My Garden Is Taking Off ...

To me Summer means fresh tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, basil and more right in my own backyard.  Early in the Spring I made several references to how I couldn't wait to get our garden planted and start having fresh produce come straight from our backyard.  We were a little late in getting it planted and up until now there hasn't been much to tell you about the progress of the garden.

Well now things are just getting started.  I love to wander out to the garden each day to see how much the baby vegetables have grown since the day before.   

We have .....

Tomatoes!  My hubby taught me years ago that there really is a difference between a homegrown tomato and one you buy at the store.  There are 8 tomato plants in all.  3 of them were rather large when we bought them.  One of those already had baby tomatoes on it when we planted it.  Those tomatoes have just a hint of color to them like they will be ripe very soon.  Of course it will still be awhile before we are overwhelmed with tomatoes.

The Cucumber plants are growing and spreading out.  They have lots of yellow blooms and some tiny cucumbers starting to grow.

The Zucchini Plants (all but one) are standing tall and getting big.  I have no idea why one is turning brown and drying out. The first Zucchini of the season was picked just the other day.  Yum!!

The Basil plants have taken off.  One is starting to go to seed already.  Does anyone know if I take the flowering seed parts off will it continue to grow new leaves instead??  We use the Basil leaves in many dishes but my favorite thing to do is make lots of pesto towards the end of the summer.  I freeze it in ice cube trays.  All year long I get to cook with the frozen pesto cubes. 

And then there are Raspberries.  Lots of Raspberries!!  We planted 2 tiny stems about 4 years ago.  I didn't know they would spread like they have....but I'm not complaining.  Each year a few friends get Raspberry starters from our garden as we need to tame them back a bit to have room for other plants.  FYI ... if you plant Raspberries, don't cut them back at the end of the season.  We learned the hard way a few years ago that only second year stems produce berries.  The berries we get this year will come from last years new stems and this years new stems will produce next year.

Our biggest challenge with Raspberries is picking them fast enough before the birds get to them.  I laugh at my hubby as he tells me "I ran some birds out of the raspberries today."  As if that's going to keep them away.  LOL!  Soon I'll share about the raspberry jam I like to make.  It is so easy and so good!

I love this picture!

In addition to the things pictured here, there is also a Jalapeno plant, a Tomatillo plant, Lettuce, Spinach and Cilantro in the garden.  I can't wait to make the tomatillo sauce that goes on top of my favorite Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas with all fresh ingredients from my garden.  It's good enough to eat by itself with chips.

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