The Polished Pebble Garden Gazette: August Issue

13 comments:

Summer is finally taking a bit of a nap...things slow down and it gives us more time to 
enjoy the long days 
and the beauty of all of our hard work in the garden 

For me, 
it means lots of vegetables and fruit 
and
the excitement of beginning to plan for fall

We have had a very mild summer,with below normal temperatures, 
which has made the lettuce crop amazing...the tomato plants however,
 are not so happy
I  direct sow my lettuce either in large 2 ft x 4 ft sections 
or long rows 
It's nice to mix up the plantings to create patterns 
and fun color variety in every bed

This summer I planted little micro greens which are meant to be harvested when they are very tiny...well not quite this tiny, but wow are they tasty in a salad

Salad greens are picked in the morning and washed a few times in the salad spinner.  I only pick what we will be eating in a day or so because the taste of fresh lettuce is unlike anything you can purchased in a supermarket.  It tastes like lettuce...!
  little spaces in between the lettuce beds are the perfect spot
to sneek in a few radish,
which take up a very small amount garden real estate
and grow really quickly 
My favorite radish right now is a beauty called 
de Avignon
easy to grow, tasty 
and very pretty
These sort of look like a potato because they got a bit big
 but the flavor is mild, sweet and tangy

All of the apples are harvested and we had a bumper crop...
the squirrels and raccoons really enjoyed the apples too
I recently purchased a juicer and have been juicing apples every morning...so delicious

and finally after waiting  three long years 
we have our first really nice crop of grapes 


In addition to being wonderful to eat 
they are just beautiful in these long cascading bunches 
This variety is called Niagra and has seeds 
but is wonderful for juicing
When I walk to the grape arbors you can smell the grapes...heavenly



One of the raised beds is full of herbs and edible flowers like nasturtium,
 which you can add to your salad greens for color.  
Nasturtium blossoms are really spicy!
They look pretty trailing over the sides of the stone beds and 
are very easy to grow from seed

Remember the crazy new tomatoes I ordered called "Super Sauce"  
well this is what they look like...they are huge!
I have only picked about 4 tomatoes off the plants this summer, so I'm not so sure about these guys
but the tomatoes are so big that the plants can barely support the weight of the fruit


We also have chives popping up and some really scary hot peppers...
I'm not sure what to do with the peppers yet?  
any ideas?

In preparation for fall I have two old wine barrels, which have been planted 
with butternut squash and Yukon gold potatoes 

These are young spanish onion and I started some garlic too 
which will be ready to harvest next spring

And if you need  a sweet little taste of summer try this recipe 
for strawberry ice cream



you can make this ice cream with fresh peaches too and it is so seriously good!

Hope you enjoyed this issue 
of 
the polished pebble 
garden gazette

in case you missed the first issue you can read it 
happy harvesting

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13 comments:
  1. what a remarkable garden, I truly have lettuce envy. Your grapes are just beautiful as well, they would look luscious draped anywhere. Thank you for the tour. Well done.

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  2. I'm making different hot sauces with my peppers. Lots of recipes on the internet. Don't know why I didn't before as I love hot sauces.

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  3. what a wonderful garden update! I think you should make hot sauces with those peppers - perhaps as gifts or maybe to sell in your online store?!!

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    1. Hi, I think hot sauce sounds like fun! I was also thinking of maybe trying hot pepper jelly ; 0 )

      xo kelley

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  4. I am going to try some lettuce this Fall, after our hot Sierra Foothills cools down. Did you see Ina's show this past week? Her walled garden was filmed last Winter/Spring with Giada visiting, who happened to be wearing a coat to match what was blooming. It was a sweet show. However after your comment regarding those Italian C. I keep thinking about the rodents that might be hiding in there!

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    1. Hi Becky, yes I did see the show. The garden looked pretty but was really spare. Yes rodents (squirrels and rats) nest in cypress1 Ewww
      Give the lettuce a try this fall...you will love it!

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  5. We have so many squirrels at our house. Can't stand them. They really tear up the garden too. Sometimes plants just disappear. We speculate they have gardens up the Oak trees! One time they dropped chicken onto a freshly set picnic table. Grease spread all over my vintage cloth. Sounds unbelievable, but it happened.

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  6. Loved the pics!
    Has been a wet,cool summer here as well. The lawn is lush but it has not been good for the tomatoes.
    My Grandma had grapes all over her yard...climbing on the chicken coop...on the end of the screened in porch...the smell was amazing! Almost better than the taste!
    As for those scary hot peppers...RUN!

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  7. Your lettuce inspires me to get out and plant some! I am in the process of removing/moving perennials and if I can make it pretty, the lettuce would fit right into my flower garden. Earlier this summer, we visited Shakertown near Lexington, KY and there they had planted rows of lettuce so that there were striped rows... red, green, red. It was lovely! I also love your raised beds and am pea-green with envy!!!

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  8. Your garden is beyond beautiful! I know just what you mean about the tomatoes this year. We have not had enough sunshine this summer...waaaaay too much rain, so our tomato harvest has sadly been pitiful. But my grass is quite thankful for all the rain! Love seeing your garden!

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  9. K, you are awesome! Your garden photography is beautiful! Just amazing. What can't you do! I hope you get published in a garden magazine, soon, because this is a showcase.

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  10. I put my peppers in zip locks and freeze. There's no need to do anything to them. When I need a jalapeno in February, I just pull one out. I'm all about easy!

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  11. Kelley

    Your garden is so incredible honestly! My daughter just bought her first house and I sent her the link for inspiration. She has a huge lot and those raised beds of yours would look fabulous back there!

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