Mid-summer Garden

It's now mid-summer, and my suburban garden is in full swing and the summer crops are starting to come in.  This is the fourth year for the garden.  It started as a 4' x 10' "garden patch," so named by my husband.  We had a few tomato and pepper plants plus a small variety of herbs.  The garden has grown a little more each year.  This season I have planted a large variety of crops in about 350 square feet of raised beds scattered throughout the yard and a couple of permanent beds along the fence and foot of our Victorian frame house.  My ultimate goal is to provide about 50% of the produce for our family of 3 adults to include fresh berries, vegetables and herbs during the spring, summer and fall plus surplus enough for canned and dried foodstuffs for the winter.  I've also included a few flowers just for decoration, teas and craft projects.

We had been away on a road trip to Tennessee last week, and when I came back, there was an abundant harvest of the first cucumbers of summer. There were so many that I made a batch of relish to be ready for the potato salads and veggie dogs of summer picnics.

Also, the very first of the tomatoes ripened this week - small chocolate cherry tomatoes that were little bursts of summer sweetness.  Now, as I patiently (ok, not so patiently) wait for the main harvest of tomatoes to come in, I'm enjoying the sights of the garden as everything continues to grow.

Eggplant Blossom

Squash Blossoms

Thank you for reading!