the june garden ~ beginning abundance.

carrots and roma tomatoes

 roma and cherry tomatoes.

herb overload! and cucumbers.

snow peas (now harvested and cleared) and green beans.

 painted lady fern.

butterfly bush.

lily.

a favorite spot.

grandma jane's hollyhocks.

snow pea harvest - many are in the freezer.

aunt nanna's oakleaf hydrangea.

peony poppy.

morning glory vine.

just a sampling of romas ready to turn red.

more green beans.

cucumbers.

fingerling potatoes.

peony poppy.

cosmos.

nasturitum.

The garden has exploded and it has taken a good routine to maintain it. 

We have been eating salads most days, still, and the greens have included swiss chard, beet leaves, kale and spinach. I do love growing greens like this because they are so sturdy compared to lettuce that will easily wilt in the heat and not stay as crisp once picked. 

Recently, I harvested the garlic and fingerling potatoes. These potatoes should last us for meals through July, and then I'll begin harvesting the other potatoe varieties. I usually saute onions in olive oil, add the diced potatoes to get crisp and tender then add some green beans to heat through; sprinkled with salt this is an easy, fresh side dish that we eat often. 

A few cherry tomatoes have ripened and we have been faithful to stake and trellis the tomatoes and are ready to begin harvesting. The plants look great without sign of blight, and I'm hopeful that will continue. A bountiful roma harvest for sauces and soup bases will be quite welcome.

July, as always, will be the month for heavy watering using the rain barrels and heavy weeding and grooming as plants can seem to get out of control. I don't want a jungle - I want everything to continue to look pretty and welcoming.

Produce Total: 71 pounds

Strawberries - 19 lbs.

Kale, Spinach, Endive, Brocoli Rapini, Swiss Chard, Beet Leaves - 25 lbs.
Beets - 2 lbs.
Fingerling Potatoes - 10 lbs.
Red Inchelium Garlic - 10 lbs.
Cherry Tomatoes - 1 lb.
Raspberries - 1 lb.
Green Beans - 3 lb.

Other Harvesting
Seeds: Kale, Snow Peas
Herbs: Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Mint, Parsley, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Raspberry Leaf, Dill, Cilantro