Summer Garden Update

During the last two days, I alternated computer and garden work at the Turners' house.


My Grandpa-in law Fred's garden is really a small-scale tomato farm with a few more crops thrown in for good measure. Fred, Sarah, and I have planted 58 tomato plants and Fred has constructed a wooden frame system to support the plants. I can hardly wait til September.

Our raised bed has flourished in the recent high temperatures.


I thinned the dinosaur kale and arugula, resulting in several bags full o' greens.


It looks like we will be celebrating Independence Day with feasts of large salads and stir fries.

Andie enjoyed some garden time, as did her cousin Clark the cat.


Looking ahead to late fall, Fred started a small pumpkin patch and I noticed that our winter squash seed have sprouted.


Now we wait for our treasures to grow and find time to weed and water whenever we can.

CSA Day!

After a dew days of blazing heat, the usual spring weather pattern of clouds, wind, light rain, and sunbreaks returned. At least it's not too hot to sleep at night.


Sarah and I have been looking forward to today for several months. In late winter, we registered to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We sent a few checks to a small farm called Dos Sequoias and waited for the harvest to begin. Every Wednesday from now until October, we will drive a few miles north and fill our bags with whatever produce is available to shareholders. It is a bit of a risk to pay up front without knowing what the season will produce, but judging from today's pickup, I think we will get our money's worth.


After Sarah returned from work, we finally made the drive through the beautiful Washington County farmland and arrived at a small barn where we met the couple that is leasing the land.


Like many liberal idealists, I dream of such a lifestyle. The sacrifices would be big, but I think of a place like this as my own personal paradise where I could grow real food and conduct ecological research to my heart's content.

But back to reality....We did not expect much due to the cold weather this spring, so we were surprised by the amount of greens we were allowed to bag and bring home. We will be eating plenty of salad and cooking loads of greens with every meal this week.


We also grabbed a few bok choys, oregano stems, and mint sprigs, then drove home to begin the washing and salad spinning proccess.

Be sure to check Sarah's food blog to see what we do with our veggies.

Speaking of veggies, things are progressing nicely at our borrowed garden bed.


The kale are growing,



bushbeans have sprouted,


our small tomatoes have little blossoms,


and Andie approves of the snap peas' growth.


Sarah's grandfather Fred will soon till some extra space where we plant more tomatoes, winter squash, and whatever else we can fit.