Filed under: Garden, Kitchen | Tags: cocktails, Garden, raspberries, zucchini
Every year right after the solstice we get our bumper crop of raspberries. This year was no different and since we were away nobody was here to pick the early ones. So last night we took almost two pints of berries. Segundo shows off the haul.
We even had enough to garnish a capirihna.
We had our second batch of squash blossoms, too, but nobody remembered the camera until they were gone.
We returned from our week in Colorado to discover our garden had been swallowed up by alien beings. 
Or zucchini, maybe. Had our first fried blossoms the night we got back and more are scheduled for tonight.
A big day. We harvested our first produce that wasn’t lettuce or herbs. We roasted them in foil in the outdoor oven (i.e. the gas grill) and had them in salad. Sweet as candy.
The first time we saw the house there was a small clump of these poppies blooming. The clump is much larger now.
It’s sitting there, meditating or maybe brooding like some sort of sentinent being. But something is definitely going on inside. Something wonderful, or so I’m told.
We, and many of our fellow residents ponied up and purchased composters two weeks ago in a town-wide promotion. I’m supposed to feel better about myself for saving the earth somehow but it’s not reducing our amount of waste very much. If it helps the garden though, I’m all for it.
The booklet that came with it says to load it up with primarily kitchen waste. I’m thinking fruit flies (and starting to see them already when I open up). Frequent turning is supposed to alleviate this and prevent foul odors. They also said not to put it very far from the house so it won’t seem like a chore to make the trip out. I sincerely hope they’re right on all counts.
It is done. They’re all in the ground. This years contestants are:
Cherokee Purple
Big Beef
Japanese Truffle
Rutgers (‘natch)
Old German
White Wonder
Mr. Stripey
Amish Paste
Roma
Chocolate Cherry
Sungold
Sweet 100
Beets are bustin’ out all over. We’ve got three kinds: Red Ace, Early Wonder and Cioggia.
It’s by no means the only reason or even a major one, really, but here’s a take from today’s NYT on why we go to the trouble to grow stuff in our back yard. Of course, anyone who knows me knows we only grow veg for the flava.
On a related note, we augmented our salad last night with a few leaves from the lettuce plants we planted from the Garden center. It’s a start.
Planted first seeds outside today. Lettuce and beets. 3 types of beets. Beets are this year’s “experimental” veg. Each year I try to grow something new. Usually I fail miserably. We’ve tried eggplant, broccoli, artichokes, and maybe had one serving of whatever we were trying to grow. We’ve tried melons of various types and never once actually eaten a melon grown in our garden. We had modest success with brussels sprouts. We have high hopes for beets. Last year I “discovered” one could plant beets in late summer and decided to try, figuring I’d scoop up some marked down seeds at the hardware store. No luck there or a couple of other places. Apparently beets sell out.
JerzeeTomato 