In the Garden: Zinnias and Zucchini

August 13, 2015

In the Garden: Zinnias and Zucchini

The garden seems to have a mind of it's own these days... Zucchini, squash, and cucumbers are stretching their limbs and finding new places to call home. The pumpkin patch is also quite wild, climbing the hillside toward the road... uh oh! No pumpkins in the road, I must insist! The corn stalks have grown pregnant bellies that make me smile each time I notice. The wildflowers and zinnias planted in the children's garden are now making a show. "Next year... next year", I keep saying..." I will have a huge flower patch... I don't care if I have to use up the rest of our yard to do it!" Anyways, despite the all around wildness and willfulness of my garden, more time seems to be spent in the kitchen finding what to do with it all. This is not to say I have a bumper crop in anything... things are just finally starting to go okay for this beginner. This morning we had our first loaf of zucchini bread. Our small freezer is starting to get pretty tight with pesto and blanched kale and snap peas and summer squash, and more plans on the horizon. And I better start pickling soon... anyone have a great pickle recipe to recommend? I haven't found "the one" yet. I might just go for "quickles", though, because last year their was bit of a disaster with over boiling several jars while my little one was nursing... very tragic to have soggy pickles. We have been catching up on our weeding the last few days. Do you see how clever I am getting Elsa a wheel barrow for her birthday... they were actually picking up the weeds for me to bring to the compost after I toss them from the garden. Okay, it didn't last long, but it was still nice. Oh, it's so nice to watch things grow... cucumbers and pumpkins and little people too!

As always, I'd love to hear or see what's going on in your garden this time of year!

Here's my previous garden posts from this year (2015):