Potatoes Cranking... and the Zucchinis are Warming Up

Potatoes and One of This Year's 1st Zukes

The garden continues to thrive.  We're in the midst of a "hot spell."  That means sunny skies and temps in the high seventies to low eighties Fahrenheit.  Don't hurt yourself laughing, please.  This is the way people look at weather here at the 48th parallel.  Here, at the edge of the continent.

The usual partly-to-mostly cloudy skies have finally become a bright, clear blue.  I've taken all four tomato plants out of the greenhouse and put them on our south-facing deck.  They are thirsty all the time.  They bask in the sun and the heat reflected from the deck and south-facing wall of the house.

The chilies are still in the greenhouse.  They seem to love the heat; although I'm watching the watering carefully.  Plants in pots just don't leave that much margin for error.  My slow-to-start jalapenos have gotten very busy and are now big stars.  I think it's getting near the time for me to harvest my poblanos.  The super chilies (which I had better names for them) are ripening.

Does anyone know how best to dry chilies?  How to freeze them?

We've had maybe ten artichokes so far.  Earlier today, Angel counted twenty-one more artichokes on the plants.  Some are nearly ready to eat, but others are just starting.  That means we'll probably have them for another month or two.

All this is good, but the potatoes are wonderful.  They have contributed to many meals.  Angel often pulls five or more pounds of potatoes from the gardens in a single day.  We've been giving some away to neighbors and friends, and it's now to the point that we think we can start saving a few in some shelves down in the basement.

And now, the zucchinis and yellow squash are starting to come.  Some people say they get tired of zucchini.  I don't know about that.  Last year we had a lot of zucchini and I never grew tired of them.

There is more: carrots, some beets, some beautiful red cabbage... kohlrabi, bell peppers.  The list goes on.

When I spent those months of hard work building garden beds, hauling dirt, sifting dirt, mixing in compost, I sometimes became discouraged.  I kept telling myself I would only have to do all that heavy work one time.  I told myself the gardens would give us lots of pleasure and that they would not be too difficult to maintain.

Sometimes wishful thinking and stubborn optimism are an effective approach!