Call me out if I say this every June but, my garden has never been prettier.
June is always a gardening sweet spot in Central Virginia; the lettuce hasn’t bittered yet, the mosquitoes are minimal, and if you took your chances back in May you may even start to harvest cucumbers and a cherry tomato or two. I gambled on the cucs and my first batch of lacto-fermented dill pickles is working their magic on the kitchen counter as we speak.
I’ve been eating salads sometimes morning, noon, and night to keep up with the harvest, as well as giving away bags full to friends. I’ve learned a thing or two over the last three seasons and this year I am only growing what I really love to eat. In the past I’ve tried a few fun and fancy things (asparagus beans, okra, and strawberry spinach to name a few) and in the end they were a waste of resources, I’d rather spend my time, energy, space, money, and water on things that are relatively simple to grow, do well in my climate, and that I LOVE to eat every day.
I am braced for the attack of heat and mosquitoes that any minute now might make my garden go from bountiful and beautiful to limp and neglected (the mosquitoes eat me so bad here in the summer that I can barely stand to water let alone weed or otherwise tend to the plants) but for today I am going to enjoy spending as much time tugging at the weeds, putting seeds in the ground, tying up the tomatoes, and of course eating the rewards of my efforts.
Check out the I Grow page for more posts on gardening.
Although I just started at the office, I was ready for an early veggie wrap lunch once I saw your scrumptious photos. Our garden jumped during the week away, with rain and Sarah keeping up with water and harvest.