’ll catch up some more on this one.

debby sent me home with this beautiful bouquet of flowers from her cutting garden. when i grow up, i want to have an actual flower garden, too. i think that should be the next thing we create in our yard. we have one semi-sunny area left to work with and since we both like flowers, it makes sense to put it to use this way.

weekends lately seem to leave me scattered a bit with nothing to show for my time—with the garden and bike riding taking more priority during this (very short) period of great weather, it’s hard to get a lot of knitting done.

and then there is the produce that is starting to come in

there’s a whole new batch of beet greens and chard that are ready to be picked and processed inot the freezer for winter (we’ll eat some for dinner, too, mmm)

and i ate the first ripe salad tomato today—a red oval type that i can’t remember the name of at the moment. it was goood—sweet and tomato-ey tasting with that warm, sunny flavor—hoo boy.

the okra are growing tall and spreading out full, shapely leaves now—they are the most gorgeous plants. we have both red and green types; i think i tried four different ones in all (i bought small sample packs of each from victory seeds).

and look

actual okra, yay.
i’ve been using this vegetable more and more in bean dishes, chili, and curries—the glutinous syrup that can be unappealing when okra eaten by itself adds a nice consistency to stewed vegetarian dishes. and the flavor is more highlighted when you’re not distracted by the viscosity.

this is a red heirloom type that seems to grow very well—it showed the first and best germination and the plants remain the strongest and tallest.

my summer squash plants continue to be sluggish to produce—they look VERY healthy, but are small and stingy with the squash. i’m hoping this cooler weather will give them a boost. meanwhile though, the winter squash are stupendous

loaded with developing squashes and flowers—and these i started from seed, too (not usually the most successful squash strategy for me). go figure; it was just the opposite last year.

keeping up with it all as it starts to come rolling in keeps me busier than usual, but it’s really worth it december through march when we get to partake of those garden flavors all over again.

i’m steadily working away on the baby blanket too—every night while we watch the bike races. it may be hard to see the progress (and i hope to have more of the new developing pattern )

i feel all great when i’m knitting it because i know i’m doing soooo many stitches in such a short time. then when i photograph it, i realize that my progress is more along the lines of “so what?”. if i don’t pay close attention, it will grow . . .

ok, that’s all i’ve got for right now—time to move to the kitchen and get those three big baskets of greens i just picked squared away. i pulled a couple of beets and some more beans while i was out there—i think a dinner of salmon, beet salad, green beans, and potatoes would be awfully good tonight. this will be david’s first taste of real, home-grown beets; he’s been resisting (and last year we gave them all away), but he promised he would try them. i want to make a convert of him, heh.

(i’m not going to even proofread this right now; i need to move along, so for today, excuse my typos!)

21 thoughts on “the pictures tell the story”

  1. The cooler nights have been nice for sleeping (and napping). Love the swatches and the flowers too. Look forward to “what knits up.”

  2. Try roasting the beets (quartered, sprinkled with olive oil and salt) for the sweetest flavor. He will be a convert and then you will have to share yours!

    I, too, am so glad the oppressive heat has broken.

    Can’t wait to see the blanket all blocked out!

  4. My zucchini isn’t doing well. The plants look good and have lots of blooms but I’ve only picked one zucchini so far.

    I’m really glad the heat has broken! We’re coming up that way to visit my family and I wasn’t looking forward to 100 degree weather!

  5. Oh, that firefly intrigues me! Can’t wait to see how that progresses.

    I just had my first cherry tomato of the summer. Only one. And it was a moment – I tell ya. A moment. Mmmmmmm. It felt sinful to enjoy something so much.

    We have a side of our garden that gets progressively shadier and shadier each year and this has slowly turned to flowers that can take the less intense sun that the veggies need.

    ps. Thanks for the tomato trimming link tip. My tomatoes are finally getting some fresh air and sun!

    ps again – my summer squash are behaving the same. I wonder. Small fruit – some falling off premature and not a lot of fruit. hmmmm.

  6. Your garden looks great! We have had some beets recently, and even though I am not a big fan, I might be getting to enjoy them a bit better each time! I especially like them roasted, and last week I even put up a few pints of spicy pickled beets.

  7. I’m hoping we get some tomatoes this year. We found a green one with a couple of bites out of it–squirrel. I hope it decided green tomatoes are icky, although if it did I don’t know what the chances are that it won’t go after them once they ripen. Lovely flowers!

  8. Ditto-ing the roasted beets. I normally don’t like them but when some arrived in the CSA box last summer I roasted them and then took more then my share.

  9. As always, great read! The swatch is intriguing and the Firefly Shawlette looks wonderful and, of course, the baby blanket is divine.
    Our little first attempt at a vegetable garden is coming along. The cherry tomato plant I put in is a golden one and the flavor is so good. My one Roma tomato plant is slow, but I have had a few red ones and lots of green ones. Dave’s green bean plants (he has 4 going) didn’t get all that big, but the few beans we have picked are tasty.
    But the question I (and everyone else) want the answer to is: how did David like the beets? My David won’t touch them. His mother served them pickled and he couldn’t stand the smell (he doesn’t like vinegary smells), so won’t try them any other way. I would love to try them another way and see if he would eat them. Personally I love them.

  10. I am learning so much about gardening this year, its nice to see your progress planting posts! The little books from Lark look interesting.

  11. I love your blog and I think I love your gardening and your knitting posts almost equally. I’ve just learned to like beets in the last few years. Like Connie, my mother always served them pickled and I hated them. Now I’m trying to make up for lost time. I just came across this recipe for a raw beet salad in the New York Times and plan to try it as soon as possible. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/health/nutrition/08recipehealth.html?src=me&ref=general It sounds delicious.

  12. You attention to detail is greatly appreciated. The more I approach lace patterns, the more respect and awe I view those of you who create them. I look forward to seeing your swatch blocked.

    I’m deep into knitting the cradle me blanket and find the pattern so intuitive that I’m moving more quickly than I thought I would. My sixteen year old daughter loves it and has claimed it as a reading blanket, so I’ll need to purchase more yarn for the baby who is the intended recipient!

    Hope your weather continues to be pleasant!

  13. Here in Columbus, we have zucchini the size of New Jersey. Unfortunately, the garden mislabeled our Sweet 100 tomatoes, and they are actually Romas. So…no garden snacking, but mucho Caprese Salad and tomato sauce.

    Good luck with David on the beets. I’ve tried them every way I know how, and I still just plain don’t like them.

  14. The garden pictures are always so beautiful. My garden is a ragged mess, results of two lazy gardeners fighting the elements in Oklahoma, LOL. But I do get a lot of tomatoes.

  16. I am anxiously waiting to hear David’s verdict on the beets….fresh, homegrown beets are like no other beets you’ve ever had (IMHO)! The rabbits ate my first sowing…now I’ve got a rectangular chicken-wire cage and a second sowing sprouting!

  17. Love beets. Love plain beets. Love roasted beets. Dislike borscht, but I don’t consider that a failing.

    If David likes pickled things, try Norma’s pickled beet recipe. More sweet-&-sour than pickled, but delish, and great in salads.

  18. Anne- Since David loves chocolate, there is a wonderful recipe for beetroot chocolate brownies on the River Cottage website- I guarantee he’ll love beets after trying them.

  19. I am loving the looks of the firefly shawlette … so simple and shows off the yarn….is thins going to be a new pattern from you or does it exist elsewhere?

    thx – jill

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