Garden 2024 Update #13: A Garden & Kitchen Tour

It's hard to believe it's already September. The growing season always seems so short, and over way too soon.  While it's not quite over yet, it's coming quickly and the chore of "putting the garden to bed" has already started. 

Come join me on a walk through the garden & peek into the kitchen:

Mid August when the garden is most lush. 

I love the way it looks when food is spilling out of the raised beds the way the carrot tops are.

I've been working on beautifying (as much as possible) the inside of my wee cottage. 

As I always say, it was really nice of me to buy this hot tub for my cats. 😂

My 2nd to last Mars Madness Hibiscus flower this year. 

They cast such a gorgeous pop of color in the garden. 

Yet another contender in the "mutant tomato of the year" contest. 

All the green tomatoes are growing on a single stem that appears to have grown out of the red tomato. 

Terra Cotta Yarrow - orange blooms are new - they yellow out in about a week. 

Apparently the carrot heard about the mutant vegetable of the year contest. 

What you get when you leave your wee bunch of carrots in the box lid. 

Scarlet Runner Beans were late bloomers but look at 'em go now!

The grape vines are taking over. 

My Cherry Wine at 8 weeks.  It's fantastic! 🍷 Recipe is here.

Sometimes the harvest looks like this. 

New Fridge Pickle recipe I'm trying from here

The spear on the left is 1 day old. 

The one on the right, the more olive colored one, is a week old. 

Perfectly pickled & garlicy goodness. 

25-ish pounds of tomatoes 

A year's worth of ketchup (more or less) and 2 quarts of rich tomato juice.

I use Sarah's recipe here

The late summer clear up has begun. 

Out are the butternut squash (non-producers this year) and blackberries are now in their place. 

Clear up continues with the removal of the last of the vines on Cucumber Lane. 

This whole section is being planned for renovation for next spring. 

One of the last berry clusters this year.  

The bushes were HUGE procucers and I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for coming along on a tour through the garden & the peek into the kitchen. 

I hope you were encouraged or inspired in some by your visit today. 

Garden 2024 Update #7

It's been rainy and windy and just overall ugly weather the last few weeks.  So much so that sadly I've lost half of my pickling cucumbers to swampy, wet soil.  I'm not clear on what's happened but the spot I've successfully grown cucumbers in for years now, has turnd into literal swampland with about an inch of standing water, when I dig down 6 inches or so. 

I've replaced the ones I've lost and planted them into 5 gallon grow bags, so we'll see how my cucumber harvest pans out this year. Garlic dills, sweet relish and bread and butter pickles are a must around here, so hopefully I can harvest enough for those 3 types.  

Some current pics of the garden:

Garlic scapes ready for harvesting, drying, and turning into garlic powder

Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Red Roasting Peppers

The new meets the old green bean vines.  

A new variety for me this year sent to me by my sister, and they're called Scarlet Runner beans. 

Poor germination rate, and out of only 12 vines, only half have survived.  

Of those that have survived, they're doing fantastic!    

Not a view I share often, but after dark, my garden looks quite magical. 

I have a somewhat weird fascination with outdoor accent lighting 😊 

so solar lights are the way to go, if you only have one exterior outlet. 

Dutch Clover filling in nicely around all the rubber pavers.

Last year I had a grand total of 2 Honey Crisp apples on my new tree.  

This year I have a grand total of 6, so things are looking up, for sure! 

As always, I hope you're blessed and encouraged to start your own back yard food forest! 

Please feel welcome to leave a comment with any gardening questions you might have.