My, how it has grown!

The kitchen garden in front of my pottery studio

Finally… some cooler days and nights. Then it's hot again. That's August. After a horribly hot, dry season and watering the garden more often than any summer I can remember, it was certainly nice to have a break in the weather. There were days in July that I did little more than water the garden. Other than the cilantro which bolted during the first hot spell, everything else fared well especially the tomatoes which seemed to thrive in the heat. We've had tomato sandwiches, Caprese salads and been giving and tossing away a lot. Was it the organic Tiger Bloom plant food? Next year, fewer plants but who knew?

Just a few of the Super Marzanos

For someone who hates to cook, I had to make use of my bounty of vegetables. First, there were the fabulous French string beans which I used in several chicken meals and a green bean casserole. Thank you Pinterest for the recipes. Then there was the pickling cukes which made up the best refrigerator pickles with another Pinterest find. There was also the freezer pasta sauce that I made twice with nearly 18 lbs. of San Marzano tomatoes. More recently, I used the same tomatoes to make up the best batch of fresh tomato salsa. All seasoned with garlic, onions and herbs from the kitchen garden.

Monster tomato plants!

The 577 garden has also produced my share of food bank contributions of eggplants and kale. The yellow squash plant there has also provided the perfect amount for our meals. I was able to control them better than the baseball bat-sized zucchini of past seasons. Recently I also brought home a sunflower head that had gone to seed for our backyard squirrel. Mozzie (a.k.a. Batman) and I observed yesterday as the squirrel stuffed his cheeks much to his delight. I'll bring home some more and maybe the birds can manage to get a few.

I'm looking forward to harvesting the cool weather crops this fall especially the Brussels sprouts. There will also be more beans, leeks and kale. However, I am continuing to maintain my status as a small-time gardener who doesn't want to go into the canning business. :)