Rattlesnake Beans...Awesome...

Harvested my first beans this week. The rattlesnake beans are ready, served them for supper tonight with zucchini ratatouille and applesauce from my freezer. That was a good meal.

The bean teepee a few months ago.

Starting out...

My crazy Pole Bean climbing up my potato plant...

Enjoying the blossoms.

First spotting...

First picking.

My zucchini ratatouille - eggplant, zucchini (from my garden), onion, green pepper, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and spaghetti sauce (from last years harvest) (the rest was from the local produce stand excluding the spices from my cupboard) MMMM...fresh harvest...

I Found a Cucumber in My Garden !!!

It may not seem noteworthy that I found a cucumber in my garden, since I planted two cucumber plants....but I really was concerned. I typically plant cucumbers, but I don't typically plant squash - mostly because they tend to spread out so much and also because they are so prolific. One of the squash I planted was a climbing squash, so I planted it along a fence near the back of the garden, then I proceeded to plant my cucumber nearby, and then my zucchini ...and then my patty pan squash. I did expect it to get crowded, but truth be told the climbing squash has decided to take more than its allotted share of the space and I was beginning to get the impression that my cucumber would not have enough sunlight to supply me with any cucumbers. Needless to sayI was quite surprised when I reached beneath the leaves of my climbing squash and pulled out a cucumber. Hey I won't complain, I will make myself a cucumber, tomato, and cheese sandwich to celebrate. Then I will probably have to put myself on a zucchini diet.....picked another two zucchini today.

The Space Hogging Climbing Squash (...no that is not the real name of the plant ...but it sure describes it from my cucumber view point)

The produce that will eventually be harvested ...it better be edible and taste good for the amount of space it is taking.

My beloved cucumber rebelling against the climbing squash by producing a harvest before the climbing squash could steal all its sunlight and choke it out. (and yes, I know only one of those is a cucumber.)

The prolific zucchini trying to change my diet and make me a vegetarian.

See all those blooms....I am in so much trouble...this is why I don't plant squash...

Being chased from the garden once again...

Enjoying the Early Harvest

I harvested two more zucchini and another head of broccoli tonight. Enjoying the fresh veggies. Hopefully the squash won't get out of control.

Watching the progression of the broccoli . . . looking forward to broccoli stir fry.

And now for the zucchini ...

Here are a few things I enjoyed from the garden earlier.

Chives...

taste delicious in eggs...

especially with a few other fresh veggies (....not from my garden...yet...)

and a delicious dish of Rhubarb Sorrel Crisp. MMMM!!!

The Ill Effects of Beetles and Hail (.... a post long past due.)

Well, it appears I have been delinquent...that is in keeping up this blog page so I will try to remedy that a little today. We will start with my tomatoes. I did so well in starting them and keeping them alive to plant out and then to have them nicely situated in the garden I felt quite pleased ...that was until I went to check on them.

Here is a fine specimen of a Potato Beetle...however it is not welcome in my garden.

And you can see the results of his visit. I must say it was an unfortunate state of affairs. I am not mean and cruel by nature (at least I don't like to think so), but I must admit I squished every one I could find with my bare hands and then sprinkled my plants with Sven, well at least any of them that looked like they had any chance of survival - unlike the one pictured. If I remember correctly they effectively destroyed 7 out of my 12 plants.

Around the same time we had a bout of hail, but truthfully my plants made out much better against the hail than against the beetles. I had only one or two that I remember thinking "what happened to that plant...it doesn't look good...but it doesn't look eaten either..."

Don't worry though I managed to come up with replacement tomato plants ... and they faired much better.