Productivity

Being productive is not something I experience often. By the time Joel gets home, it probably looks like I was eating bon bons and watching soaps all day (I actually do neither) - toys out, couch pillows strewn across the living room floor (why won't they leave the pillows ALONE), and 17 dishes piled up next to the sink. It doesn't matter that I've been hauling toys back to the play room, rearranged the pillows, and done 2 loads of dishes during the day, these things just have a life of their own, it seems!!!

Anyway. This morning I sent Garrett out to do some 'harvesting.' We are going to farmers market this afternoon, and I wanted to take inventory of what we would need to buy versus what is ready in our garden. Garrett loves this job, as you can tell. (Maddy- not so much.)

It was so exciting! He just kept finding more and more!

Look at those itty-bitty ones! (We went back and dug some more after this picture and found a bunch more big ones.)

Well, we were pretty excited to hit the jackpot with the potato plant we dug up! There were like 20 good sized red guys under there! I know it is early to harvest them, and there were TONS of little ones, so we only dug up the one plant. Anyway, that will be plenty for dinner tonight!!

Then we went to the garden and harvested some lettuce. (Note to local friends- anyone want some lettuce??? It hasn't been sprayed at all. It looks really good, but there are some little bugs/slugs on the outside leaves. It is from a garden afterall! I soak mine in a big bowl of cold water for a few hours- rinsing it and changing the water a few times. Anyway, if you want some just email me. It REALLY needs to get used- I am guessing by next week it will be going to seed.) There is a LOT of lettuce out there. We also have some swiss chard. It's so pretty with the deep red stems. And we pulled up a few of the colored carrots that we planted! So fun. They are still pretty small though.

Here are a few garden pics.

This big guy is growing out of our compost pile. Apparently that means that our compost isn't actually composting correctly, because if it was it would be sterile. I guess we'll have to fix that problem (however one would do that) later because there is no way I am going to disturb him! The kids are positive he is a pumpkin, but I am secretly hoping for zucchini. I examined the just below the blooms though, and I am thinking he is some type of gourd.

You can barely see it here, but there is a little broccoli forming!

Fresh herbs! Basil, thyme, parsley, and . . .? Can't remember. I don't actually know what to do with most of these.

Hiding beneath our tree are these gorgeous lilies. Still in the pot- oops! I bought them last month at the Garden Tour Faire, but have been a little intimidated to plant them for fear of killing them! So I put them in the shade, and they are blooming like crazy!

I'd like more blueberry plants- so we'd have enough to freeze, but as it is we enjoy about a handful a day. (More accurate would be to say that Garrett enjoys a handful a day, and the rest of us are lucky to get any at all!)

Man oh man, have we enjoyed our raspberries this year!! We are at a lull right now- just a few here and there, but we are hoping for another wave of them in a couple of weeks. Last year we ate raspberries through most of October!

We have a few feet of marionberries as well. We use them for grazing and in smoothies, or mixed with the other berries in a crisp!

"Dis one good, Mama? Dis one ready?"

It's funny how productivity outside can motivate me to get going inside as well . . .