Around the Garden

These days in the August garden are not exactly as they should be. The weather the past week has been cold, and wet. Daytime temperatures topping out at 18 degrees and nights cooling down to single digits. Definitely not the best weather for all the ripening that needs to happen in the garden these days. But we are rolling with it as best we can, you can't fight Mother Nature, and she did bring the sunshine out on Sunday and Monday, so for that I am grateful.

Our big pile of dirt was delivered, and the three of us spent Sunday morning moving a lot of it. The cold frame, the new raised bed for cut flowers and the raised bed in Reece's play space all got filled up. The two raised beds will now be put to sleep for the winter, waiting patiently for spring to arrive. The cold frame was planted with seeds....lettuce, radish, pok choy, spinach, beets, kale and Swiss chard. We cleaned out another raised bed we will be tunneling this winter, topped it up with dirt, and planted more seeds there. The most exciting thing, because it never gets old, the seeds planted last week are sprouting.

Meal time harvests happen three times a day, even in the rain, and every few days I head out there for a bigger harvest, bringing in food to put by for the winter. The pantry shelves are filling up, and I smile every time I walk by them. This week beets and cucumbers were pickled, blueberries, peaches, and zucchini were added to the freezer stash and the first harvest of tomatoes were roasted and frozen.

My little man is still happily harvesting carrots, he is excited about the eggplants growing in his garden, he is watching the pole beans carefully, patiently waiting to start picking, and he can't wait to dig into some of the food we have put by, especially the dilly green beans.

The days are good in this August garden, despite the cooler temperatures, but I am hoping Mother Nature has some hot, summery days left to share with us.

How are things around your garden?