Garden Update

After a computer virus that interrupted our lives, I’m pleased to be able to blog again.

For years I have harvested our garden produce, but this is the first year I have done everything – from the planning, to the planting of seeds, the maintenance, and finally, the harvesting. So gardening has become especially meaningful for me.

Here’s an update of how things are coming along:

Our strawberries are still coming on strong. They were a little later to start, as was everything.

The snap peas have been wonderfully delicious. And I found a really unique recipe in Sunset magazine that uses the pea shoots as the basis for a pesto. These will definitely be back in next year’s garden.

I’m starting to harvest the spaghetti squash now. This particular one went rogue on a zucchini plant. It’s doing well there anyway. As for the zucchini, we’ve had plenty and have shared some too.

Here’s a picture of the four o’clocks blooming. They were my surprise gift from the garden – something that sprung up from a previous year.

Finally, just outside our garden stands this pear tree. Quite a few pears are growing on it, and frankly, I’m a little surprised that the deer haven’t found them yet.

What's Coming and Going

Recently I discovered this lovely surprise…

These four o’clock flowers are growing in between some of the tomato plants in our garden. What a nice gift.

I’m happy to receive an unexpected gift of flowers in the garden, what with the daisies being done, and the deer nibbling at flowers throughout the summer, and finding that our wisteria is dying.

I’ve cut back my nemesia because it grew too leggy and parts were dying off. 

Many weeks ago I had also cut back our fuchsia because it had lost all its blossoms and wasn’t looking so good. You can see that it is making a comeback.

As are our impatiens, which the deer have completely eaten at least three times during the summer.

Another casualty was some flowers, growing from seed, which I hadn’t even identified before the deer ate them. I then put a handful of sunflower seeds in the pot, placed the pot in the garden (which has the fence around it), and VOILA! A sprout!

There are many new grape leaves growing…

as well as grapes themselves.

So, despite things dying and being eaten in their prime, stuff still grows.

That’s what’s coming and going.

Some Morning Sights

Lately when I step outside with my morning coffee, there hasn’t been a whole lot of activity – not like at the earlier part of summer. So I was very pleasantly surprised to see some action this morning.

Just outside our back deck were this mother and her fawn. The fawns are especially skittish, so this one started to leave as I came out.

As I was sitting and sipping, I could hear lots of bird chatter. And I was able to capture a picture of these goldfinches at our back feeder, albeit blurry (my apologies). Caffeine kicking in?

Meanwhile, at the front of our house, plenty was happening there. Lots and lots of chestnut-backed chickadees were feeding; some nuthatches and juncos too. I was able to get a picture of these two chestnut-backed chickadees with a steadier hand.

And then one other sight caught my eye. A small notice that, before long, our summer season will end. Never mind what the calendar says, nature is letting us know what’s ahead.

Zucchini, Zucchini, and More Zucchini

They are producing like rabbits.

Turns out we have four good-sized zucchini plants in our garden. Each evening when I go out to the garden to harvest what is ready, there are at least two or three zucchini to be picked.

These two or three every evening add up pretty quickly. And I’ve been using them! But now I need to step up my game.

I’ve made zucchini sticks. I’ll be making zucchini-corn waffles. Today I made double chocolate zucchini bread. (Because one of our boys has braces, I had to substitute chocolate chips for the almonds.)

On the menu to come will be roasted zucchini, as well as grilled zucchini. And I do believe we will also give some away. They are coming on just that fast…

Zucchini anyone?

Deer on a Summer Morning

On this beautiful Saturday morning we had a delightful surprise. These six deer were grazing around our yard.

Not only did we see a doe with her twin fawns, and another doe with her one fawn, but there was also a buck. Oftentimes a buck stays hidden in the forest, unlike the females who openly graze.

This particular buck was bold enough to peer in our windows. Our son was down there at that moment and I think this buck was rather curious!

Although I’m not a very good photographer, I am pleased to have managed to get some decent pictures of these six. For all the deer sightings we see – almost daily – even this grouping was highly unusual for us to witness. 

Our Garden

Our garden is finally coming along. We planted around Memorial Day, yet, because of our cool and rainy weather since then, it’s just getting going now. And it’s what – the end of July?

Nevertheless, I am excited that we have green tomatoes on the vine, and two-to-three-inch long zucchini. The tomatoes will be a little while yet, but those zucchini – well, we know better. Who doesn’t, whoever has planted it? I’m doing daily checks, just to be sure it doesn’t get out-of-hand. We all know that if one zucchini gets overlooked then one day you go out to your garden and see some giant vegetable sprawled across half the garden. “Where did that come from,” you say to yourself.

Besides these garden staples, we have strawberries, green beans, cucumbers, snap peas, swiss chard, spaghetti squash, and miniature pumpkins growing. We are currently enjoying our strawberries as they are responding to the sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Our garden is planted in these five raised beds. We’ve tried to make it a nice-looking garden – last year replacing the old rotted-out wooden beds with cinderblocks, and this year placing down small rock to cover the ugly black cloth meant to suppress weeds. And though I’d love to have it surrounded by a lovely white picket fence, we must use this double-high wire fencing to keep out our deer friends.

It’s coming along anyway, and that’s what matters. The sun is shining. It’s actually hot today. Bring it on!

When Life Gives You Overripe Bananas Make...

…banana bread muffins, of course.

Seems like we’ve had lots and lots of overripe bananas this summer. That tends to happen when the weather is warmer. I’ve made a lot of these muffins. They’re good though, and they are always eaten up.

I use a recipe for banana bread. Why muffins and not the traditional loaf? Well, they are easier for all of us to grab one in the morning or for a snack. Don’t need to get out the cutting board and the knife and slice away.

I’ve adapted the original banana bread recipe to suit our needs – especially since we have them quite often lately. First of all, because we’ve had sooo many overripe bananas, I’m always making a double batch. I use whole wheat flour for half the flour called for in the recipe. I’ve also found I can use peanut butter in place of half the butter called for. That makes it healthier, right? Sometimes I add some ground flaxseed in there too, but shhh, don’t tell my kids.

Since our boys are not into nuts, I always throw in chocolate chips to the batter. I guarantee if I made these with nuts, they would be made a lot less often and many overripe bananas would be destined for the compost pile.

There you have it. Not wasting those overripe bananas.