Last harvest

Today, I pulled up my garden.

It was time. It's October. The days are getting cooler and we're bound to get frost soon. I should have done it sooner, but I formed a weird attachment to my bean plants. The beans served me well. I can't believe how much beans they produced. If summer had lingered a bit longer I'm sure they would have produced more beans.

I pulled out some peas, along with peppers and tomatoes before ripping out the plants from the garden. Peppers did not do well this year. As such, they won't be planted next year. I've got big plans for next year and they will likely center on beans. I'll likely try cucumbers again, even though we had disastrous results this year.

A BLT sandwich in my future

It hides among the leaves. But I can still see it. Slowly but surely it's turning red. And once it turns bright crimson, I'll pounce. My bread, turkey bacon and lettuce are all on standby. Although impatient, I'm determined I will make a BLT sandwich by the end of the week.

The tomatoes in my garden have been slow to ripen. To date, I've only eaten two tomatoes. One ripened on the vine, the other my husband saved from rotting on the ground. It sat on the counter for more than two weeks before it decided to turn red. 

I'm unsure if (a) weather or (b) growing location have contributed to the problem. Despite being a farmer's daughter, I've got zero experience in the gardening department. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. 

Ironically, I'm not a fan of tomatoes. Unless I need them for a recipe, I don't consciously seek them out in the grocery store. But when it comes to growing your own food, everything seems to tastes a bit better. Also, I do enjoy a good BLT sandwich from time to time. 

So here I wait. Waiting for the tomato to turn red. I just have to be patient. 

Sweet, glorious rain

This morning when I strolled through the back yard I was greeted to this sight:

A rain puddle in a chair. One may consider this as an annoying part of a summer thunderstorm. I think it is simply a glorious sight.

Here in my part of the universe we've been a drought situation for the entire summer. It has only been in the last day or two that we've been seeing regular rain fall. It rained on Sunday, resulting in the rain barrel being replenished. It rained again last night, which was simply icing on the cake. With all this rain maybe by the end of the summer my lawn may resemble a lawn again, not a crunchy, brown straw field.

My vegetable plants love the rain. Although they been getting regular watering via either the rain barrel or the water hose, watering can only do so much. I think some of my plants, in particular my pepper plants, have grown an inch or two since Sunday. They are much greener and happier. Hopefully all this rain and less hot weather will have them producing peppers in the next week or so.