A trip to Bountiful - via the garden

In my last post I mentioned a busy life, there is always something that needs doing and I think we have that in common. We all have our own busy and pressing matters, to-doing, running hither and yon, etc. Part of my busy this Summer was the garden, not bad as pressing matters go really. Ultimately satisfying and very delicious, still sometimes you just can't figure out how to get it all done. You see, when a garden comes on, it often comes on all at once!

This Summer we had record breaking heat, which resulted in our first bumper crop of tomatoes in years. So far we have harvested about 50 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from 3 plants. Amazing and so tasty, yet a bit overwhelming. Oh but look at those beauties! Nothing like a fresh tomato from the garden. Oh, and the chilies, good gravy we have roasted a lot of chilies this summer!

We also grew tomatillos, An experiment really - that ended up combining nicely with the chilies to make some tomatillo salsa. Oh Summer in the garden...

And now we have figs. So many figs! Our tree is drooping under the weight of their sweet soft goodness. I have been inviting passers-by to help themselves as I still have fig preserves in the larder from last year. Figs coming out of my ears I tell you!

Lastly, our new brood of backyard chickens have at last laid an egg! A teeny tiny egg sure, but no less exciting. I haven't sussed out which one is the layer of said egg yet. So looking forward to having fresh eggs again. Hooray!

So concludes this episode of "In The Garden." Are you growing anything?

In my next post you might actually get to see a spot of sewing, will wonders never cease?

Salad Days

This last week has been dedicated to the garden. While we planted a lot of vegetables and eagerly await the Summer months to help them grow, but right now we are up to our elbows in lettuce. This is a good thing, fresh salad nearly every night is a very good thing.

Next the Swiss Chard will be ready to harvest, The potatoes are starting to poke their leaves above the surface. I love growing potatoes. Later in the Summer we'll go treasure hunting for golden and ruby treasure buried in the soil.

A barrel full of mint is close to the kitchen door. it smells so lovely.

It is a lot of work and the weeds are always mocking us by spreading faster and growing taller than would seem possible, but at the end of a full day in the garden, it is absolutely worth it. To see our future dinners growing in our own back yard is pretty cool.

Oh and check out this handsome fellow, he and his friend came to visit after the fountain received a good cleaning. The first time we've had a Western Tanager in our garden. Hooray!

Happy weekend all!

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Oh I know I said there was going to be a tutorial today...

However, there was a little problem with the photos (operator error I'm afraid). 

And it's an absolutely gorgeous day outside and I ended up at the garden store and these little beauties came home with me. Time to plant!

Tutorial will follow at some other date, indeed it will!

Happy Weekend all!

A Tiny Miracle

Yesterday whilst out in the garden I spied a tiny miracle. Well, to be honest, I actually caught the scent of a small miracle before I spied it with my little eye.

Earlier this year I took a few leaps of faith when it came to planting in the garden. I have told you of the many fruit trees we have and the abundance we are gifted with. Still, I wanted to try growing something I have never grown before, melons. This is not the complete truth, I have on one other occasion grown melons, watermelon actually. However, that is a tale of woe for another time.

A cantaloupe melon, a Charentais Melon to be specific. Pony Girl is wild for melons, so I thought I'd throw caution to the wind and plant one small plant. Over the Summer months I diligently watered and cared for said melon plant. I was quite beside myself when the first little green globe appeared on the plant, and then 2 more joined the party.

As time went on I noticed that the small green globes were not growing to the size indicated on the information tag that came in the plant. Last week as I checked them again I sighed the sigh that says, "Well I gave it a go, what a shame."

Yesterday though, as I was returning from my errands I walked past the garden bed with the miniature melons and caught a whiff. The scent of a ripe melon! upon closer inspection  the little fruit fell off the stem into my hands. Oh my thought I, surely it wont taste good, it's only the size of a softball after all, not nearly the 2 pound fruit it was supposed to be.

I cut the melon in half, hmmmm... it looks good. And then I took a tentative taste. This my friends was the best tasting melon I'd had in an age. It tasted like candy! Amazing! Hurrah!

I saved the rest of the melon for Pony Girl, who did in fact agree that it was most delicious.

Though in the scheme of things it was truly the tiniest of miracles, I'll take it. It's the everyday little happy surprises that make for a happy life.