The first ripe tomato appeared on July 29th. I always hope for tomatoes by my birthday. I’m usually overly optimistic. The plum tomatoes ripen earlier than all the others. I like plum tomatoes. I like our big tomatoes too.

We grow four varieties of garlic: two types of hard neck and two soft neck. It is our mantra that having more varieties allow for the natural variability of weather on the harvest. We were eating the soft necks up until the hard necks got ripe. I love having a continuous garlic supply!

This is about half of our onion harvest. We will be buying onions again. The late springtimes and early autumns reduce the size and quality of our onions, regardless of the variety.

The cabbage and rutabagas limp along but the popcorn likes the weather we’ve had. Michael holds pickling cucumbers near as they appeal to his love of salt.

Grape leaves and black pekoe tea bags give the pickles crunch. Volunteer dill and garden garlic give them flavor. Salt cures them. We have munched our way through a gallon already!

Sunday past saw us with sufficient time to go to the Mushroom Woods. It is our first outing this year. We saw few signs of old mushrooms, but found a young new one.

Along with green beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs, it became dinner.

Michael and I were working on a variety of projects yesterday. It got to be 6 pm and we were hungry. I gathered some beet greens, Michael dug a few potatoes, he had made Hungarian cucumbers and we had leftover pinto beans. With a little red chile, dinner couldn’t have been better (or faster).

Fried potatoes was what my dad called “papas doraditas.” He said my grandmother would make them from time to time because she knew they were his favorite. I think of them both when I fry potatoes.

Beet stems and green beans make a fast and tasty dinner as well. I keep ginger root on hand for such opportunities.

Today we harvested four of our ducks. We have 22 more to go. We wait for cool mornings and work fast to avoid as many flies as we can. Then the inside work began. Michael went hunting in the tomato thicket and hit pay dirt.

Tomato and egg sandwiches are what’s for dinner.

We planted Irene a week ago today.

I like to think of her as the genie in the bottle. She always did like green rooms. We had a good party in her honor. I was so busy having a good time I forgot to take photos.

We will have to bring Clyde and Irene some of the sunflowers from our garden. In October or early November we will bring the Grands to visit and tell them stories of all those for whom they are the fruit of their labors.