Zucchini

I am munching on a piece of fresh picked, raw baby zucchini as I type! Delicious! I've been taking somewhat of a break in the garden to work on making some new books for a craft fair, but as of tomorrow I'll be back in the garden full steam. Besides a little weeding and pest management, there hasn't been a lot to do in the garden lately anyhow. I have two beds that still need to be double dug, but there's no rush to plant anything in them. With the exception of a new seedbed, I have not watered at all. Rainfall has been adequate, and the soil holds moisture very well.

I love this picture! I think pumpkin plants are so beautiful and elegant when they're young and healthy. Just look at those perfect spirals!

Dinner! I'm not exactly a great cook, but I try. This is farmer's market peas (why didn't I plant my own?!), delicious white shittake mushrooms, squash blossoms, and parsley, oregano, and chives from the garden. The salad is farmer's market peas and carrots with lettuce and nasturtiums from the garden. Nasturtium flowers are really tasty!

Basil seedlings have found their final homes. They seem to be very happy on the deck, where it's hot and there's lots of sunlight, plus light reflected off the white wall of the house. I also planted the other three seedlings in the garden.

Overexposed pic of daylillies. Well, there was a lot of sunlight!

Sunflower plants, still growing very quickly!

I am very pleased at how quickly and vigorously the tomato plant on the left, a Velvet Red from Seed Savers Exchange, has recovered from its deer attack. It has already outstripped the two plants that weren't attacked by deer. The main stem is gone, but it has four "suckers" that are growing. Although I know you're supposed to trim suckers, I just can't bring myself to do it to this plant. I have trimmed all the suckers from the two undamaged plants, though, and I'm training them up a string.

One of them is producing one whole tomato!! One!! -_-

Lettuce, parsley, and chamomile, growing like crazy. I think we're going to eat the lettuce faster than it can grow, though. It's just so tasty!

Carrots, beets, onions, and some unhappy swiss chard. My broccoli plants used to be in this bed, but this week I harvested whatever I could salvage from them, tore up the plants, and put them in the compost pile. I've reseeded the spot where they were with more beets and carrots.

Full view of the garden as it is currently.