“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” William Blake
Back in April, I wrote a post about how much I liked to pick things…pretty much anything that grows (http://writerwoman61.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/pickin-and-grinnin/).
Well, I’ve been living my dream for the last few weeks…it’s been fun and a little bit overwhelming at times! Â
We’ve been eating salad greens, spinach, beet greens, and Swiss Chard for weeks now…I think I overdid the salad greens a bit. A lot of them have gone to seed without being totally used (Anna took the pictures for me).
Swiss Chard...
Beets...
Leaf Lettuce (my legs in the background)
Mixed Lettuce...
More Lettuce...
Tat Soi Greens Gone to Seed...
Last night, I picked blueberries, peas, and green beans. I find it fascinating that even though I often don’t see well, I don’t have any trouble locating a ripe blueberry down behind big clumps of leaves!
My "eagle eyes" spotted these ripe blueberries...
I’m planning to make blueberry crisp with these:Â
Bowl of blueberries picked in two harvests...
Here are the peas I picked:
Bowl of Peas...
The beans seem to be in a bit of a dormant period right now…only got one mixing bowlful last night – will give those to Jim’s mom tonight. I already have eight bags in the freezer (and gave several to Kaylee and Scott too).
A couple of beans that I missed last night...
I have to watch the Scarlet Runner beans…if I miss a bean, it grows to be a foot long…the pods are fuzzy and tough, too!
Scarlet Runner Beans...this post is about six feet high...
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I can’t wait until these pods dry and we can harvest fava beans!
Fava Bean pod...
We still have lots to look forward to picking later…here’s a picture of my “tomato jungle” …I badly need some stakes!
Tomato Jungle...
Plum Tomatoes...
These tomatoes will be yellow, eventually...
The rutabagas have really taken off…they’re pushing the Blue Jay beans to the side (I planted them between the bean plants).
Rutabagas...
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I hope to have florets on this broccoli some day…
Broccoli...
The purple Brussels sprouts are still plugging away…
Purple Brussels Sprouts...
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At this rate, we might have cucumbers by September...
Pumpkin Blossoms...
Squash patch...
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Winter Squash Blossom...
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Baby Winter Squash...
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Zucchini Blossom...
 I can hardly wait to make chocolate zucchini bread!
I’m really excited that my sunflowers are starting to open…they’re taller than I expected, and really beautiful colours!
Sunflower...
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Sunflower Closeup...these heads are only about five inches across, but they look huge in this picture!
I’m going out this morning to pull out some of the greens that have gone to seed, and do some much needed weeding! If you’re looking for me, I’ll be in my garden!
I just ate supper, but your garden pics made me hungry! I am missing my garden. Next year it’ll be back, but I envy your nice dark soil. Mine is sandstone silt…fairly lifeless, so I have to add lots of manure and compost to it. It’ll be a new garden, so we have a ways to go before it gets to be a fertile patch of ground.
Yes, we are blessed to have good soil (I haven’t added anything to it – two years ago, it was lawn!). I hope you have your garden again soon! Thanks for stopping by!
Wendy
Looks lovely! What a HUGE garden you have!
blessings
jane
Thanks, Jane…it is huge! It’s a bit overwhelming sometimes trying to keep up with it, especially now that everything’s coming at once! I’ve got to get the kids to eat some of the “convenience” food out of the freezer so I have room for “real” food!
Wendy
Oh my, Wendy – what a beautiful – and bountiful – garden. I am so jealous. Thanks for sharing. Still jealous, though!
Ah, but you get to go and have adventures because your children are all grown up! Let’s see…four kids left at home…the youngest just turned twelve…yup…it’ll be a while before we go anywhere for more than a night or two!
Wendy
Wendy,
Your sunflowers are just beautiful!
Looking at all your blossoms make me want to grow some veggies that my kids will just turn their noses up at.
Your garden is truly amazing and I’m sure it is very relaxing to work in and look at.
Thanks for stopping by, CITM! Actually, the kids are loving a lot of it…my youngest commented the other day on how many more vegetables she was eating (she loves spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens). Now, if I can just get my fiancé to eat squash!
The sunflowers are called “Autumn Beauty” and there are 6 colours they bloom in…a lot shorter than traditional sunflowers, but prettier!
Wendy
Oh, wow, this is incredible! I have to say … I’m a little jealous
. We had a small garden at the house, not a very big one because we knew we’d be moving, and now that we live in the RV … well, there’s really no chance we’ll be growing much, unless we figure out how to turn the roof into a garden space 
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So cool that you have so much going on in your backyard!
xo
Juliana
P.S. Sorry it took me so long to come by … I’m really enjoying looking at your blog
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Hi Juliana:
Glad you made it! There will be another mention of the garden very soon (I’m blanching green beans for the freezer as we speak!)…
Wendy
Oh My Goodness Wendy!! Can I come live in your garden? I’ll make myself useful if I can sleep among the sunflowers
It’s probably a little cold at night for you now, Harsha…we’ve had frost the last three nights! I pulled out the sunflowers a couple of weeks ago to make room to pick tomatoes… Glad you enjoyed it! Wendy