Lily, 9, this week is all about pictures.
I hate picture day. I always come out looking like a little kid!
There’s a good reason for that, 9.
I hate picture day, too. My hair always comes out looking weird.
Some days (many days) are like that, Lily. For those new to this blog, 9 is my inner 9-year-old; Lily is also an inner self, age 14.
Fortunately, today’s pictures are from the garden. And a pretty good garden once we got past the apricot invasion!. Some veggies have gone by the wayside- -zucchini, string beans and chard. I’d never grown chard before, and was quite surprised to learn that the roots- -not at all memorable when the seedlings went in- -looked like huge orange and pink turnips when they came out!
The current surprise: the nasturtiums are just starting to flower.
Don’t they usually bloom by the middle of summer?
In the rational world, they do, Lily. Maybe it’s a matter of shade or soil or sun or all three, but, I mean, nasturtiums! Those are what little kids grow in sawed-off milk cartons to give to their moms for Mother’s Day. Even a kindergartner can grow one. Such was not our fate, but here is one little bit of last-minute success:
Late season nasturtium blossom
More abundant but late to ripen, we also have Tasmanian Chocolate tomatoes and a volunteer black cherry tomato:
Grown by me from seed: Tasmanian Chocolate tomatoes!
Volunteer from last year’s commercially grown black cherry tomato.
Do the Tasmanian ones really taste like chocolate?
There might be a hint of chocolate in the deep, rich flavor if you imagine very hard.
Then there are the winter squashes, miniature varieties of spaghetti and butternut:
It might look like a pumpkin, but it’s a miniature spaghetti squash.
Miniature butternut squash- -the perfect size for one to two servings.
The minis are great for a one-squash-eater household. They weigh 1 ½ to 2 pounds, just right for a meal or two without having a vast amount left over. They overwinter nicely in the basement, too.
One of the bell pepper plants has yielded like a champ. These will eventually turn orange if the frost doesn’t arrive too early:
Bell peppers!
Fingers crossed that these late-season shelling peas make it. They’ve been enjoying the cooler weather:
Shelling peas: one last round!
For flowers, both the rose bush and the hibiscus are coming into a third bloom:
Third time around for roses. . .
. . .also for hibiscus.
Gosh, that’s a lot of stuff. I’ll admit I’m not crazy about vegetables, though.
Good! That means more for me.
What are you going to do when garden season is over?
Good question, 9. Right around the first of the year, the Miracle of the Seed Catalogs will occur. Because as fun as it is to have success in growing stuff and bringing it to harvest, it’s even more fun to plan for next year.
Happy harvest!
