Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bountiful Harvest

You leave a garden for a week in the Summer and look what happens! As you can see in the photo (left), the tomatoes have started to come in, and the yellow and zucchini squash appear to be on steroids. Can you also see the purple Bell peppers, along with a couple of green ones? This is the first year that they have truly produced for us. You probably can't tell, but the Cayenne Peppers are starting to ripen, too, and the basil really needed a major haircut! Mom took a good deal of our bounty to share with her bridge buddies at O'Fallon Senior Center, but we still have a mountain of zucchini, waiting to be grated and frozen. It'll make fabulous zucchini bread, won't it? And, of course, what would a garden be without flowers? Can you see the red Mr. Lincoln roses and the Shasta daisies in the background?

Yes, we enjoy sharing our garden with others, especially those who no longer have access to home-grown produce. But, to be perfectly honest, I just melt when the tomatoes begin to come in...as you can see from this photo of my first tomato sandwich of the season. Simple pleasure...warm-from-the-vine slices of tomato, mayonnaise on white bread, some bacon, and lots of salt and pepper. Is there anything any better? (No lettuce...appears that the bunnies got there before me...again. No problem...it's all about the tomato!)

Speaking of flowers, we continue to enjoy our variety of daylilies. Here's a photo (right) of the latest to start blooming...the Chicago Comanche, planted at the mailbox. They are now in their third year, so we'll need to divide them this Fall. As you can see, they are a deep red-orange with yellow centers...and each bloom is plate-sized, too! Also blooming are the newest variety, Sir Mordred...which haven't even made it into the ground yet! They are still in their pots beside the water faucet in the back yard. As advertised, they are a deep marooney-red, with numerous blooms. Here's a photo to enjoy (below, left).




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