Even though we had a relatively cool July, There wasn't a whole lot of baking going on. There was, however, a fair amount going on in the garden. I planted green beans and cucumbers and more beets and those plants are all getting bigger. Started to see the beans start to flower a few days ago since they have climbed to the top of their supports, and then some!
The cucumbers and beet plants get bigger every day and are thriving. I planted a few zinnia seeds, too, so there should be a bit of color in a few weeks in that planter barrel. In the last few days I've seen some yellow flowers in the cucumbers patch, too, so they should set some fruit soon.
We've been getting zucchini for a few weeks and this week had enough to give away a few. There are actually people who welcome the gift. The baby butternut squash have set fruit, too, about three so far. I had to help pollinate some of them. You can't really see them, but they are at the bottom of the planter box in the photo below, near the orange plastic front of the watering can. The bees seem to be more drawn to the flowering sage than to the squash. Ants actually help pollinate the zucchini.
The potatoes are starting to turn yellow, a sure sign that I'll be able to dig them up soon! It's probably just one variety with the second one still pretty green, but I won't know until I dig - Sweetie moved the planter after I planted, so the plants are not arranged as I planted them.
The big news for August will be the tomatoes. I harvested the first grape tomatoes today (see photo at the top) and there should be some larger ones a few days. After a slow start, the tomato plants have set a lot of fruit and are still doing that, so the harvest will likely go on into October. Yum! Here is a photo showing the almost done poppies, the tomatoes with underplanting of marigolds, and some of the squash plants.
Have also been picking blackberries down the driveway and managed to step on a windfall Gravenstein apple hidden by leaves and almost fall. Caught myself, but managed to roll my right foot. Off the the doctor late last week. X-rays taken and PT ordered. Sigh. This is going to cut back on both garden and baking time since both require some standing, which is not a great look for me right now.
On the cooking front I did use some zucchini and ground turkey for chili (first time using zucchini and it was great!) which is gone and no photos taken, and for some spaghetti sauce like the recipe HERE.
Had some calzone last night that used some of the spaghetti sauce. Our grandson Raine is visiting and he helped make the dough for the calzone and the calzone too. He's a natural in the kitchen.
Welcome to August! Will be as busy as my foot allows with visiting grandson. Hope to have some new posts for you. Probably one on a pie Raine and I made today,
plus one on some croissants we are making together.
