August 2011 Garden Update

Summer in Bellingham is lovely.  This year it was slow in coming, so we’re appreciating it that much more.  We’ve only had one day above 80 degrees so far, but daytime highs in the seventies is just about perfect as far as I’m concerned. 

We've been eating outside garden every night, enjoying the flowers and the antics of our pets: dog, cats, and chickens.

The vegetable garden is doing well. 

We enjoyed several weeks of fresh salads during the spring and early summer, and I’ve just replanted those areas with lettuce seed again.

The zucchini took off for awhile but are slowing down.  Too bad, we've all been enjoying my gluten free chocolate chip zucchini bread.  There are several little pie-sized pumpkins on the vines, but I haven’s seen any acorn squash yet.  There might be one or two hiding in the foliage, though, which is really thick.

The beans really took off on their teepee-like structure. 

Several tomatoes have set and are beginning to ripen, as well as a few bell peppers.  I planted both orange and purple carrots, and they’re coming along well too, as are the green onions and cucumbers.

Here are the green beans and carrots I brought in for dinner on Saturday. 

I sliced the carrots lengthwise, added a sliced zucchini, and cooked them all in little oil in the skillet until they were caramelized on the outside and cooked through.  They were so good!

It is so satisfying to prepare food that you’ve raised yourself, whether it’s vegetables, fruit, or fresh eggs from the chickens.  I can’t adequately explain it.  The food just seems more valuable when you’ve tended it for weeks or months and brought it to the table with your own hands. 

I hope everyone else is enjoying the bounty of the season as well.

Cindy