Or at least, our best garden in quite a while. And me still without my camera.
No matter. One squash looks much like another.
Anyway, I went down early to tie up the tomatoes and see what was ready to be harvested. There were 3 almost ripe San Marzano tomatoes, 2 heads of broccoli, collards and kale, and a maybe half a gallon of green beans.
There were also at least a dozen lovely long cucumbers and more yellow squash and zucchini than John wants to see on the table. But to soften the blow, I put some bacon in the squash, tomato, onion, cheese, and basil casserole I made for dinner.Lots of cucumbers. So I made a big bowl of one of my favorites summer sides -- cukes and onions in rice vinegar and sesame oil,
We have been blessed with plenty of rain and enough sunshine to energize the vegetables. There are even some peppers almost ready for picking. The corn is beginning to tassel and probably there are some new potatoes but I haven't looked.
The heat is daunting -- I was out from about 8 till 10. At first there was still a bit of mist that kept things moderate but when that burned off -- yikes! Time to go to the house and deal with the day's harvest.
What a joy when the garden behaves as one hopes. Of course, I say this, knocking on wood and realizing that at any moment the tomato blight may strike, the cows may eat the corn, the deer may decide to ignore the electric netting and the bean beetles may find the beans.
But for one brief shining moment -- what a joy!