It's two months since I planted the garden and I have never seen anything grow and produce so fast!First we had the kale and lettuce, then everything else started coming in. Now th brussels sprouts are waist high with little buds forming, but the plants are so big they have shaded some of the other plants which struggle. So next time I plant, I will have to give them more room.
We had our first batch of green peas the other night and I've picked all the cauliflower, including the beautiful purple ones. Last night I made the most delicious cauliflower au gratin. One thing about having a lot of one type of veggie is that I have to get creative with the recipes, which for me, is all part of the fun. The trick now is to start planting for the second part of the summer, and hope things have enough time to mature before the cold hits.
The red cabbage and some cauliflower are already in and I have some scarlet runner beans climbing madly. A New Zealand spinach is doing well, too and it looks like the onions will be ready to pull soon. My tomatoes are finally setting. They were doing nothingfor a while and one of the growers at the farmers market told me the soil is probably too rich and that I must be the bees! So I have been 'tickling my tomatoes" and the are starting to form en masse and by harvest time, I will probably be wishing I hadn't bothered!
Today we leave for New Zealand for five weeks.I decided to do a separate blog for the trip - it's here So enjoy the trip with us, blogs and lotsa photos to come.
It never fails to amaze me how things pile up just before you leave on a trip. For weeks, things have been slow and boring, and I thought this is going to be a snap. Time to get the house and cats sorted out, gather documents needed, finish the articles I committed to do, etc etc. But all of a sudden things seem to escalate.Along with the crummy weather that caused problems all over the area, and kept us inside (not that I want to go out much in the cold anyway.) But even the weather ate into my time when the Leader wanted storm pictures. So diehard that I am, donned my foulies and headed out. Fortunately for us, there wasn't a lot of damage in the area, just a lot of trees down and of course, the Hood Canal Bridge was closed to traffic because of the high winds. It opens to relieve the pressure caused by
the wind and waves.
And another Leader article that had been hanging in the background needed to be completed so got that done yesterday. Actually, was quite proud of myself, listed a house in the morning and wrtoe the article in the afternoon. Now if only the newspaper paid decently, it would have been a VERY productive day.
With just a week before we leave for New Zealand, I am getting excited now! I started a New Zealand blog but think maybe I should just post to this one, as my "fans" as Betsy says, know this site. I will let everyone know that I will be posting regularly, along with photos on shutterly.com and for those who have trouble viewing the internet (Biff and Jules) I will email them.
