Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Around the Garden















Life is good in the garden right now. Things are growing very well, the bugs are under control, we are eating a wide variety of foods, and we did our first big harvest yesterday. We have been eating from the garden for quite some time, heading out to pick a little bit here and there for our meals, but yesterday was the first harvest to start putting food by for the winter.

Reece and I headed out to the garden after breakfast with the intention of picking green beans and kale. He quickly got side tracked by the snow peas, and sat munching on them while I harvested. Can I just say watching him sit by the garden eating snow pea after snow pea melted my heart.

With the harvest collected we headed into the kitchen to make something of all that food. First up was kale pesto. Reece loves working the food processor, and did a wonderful job. We jarred it up, and added it to our freezer stash. We then sauteed some kale with garlic, just enough to wilt it, then laid it out on a baking sheet, and put it in the freezer. I will bag it up tomorrow morning, and then use it throughout the winter in soups, sauces and stews. Reece's only request as I harvested kale was kale chips, so I put enough aside to do a batch of kale chips, which he enjoyed for his afternoon snack. The greens beans were canned into dilly green beans, and are now sitting on the pantry shelves, ready for the winter ahead (if we can wait that long).

Did you happen to see that tomato? A sun gold, just about reading for picking. It will be split three ways in a few days, as long as I can stop little hands from getting to it first. The calendula is out doing itself, and I am harvesting flowers everyday for salve making. The garlic looks like it is almost ready, a little earlier than last year. I might just pull a bulb up this week and see how it is doing. And so far the cucumber, zucchini, squash and pumpkin are growing wild and crazy, producing flowers, and the beginning of food to be enjoyed soon.

Everyday flowers are brought inside, and put around our home in little vases. Just a little bit of sunshine brought inside to make me smile.

How are things around your garden?

26 comments:

  1. my it seems that your garden grew twice it's size since last week! Everything looks lush and delicious :)

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    1. It is growing well, and seems to be a little more lush every morning. The weather has been perfect for growing this year :)

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  2. I swoon every time I see your garden at it's peak!! :)

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  3. I love this time of year when everything really starts taking off. Your garden, as always, is breathtakingly beautiful. The rabbits ate our beans to the ground, all of our peas died off, but everything else is going to town right now. Be well.

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    1. It is a great time of year in the garden, no doubt about it. Thank you. Oh no, that is not good. Darn rabbits.

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  4. Just amazing... one day, my yard will look like yours! :-)
    Gardens are great, we ate our first tomato and cucumber on Monday night. Our calendula is exploding as well. Like you, I'm bringing in blooms everyday. I have almost 40 drying now. We will be digging for our first new potatoes this week. Can't wait!
    We also started putting stuff in the freezer, mostly greens, spinach, flat leaf parsley pesto, carrot greens, sweet peas... Can't wait to start canning next week with my new pressure canner. YAY!
    Have a wonderful week and I hope you are getting the rain we are getting right now. Feels amazing!
    xo

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    1. Thanks Yanic. It is always a work in progress, each year a little better than the year before :)

      That is awesome. That tomato in the photo will be enjoyed tonight :) I love this time of year when the freezer and pantry shelves start to fill up.

      Have fun with that canner. xo

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  5. Your garden looks like it should be in a magazine Kim, it is just so pretty!
    Everything here is a wilted mess from all the rain and then the heat, oh geesh!
    I had some really pretty kale planted in a tub in the front herb bed so the rabbits wouldn't find it, but some bug did and it had a feast! Thank goodness for more seeds, I'll be replanting.

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    1. Awe, thank you Tracey. So sorry about your garden, not fun. Oh no, just when you think you have it figured out, something else comes in and eats things up. Hope the replanting goes well.

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  6. Your garden looks great, I am a bit jealous about your red tomatoes to be honest. Your beans and the kale look lush too

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  7. everything is looking so lush and beautiful Kim...happy happy harvesting !!!

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  8. Your garden is looking absolutely beautiful!!! Love all the kale and chard that you have. Your preserving so far sounds delightful too :) It's always so hard to wait until winter sometimes to eat it all!

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    1. Thanks so much! Always hard to wait for winter, we are already eating our jam, and Reece is asking for dilly green beans, but they have to sit for two weeks. You can be sure once that two weeks is up a jar will be opened :)

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  9. Your garden is looking very nice! My garden is growing the same way. My son loves dill pickles so I have already put up 12 quarts and 75 pints this year. I hope this holds him until next summer because I think I'm finished with seeing pickles for the year.

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    1. Thank you! Wow, that is a lot of pickles. I think I would be tired of seeing pickles too. Soon I will be canning pickles, the cucumbers aren't quite ready yet.

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  10. Kim, the gardens looks amazing! I am sure that they are even more beautiful in person! Love that last picture and am blown away by how many greenbeans are in that bowl!

    Kale is one of those things that we want to love. People rave about it but we're just no fans. I am beginning to wonder if perhaps we just haven't had "good" kale. Maybe I need to have someone who loves kale and is used to preparing it make us some and try again. I made kale chips once and they were just not yummy. I must have done something wrong in their preparation! I feel like such a twit for not being able to get kale "right" (same thing with quinoa) as it seems like it shouldn't be that hard! :)

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    1. Thank you Shel. I will admit they make me smile every time I talk a little walk around. That is just the beginning of the green beans. We will harvest again tomorrow and I bet there is at least twice, if not three times that amount out there.

      I love it, Justin tolerates it and Reece enjoys kale chips. I like it raw or lightly sauteed, and use it in soups and stews, where both my guys will eat it. I also blend it right into tomato sauce, and of course kale pesto is a favourite for all of us. I promise to cook some for you when we meet up in person :)

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  11. What a wonderful, abundant time out there. And peas straight from the garden are the best!

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    1. Thanks Taryn! It is doing really well this year, and I am ever so grateful for that.

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  13. Wow Kim. Your gardens look amazing. xxoo

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