Hello! I have been asked by a few people to give an update on our garden this year, so I'll include some photos from earlier this spring in this post, as well as current pictures of everything growing and producing right now to catch you up.
Picked a variety of these green veggies this week: zucchini, banana peppers, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, okra, and sugar snap peas.
I've been harvesting a good amount of green beans, too, and just started getting in some cucumbers and a head of broccoli (my first time planting that). Granny is my green bean snapper and is usually ready and waiting to do her part when I come inside. :)
This season I planted 50 tomato plants of various types (Amish Paste, Beefsteak, Boxcar Willie, Champion, Early Girl, Golden Jubilee, Goliath, Pink Girl, Roma, Sugar Lump, and Ultimate Opener), many of them grown from seed by a friend. Below you can see the newly-planted beds back in May (with strawberries and rhubarb in the background):
And another of vigorous cherry tomato plants and beans, taken this week:
Stepping back from the south garden, bordered by perennials:
Peeking into the upper picket-fenced garden:
We have cucumbers and squash vines (otherwise known as cukes and zukes) here:
Peppers and okra are planted in one raised bed, just waiting to be included in spicy or southern dishes (excuse the poor quality photos):
Swiss chard greens and cabbage (the bugs have enjoyed it) grow in another bed:
What are we making with all this produce? Recently, I made a lunch for us ladies of a Swiss Chard quiche:
I've also been freezing lots of berries for smoothies and muffins later on. We've enjoyed cobblers and coffeecakes, too.
Corn, sunflowers, and winter squashes are coming along, and the ever-bearing strawberries are hanging in there in this heat:
You can see the growth progression in these 3 stages of the purple-hulled field peas, from over the last month:
Looking back at the 2 gardens at the end of the day:
Though it's a lot of work, we enjoy cultivating this plot of land where God has placed us and seeing the beautiful and tasty results. I'll leave you with some flower photos from around the yard!
How does your garden grow? Leave a comment with your favorite recipe using fresh garden produce.
~Hannah
Your garden looks wonderful! I'm glad you are getting so much produce from it and are enjoying those delicious-looking dishes.
We have been enjoying some excess produce from Eric and Sarah's garden. :) Made a zucchini pasta dish the other night that was a favorite.
Your berries look so juicy! All your hard work has paid off.
Posted by: victoria | Friday, July 14, 2017 at 07:05 PM
WoW! You have a good looking and producing garden!
What is the name of those last orange and black speckled flowers? :D
My Mother makes a really yummy fried okra that is made with butter and corn meal, truly delightful!
Posted by: Susannah Joy | Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 03:43 PM
Hannah, I so love your garden!!! Please post more pictures as the summer progresses.
We, too, have a big garden this year and have really enjoyed all the delicious veggies the Lord has blessed us with. The rain this year has been a blessing and has made everything grow, grow, grow!!! Just today, we canned tomatoes. Previous days, we canned string beans, froze corn and made blackberry jelly. I still have lots of blackberries to do something with, even if I freeze them. We have had cukes running out of our ears! I haven't made pickles, as I have them from previous years. I have given them to friends, they have made pickles, and given me some jars of pickles!
I love watching the fruit and vegetables grow and LOVE picking the tomatoes!
Please keep posting. I love to see the fruits of your labor.
Carolyn
Posted by: Carolyn Shortt | Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 09:41 PM
Hannah ~ I always love your gardening posts! Thank you for taking the time to document and share.
Posted by: Jodi | Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 10:52 PM
Mrs. H,
Thanks! I heard about some of the yummy things Sarah has been making lately. Their garden seems to be producing quite well. Your zucchini pasta sounds very tasty. Thanks for sharing.
Susannah,
Thank you for your comment and compliments! The flowers you asked about are tiger lilies. So many of the perennials we have were shared with us by friends when we first moved in 15 years ago, and they’ve really spread and done well. Aren’t the orange and black flowers striking? Oh, the fried okra sounds good, I’ll have to try it with butter next.
Mrs. Shortt,
So neat to hear about your abundant garden variety and what all you've been making with it. I will try to be more regular in my posting. :)
Jodi,
I'm glad you've enjoyed the posts! Thanks for reading and letting me know.
Posted by: Hannah | Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 03:40 PM
Again, Hannah, thank you for posting your beautiful pictures from your bountiful garden!!! I love seeing the pictures! You are a hard worker to do all this!
God has so bountiful blessed everyone this year with an abundance of rain and the gardens and flowers are saying, "Yummy"! It is now we are getting a "soaking rain" as my Mama use to say!
Keep posting and I'll keep enjoying!
Tell Deb and Tom to enjoy the little ones on their visit. Praise the Lord the baby is doing so well and has come so far. To God be the glory!
Tell Tom, his next to do list would be to build him a workshop to build his beautiful cabinets in.
Tell Mrs. Solomon I would love to take a class from her, "The Master Basket Maker"!
Tell Jonathan, I loved his quote from Matthew Henry. I just love all ya'll! (-:
Posted by: Carolyn Shortt | Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 10:38 AM