In which we catch up with the garden, which is about to outrun us
One of the perks of being broke (and thus, unable to go haring off to endurance events every 2 weeks, as I do when the money is flush) is that I have more time to spend in the garden.
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| Garden, July 5th |
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| I've been taking snap peas by the bag to work, and incorporating them into all kinds of dishes at home, but mostly we just stand in the garden and eat them straight off the vine. |
This year, we've already been over-run by snap peas, and the carrots and beans are starting to pick up speed.
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| Farmer Jim's hat doubles as a food-gathering device |
And, of course, there's the annual Zucchini Problem.
Our latest coping strategy is a dish we call the "Backyard Scramble:"
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| The only thing in the pan that didn't come from the pan is the olive oil. Maybe I should buy some of Jared's olive oil, just to keep it all in the family? |
Yellow potatoes, zucchini, finely chopped carrot and onion, scattered with green peas,
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| Enough on one plate to feed two people |
scrambled eggs seasoned with fresh rosemary or fresh basil, and served with beans (purple on the vine, green after cooking) and homemade toast smeared with Jim's 2012 blackberry jam.
Even the bag of scraps for the chickens
is rather pretty!
And the garden continues to galumph alone. Compare the July 21 photo below with the July 5 photo at the top of this post:
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| Garden, July 21st Notice how much bigger the beans (photo left) and squashes (center) have grown! |
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| I love purple beans |
and we even have a few shy cukes peeking out from under the vines.
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| Future pickles |
In non-garden news, we were dismayed to learn that two of our "Eleanor" cheeps are actually cockerels, and not hens. Yep. The sound of adolescent "crowing through a kazoo" gave it away, guys.
But there's been enough death on the farm lately. We opted to allow the Kazoos to join the Circle of Life out in the Dragon's pasture. Plenty of weasels and hawks out there, we figured.
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| Dragon: "You're going to tell me it 'tastes like chicken,' aren't you?" |
Plus, you know, there's a Dragon.
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| "I was gonna make espresso!" |
This morning, they were waiting at the backdoor with Chicken Twelve and Samantha Barncat.
Hmmm.
Stronger measures may be needed if the Circle of Life doesn't hurry up.
Unless the Kazoos turn out to be huge consumers of zucchini. In which case, we might be able to reach a compromise....
I love the garden.... I hope to be able to actually garden next year (here's to hoping we are where we want to be)
ReplyDeleteI am afraid as to the roosters... I would do them the kindness of sharp instrument across the neck.... Luckily, I have the one rooster now, and he stays...he is a sweetheart! I need to clip his spurs tho, poor guy, he sometimes stumbles because they tangle up...
Tara
The garden looks very abundant! I love it! I hope to have a veggie garden one of these days, but I can barely keep up with my shrubs and flower beds at the moment...let alone more things growing.
ReplyDeleteThe roosters make me chuckle a bit - my co-worker just finished telling me a story about her childhood and this rooster that used to attack her all the time (only her, no one else in the family). She wouldn't get off the school bus if she could see that the rooster was out in the yard!