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.

It's Joe Pye Time!

This Joe Pye Weed towers over my pond.

 

Usually it's quite a mecca for butterflies but not this year.  Butterflies are scarce around here.

These two yellow swallowtails were the only ones juicing up while I took photographs.

The Joe Pye who gave his name to this plant was a Native American herbalist. Joe Pye, his anglized name, healed early colonists and taught them to use local plants.  He used extracts of this particular plant to reduce fevers accompanying typhoid and other diseases.  (Source: A Year Across Maryland: A Week-by-Week Guide to Discovering Nature in the Chesapeake Region by Bryan MacKay)

Harvest Monday - Beginning of August

Harvests of tomatoes are picking up.  Green beans continue being prolific. Green peppers, zucchini, cucumber continue the green theme.  I'll be glad when the yellow squash starts producing.

Here's what it looked like this past week.

A monster cucumber that I had missed seeing.

Jimmy Nardello peppers still haven't turned red but that's not stopping me from picking them.  This basket of goodies went north to New York City with a young couple moving there who stopped here overnight on their trek.

Enough green beans to feed 5 people with leftovers.

Juliette tomatoes are producing and producing.  I plan to use them like romas and make sauce.

Other harvests can be seen at Daphne's Dandelions on Monday.

Highlights of August in the Gardens + A Book Recommendation

I am so thankful that black-eyed susans bloom in August.  Without them the gardens would be rather bland.  Everywhere I look I see that cheery yellow face in my gardens.

See what I mean as I walk you through them on August 1st.

In Mom's Garden the black-eyed susans are just outside the front door.  They are in the perfect spot to spread out.

Hibiscus is still producing it's dinner plate sized blooms.

Hydrangea not as prolific but here's one beautiful bloom.

Butterfly bushes are attracting what butterflies there are.  Populations are down for butterflies around here.

Crepe myrtle is in its glory.  Hard to believe it started as a stick.

At the Pond Garden this miscanthus is immense.  I'm so glad we transplanted the other two which were originally here with this one.

Joe Pye weed is almost ready to open its blossoms.

Just under the Joe Pye is this water lily.  It's honored me with a bloom.

Elusive fish.  I still don't know where they disappear to.

Phlox between pond and porch.

More black-eyed susans at the pond.

The Glen Garden is hurting from deer feeding.  Ferns are not deer food, thankfully.  New fronds for this variety come out in such an interesting contrast color, then turn green.

Japanese fern is so different from all the other varieties.

In the Perennial Garden, more black-eyed susans, contrasting with phlox, purple cone flowers and knock out rose against the wall.

And even more of them.

The last of the star gazer lilies visited by one of the few butterflies.

And here's one of the last daylily blooms.

These hosta outside Dan's study have not been visited by the deer lately.  I won't be surprised if the buds are nipped off by morning.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Here's the book recommendation: Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper.  A wonderful blend of historical fact with the author's imagination of the relationship between William Shakespeare and the wife no one really knows anything about.  It's an engrossing read.  Totally believable.  Made doubly enjoyable for me because having been to England in June I could envision much of the scenery described.  If you enjoy historical fiction you will like this one, too.