Food from the garden

horridly overdue update

I'm ignoring the garden, except for the vegetable beds. Those are thriving!

In my August garden

Lemons, cucumbers and tomatoes in the photo. I also have

• basil
• Thai basil
  
• parsley
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cherry tomatoes
• green peppers
• a jalapeno
• dill
• apples
• plums
• lemon balm
• chives
• a few other herbs

What's ready for harvest in yours?

'Matoes and Basil and Cukes, Oh My!

Love this time of year. Made some fantastic pasta the other night with just picked tomatoes and onion and basil plus garlic from the end of June. The more ingredients I've grown the more I like the dish!

Did a nice Asian influenced cucumber salad to go with some grilled steak last night.

Tomorrow I need to do something interesting with a new squash whose name I've lost. It's sort of oblong and green and lighter green striped. Sound familiar? Ideas?

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

We finally got some heat so my tomatoes are ripening. Usually it seems we're heading off on vacation about this time but this year we're sticking closer to home so I'm enjoying the fresh produce in the yard.

I've got:

• apples (tart ones)
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• basil (two kinds)
• parsley
• cilantro
• yellow squash
• a new green squash (have to go look it up)
  
• a few stray onions
• lettuce
• beets
• Italian plums (the kind they make prunes from!)
• lemons
• and I think I saw an orange still hanging in there!
  

For dinner tonight I made patty melts to satisfy the youngest, then sliced up some cucumbers and tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil, then sprinkled with a Sicilian herb mix. I love summer.

I love wandering the garden and deciding what to fix based on what's available.

Coming up but not quite ready:

• jalapenos
• bell peppers of various colors
• more basil and cilantro
• sweeter apples from a different tree
  
• Indian blood peaches (probably not till September)
  

In the garden now...

I just planted some more basil seeds so I can always have some fresh. I've got Thai basil and "regular" basil (not sure the variety). I'm picking tomatoes, onions, yellow squash, lettuce, chard, beet greens, parsley, basil. Tiny cucumbers and peppers are forming, as is another type of squash.

My jalapeno plant died. I need to go find a replacement.

July Gardening Tasks for the Bay Area

There's a nice short article in the Chronicle containing a list of things to do in your yard here in the Bay Area right now.

If you're in other parts of the country, what do you do about now?

My to-do list includes pulling up the dead love-in-a-mist while scattering the seeds about so they'll come up again next year, deadheading roses, fertilizing, and staying on top of the vegetable garden.

A Year?!

I cannot believe that somehow a year has gone by since my last post. I will do better this year!

That said, there's not much to write about gardening-wise right now because of the much needed rains. The yard is soggy and there's not much I can do other than basic pruning and cleanup until the rains stop and the ground dries up a bit.

In the meantime, my artichokes, rhubarb, garlic, and onions are getting well watered and doing fine.