Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Harvest Upon Vacation Return

We had a lovely week on vacation on Lake Champlain in Alburgh, Vermont last week. 

Here's a view of the lake.  Sunday and Monday were perfect for swimming and kayaking. Tuesday got very blustery and Wednesday was a good day to stay inside and read.  Weather was cool after that storm but we found lots to do even if we couldn't swim.


Here's a view of the house we rented.  You can find it on VRBO.




It was nice to have family together and spend time with our granddaughter.  Before we left I picked everything I could in the vegetable garden but didn't get a photo.  These photos below were taken on August 4th.


I used the Juliette tomatoes to make a pasta sauce to take along.



I asked my neighbor to water if it didn't rain and to be sure to pick vegetables.  I'm not sure if he did.

Here is the harvest yesterday afternoon.

Here's the same basket with some of the things removed to reveal what's underneath.


Lots of beans!


And lots of tomatoes.  Most of these will need to be frozen.



The vegetable garden needs work.  Some of the tomato plants are giving up as is a cucumber plant.  The first planting of beans need to be pulled.  The weeds need removing. I need to try again to sow spinach and lettuce and maybe some other fall crops like peas and bok choy.

See other harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

I made one side trip on Monday of last week to meet up with a former blogger and internet friend, Bet Manly or Wilderness as she is known on the internet.  She lives in the Adirondacks and gardens under those extreme conditions.  Here she is in her kitchen where she fed me a delicious open faced reuben using bread she baked, corn beef she brined and sauerkraut she grew and pickled.


This is her Adirondack home high on a hill.



12 comments:

Jenny Rottinger said...

WOW, that's a LOT of tomatoes! Very nice harvest overall, and very lovely pictures of the vacation place.

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you with the gardening. But at least you are rested after a nice vacation!

Margaret said...

Beautiful harvests! It must have been lovely to come back from vacation and stroll through the garden to see what treasures it had in store.

Jennifer said...

Beautiful harvests! I can't get over what a great tomato harvest you have. And beautiful vacation destination!!!

Stewart M said...

That list of home made food sounds great.

Some of the best days on a holiday can be when you "do nothing" and just stop moving.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

PS: it will be interesting to see what replaces the Blue Rooster!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Sounds like you had a great trip (or trips)... Your family Vermont vacation must have been terrific. what a beautiful home and lake view.

Then the trip to see your friend must have been terrific also... How lucky is she to get to live in that house in the Adirondacks.

Looks like your veggies did fine when you were gone.. They have obviously done great this year.

Hugs,
Betsy

Daphne Gould said...

Lovely harvests. And it sounds like a wonderful trip.

Fun60 said...

Good to hear you had some good weather to enjoy the lake. No shortage of veggies for you to use on your return.

Unknown said...

It looks like your garden exploded while you were away. How wonderful that you were able to meet up with a fellow garden blogger. Is this Wilderness from the"Growing and Cooking" blog? ~ Rachel @ Grow a Good Life

Marcia said...

Rachel - in answer to your question, it is Wilderness of the Growing and Cooking blog. She hasn't posted in years though. As with many bloggers life got too full and something had to give. I still hear from her though through a gardening forum at Birds and Blooms.
http://www.birdsandblooms.com/community/forum/gardening/garden-chat/

Unknown said...

Marcia, I thought so. How very exciting to meet another blogger.

Robyn said...

Looks like a fabulous holiday.We used VRBO for our holiday in Dubrovnik,was great!Home grown tomatoes taste so good.