Sidetracked Artist

This year's garden is well on it's way.  We've enjoyed many delicious salads this year, but it's too early to harvest much else here in Bellingham.  It's been said that summer in northwest Washington state doesn't really begin until July 5, and for the few years we've lived here that has been true.  We have a much shorder growing season here than any other place I've lived, but that doesn't stop me from trying to grow fresh vegetables for my family.  You can read more about why I grow food here . This year I have lettuce, green onions, zucchini, tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, shelling beans, and pole beans.  Potatoes?  My grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave, wondering, "Didn't we raise her better than to waste good land growing potatoes when you can buy a whole sack of them cheap at the store?" I love potatoes!  And of course I can buy them at the store, but I especially like those long, skinny fingerling potatoes, a...

Now that the weather has warmed here in northwest Washington state , our vegetable garden is producing well.  In addition to all the zucchini and cucumbers, we've harvested lots of green beans. I've taken some young, tender beans for a couple of dinners, but this was our first big harvest from the been vines.  I was amazed at how many beans we got from this 4 x 6 foot piece of ground.  This is the first time I've grown beans with a teepee-like structure, and I'm happy with how well it's worked. In the spring, I used bamboo poles I purchased at our farmer's market to provide the main structure for the teepee.  My husband "planted" them in the four corners of the plot, tied them together near the top, then I wrapped the whole thing with yarn scraps for the beans to climb on.  Only the outer edges of the 4 x 6 rectangle were planted. There are still many little beans in various stages of growth for another harvest, and the vines co...