Garden Harvest

Hi Friends,

It's garden harvest update time :)

chanting:

Garden Harvest Update Time!

Garden Harvest Update Time!

Whoot Whoot!

The two green pepper plants are doing amazing! 

I've harvested about 8 or 9 green peppers already. 

The lonely red pepper plant is slowly getting there.

I've also harvested 3 squashes. 

Two spaghetti squash and a mystery squash.

I've given the first two to my bestie.

Hopefully she reports back soon what the mystery squash was :)

Mystery Squash

Spaghetti Squash number two, Bell Cherry Tomatoes, and regular Cherry Tomatoes

Close up of the tomatoes with the peppers.

These look amazing. 

My salad is going to be flipping awesome tonight.

The Gardening Benefits of Being Busy

It was definitely harder this year to plant and maintain a garden 

as I was studying to write two exams. 

Not to mention having to manoeuvre around my large belly.

I did it though :) 

The best part about gardening this year is that 

because I'm super busy...

every time I go into my garden there are tons of

fruit and veggies ready to be harvested.

Most of the previous years I would go out into the garden multiple times a week

and stare at the produce...

and harvest most of it before it was ready.

I discovered that when you let gooseberries actually ripen, 

they are delicious!

I thought I didn't like them, 

but it was probably because I was picking them before they were actually ripe.

New things my garden teaches me every year :)

The best part of growing multiple varieties of blueberries is that

when you grab a handful you are delighted by the different mouthful of 

flavour every time. 

In this harvest I had Peach Sorbet, Pink Lemonade, and a boat load of the normal kinds.

Boy, oh, boy were these delicious!

This is actually my second harvest of blueberries. 

The first was right after TheLittleBear came home.

Those blueberries sat around for three days 

as I tried to find time to take a picture.

In the end...

I gave into their deliciousness and dug in before I could picture it for you all.

I dream that next year I'll be better at this whole multitasking caring for a little bear 

and gardening business. 

Nom Nom Nom...

The yummiest apple babies I've ever had ;)

It still surprises me that growing your own food tastes so good.

These apple babies were delicious!

Sweeter than normal apples, and amazing :)

Exciting News...

I have some very exciting news to share...

At 9:35pm tonight Bob had his apple baby twins!

They are both look plump and delicious.

Here is their birth story:

After months and months of waiting and watching, 

I was looking outside my balcony window

and thought that one of the apple babies had fallen...

When I went to take a closer look, 

I saw that everyone was fine :)

Upon closer inspection, 

I saw that the apples were no longer green.

They were both ready to be picked!

I pick the closest one first. 

Little did I know that they wanted 

to be born at the same time because

as I picked the closer one, the farther one fell off.

I scooped them both up and 

took them inside to bath them in fresh water.

They are both doing splendid 

and are sitting on my counter awaiting breakfast time...

p.s. TheDapperGentleman took the lovely newborn picks ;)

How My Garden Looks Late in the Summer

This is a late summer shot of my garden. 

The far left is the carrot patch.

The centre is where the turnips and cucumber live.

The immediate right are the tomatoes.

You can see my fall garden on the left. (super small)

And a close up of the tomatoes.

Close up of the fall garden. 

Purple core carrots at the top,

purple beets in the middle,

and golden beets at the bottom.

Garlic, coffee grounds, and hot chilli powder

to deter the bugs. 

Beets, Beets, Beets :)

Cucumber growing...

Egg plants growing...

Salad Bowl Tomato Harvest!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but this cucumber is Giant!

Fun Fact: as the cucumber grows larger, so does the seeds.

Great for seed savers :)

A Colour Plate of Roasted Veggies

mmMMmm...

Roasted Veggies.

I used this recipe to roast these lovelies. 

Is there anything better than veggies 

from your own garden?

I find that veggies from my own garden 

have more of a vibrant taste.

Like, a carrot tastes more carroty...

zucchini beet veggie sandwich ;)

Carrots... Carrots... Everywhere...

This is the large salad bowl I filled with globe carrots. 

Safe to say, I shall never ever ever grow so many 

globe carrots ever again. 

Mentally I cannot only wash a carrot and feel it's 

clean enough to consume. 

I must wash, peel, and again wash the carrots.

Working on a small scale like with

globe carrots can be very trying to anyone's patience :)

Next year, only 4 rows at most. ;)

Above:

Grated Purple Carrots! 

What the What?

They are so feisty.

As I was grating regular carrots, 

it occurred to me to make my salads more 

adventurous and exotic with grated purple carrots

It turned out wonderfully :)

A Colourful Harvest

This was my harvest a couple of weeks ago :)

I love the colours, and boy oh boy was it delicious!

Cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes, and carrots...

Getting the carrots ready to bring inside...

Ta Da... The best cucumber ever.

Fire Flamed Carrots!

Creating these bowls of carrots is honestly

the most fun. 

Carrot close up. Work it, Work it, Model it...

Fig Season

Fig Season is Here, is Here, is Here :)

This is the first fig from this fig tree! 

Figs are ripe when the are soft

 when you squish them a little.

Fresh figs from your own garden taste earthier

and less sweet. More of a milder fig flavour.

These lovely figs are from my mom's fig trees. 

I am so lucky to have a mother who loves to garden, and to share. 

I get these beauties dropped off to me every couple of day :)

So ripe and delicious. 

Also a great addition to any smoothie.

And... These one are from the store.

All three are equally delicious ;)

Berry Harvest!

Where has this summer gone?

I can't believe that we are in the middle of August already!

As the summer comes to an end, 

this may be one of my last berry harvests.

This season has been extra delightful.

As all my berry bushes mature, 

they produce more and more fruit.

I'm loving this summer so much. 

I don't want it to end!

Lavender Harvest

I have definitely learned my lesson... Lavender needs to be harvested and pruned every year. If you don't it becomes leggy and won't bloom as well the next year. Pruning helps keep lavender compact and cute :)

I'm definitely not an expert at pruning lavender, but this video was very helpful :)

After I harvested my lavender, I laid the buds flat on my bookshelf and waited 3-5 days for them to completely dry out.

Once they're dry you can put them by your windows and doors to keep mosquitoes and flies out of your home :)

P.S. TheDapperGentleman designed and built this bookshelf! 

First Tomato and Blueberries of the Seaon

This little guy is the first tomato of the season! Yes, he was delicious! there's just something about growing your own tomatoes... they are definitely more delicious.

The blueberries are ready, the blueberries are ready, the blueberries are ready... I have grown to be more giving as I saved exactly 1 blueberry per harvest for TheDapperGentleman ;)