1st week of July 2007

Pleasant weather for outdoor work has helped us get closer to our goal of having everything in the garden mulched. I did have to bring out my secret weapon against weeds for a few areas - the lawn mower! It makes quick work of places that have gotten completely out of control. Fall cabbages and broccolis went in the ground along with some "bargain greenhouse" purchases and will need plenty of watering until rain comes again. I need to keep remembering to make new plantings of beans and zucchini every few weeks too. First Lady tomatoeWe picked our first First Lady tomato and enjoyed it with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped basil, scrumptious. I had several of my little helpers join me for the first picking of green beans and plenty were eaten raw to celebrate.

Seasonal meals are such a summer pleasure. Olin's birthday supper used the last of our freezer beef, porterhouse steaks, plus we had new red potatoes boiled with garlic and rosemary. A bowl of raw "shell your own" peas was on the table also. His request for a raspberry cheesecake didn't happen (the cook was out in the garden instead of the kitchen) but we substitued shortcake instead. Lunch guestsAnother visit from out of town relatives prompted a picnic using goodies from the garden. I delivered a dilly green bean salad with nasturtiums for garnish, fresh picked sugar snap peas and a bouquet to add to the lunch my parents planned for my aunt, uncle and aunt's sister. A jr high group was also here last week for a service night and we put them to work mulching potato rows and picking peas. It was fun teaching jr high gals the fine art of pea shelling. Their labor was rewarded with homemade raspberry ice-cream.

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