Time to Harvest Already?

Wow!   All of a sudden everything in the garden is growing exponentially.   I went out there this morning with my basket and knife, ready to cut some more broccoli, and I'm pretty sure it all grew another inch overnight.  

 Can you believe how big the broccoli is?    And I found our first zucchini this morning, too.   Yippee!   Let the harvesting begin in earnest.   You know that once the zucchini start up pretty soon there will be a ridiculous amount of veggies coming into the kitchen.

 I love this basket.....when Joyce and Dick were here we popped in at a local craft show.   There was a man there that creates beautiful handmade baskets and I spotted one that I thought would be useful as well as pretty.   It just spoke to me and of course it had to come home with us!   So far I've been putting it to work bringing back the broccoli and herbs from the gardens.

 Ok, I just had to put this giant on my cake plate to show you just how big it is.   It measures 7"x9" across.   Looks like I'm going to be blanching and freezing broccoli again this morning.  

 And the herbs have gone crazy, too.   Here are two different kinds of basil, ruby and common basil.

The chives are nice and plump, ready for the dehydrator....and my baked potato!

 Sage, anyone?    This variety is pineapple sage.

 The thyme in the foreground just keeps spreading out and soon the dirt surrounding it will be covered in thyme.   I use a lot of thyme in my cooking so I hope it keeps growing and growing.   The parsley, both curly leaf and flat leaf are going crazy, too.   Even the marigolds will get dehydrated and used in teas this winter.

 I really like this basket, can you tell?   The nice tall sides hold whatever I load into the basket without things falling out.   And it's super sturdy, too.

 Ok, here's a little diversion.   I was online and saw this pottery maker in California.  Well, thru the magic of the computer I was able to check out her website and was amazed by her work.   I ordered a platter for our kitchen and this is how it was packaged when it arrived a couple of days ago.   Nice and secure in a box wrapped in twine with her little logo on the front.   The big box outside was marked in big red stickers "Fragile" on all 6 sides.   This girl wants her product to arrive safely!

 When I opened the box I was not disappointed.   I love the texture of the raised bumps and the glaze is a beautiful shade of tealy-blue.   It's going to look really pretty in our kitchen......when we finally get some cabinets and shelves......that is.

 Ok, back to the harvest.    My trusty bread machine is on the left and our fabulous Excalibur Dehydrator is on the right.   I've had that sucker running for several days now, 24 hours a day as I load and reload all the herbs on the trays.    All of my larger appliances are tucked away in the laundry room/butler's pantry off of the kitchen.   We repurposed some of the old cabinets from the kitchen during the demolition and put them to work in the laundry room.   Now they provide lots more storage and much needed shelf space.

 As soon as one batch of herbs are done I put another in to dry nice and crispy.   That way they will keep for over a year.   And I know that no pesticides have been put on them and they are completely organic.  Then it's off to the kitchen.....

 Well, this is a start but there are many more to go.   I love filling up my Ball jars from our garden.   There's something so satisfying about putting food in our pantry that we've grown ourselves.  I'll be really happy to use these herbs all winter long while the garden is sleeping.

Speaking of food from our pantry....oh.  my.   deliciousness.    I picked up the first Georgia peaches I've seen at the local produce stand.   They are so ripe and juicy that we've been eating them from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table.   But the other night I had an urge to bake so I chopped up some peaches and added them to the blackberries in the refrigerator.  Add a little sugar and a bit of flour and some lemon juice and after this sits for a bit the juices start to flow from the fruit.  

 Instead of making one big cobbler I decided to make individual ones in ramekins.   A quick batter on the left was poured onto each cobbler and topped with large raw sugar for a touch of sweetness.  After that it's bake and eat. 

Yum...Yum...Yum...   These were really good and deserved a small scoop of vanilla ice cream that melted and dripped all over the topping and berries as we gobbled them down.   Yes, harvest time is a good time.

Oh!   And let's not forget the chicks!   I know it's hard to tell from this pic but those little cuties have doubled in size in one week.   Next week it's out to the chicken coop for them.    That'll give them more room to roam.   and pee.   and knock over their food.   and poop in their waterer.   Amen.

Till then,
Debbie