June 7, 2016
School days are wrapping up for all of the Rice Ladies – just two more weeks of my Master Gardener program and then I’m official! This seventeen-week commitment was a tough one, especially in the midst of life, kids, events…I’m so happy I stuck with it. While I may have neglected the blog through the spring, I didn’t forget my garden. It’s bursting with the tastes of summer.
Here, Sun Gold tomatoes wind around the trellis, with dragon tongue beans, Swiss chard and alpine strawberries nestled near the ledge.
The hermitage green beans climb up the bamboo poles, keep the area open for air to flow.
Our 100-year-old mulberry tree is ready to burst with berries, I’m hoping they hold off a just little longer so I can deal with the apples and peaches.
The first round of our white peaches were amazing! We ate most of them right off the tree, but we managed to make a few batches of white peach jam.
I’m having a hard time keeping up with everything, so I dusted off my trusty dehydrator and made apple chips. You can read about my favorite dehydrator here — and it’s less expensive now over when I bought mine years ago!
Even with all of this bounty, I plant more. I continue to add throughout the warmer months and you can as well. Just this week, I added a few more tomatoes, kabocha squash, peppers and green beans so I’ll have a steady harvest of summer deliciousness thru early fall.
I’m looking forward to closing the books and getting back into my test kitchen. Look for some summer recipes using this garden goodness soon.