Report From An Opinionated Gardener – August 16
Anyone who has a vegetable garden knows that if you go away for a week in August all hell breaks loose. You leave a few baby summer squash on the plants and come home to zucchinis that are suitable for door stops, baseball bats or murder weapons.
And the green beans? Don’t talk to me about green beans. Like the squash, beans double their size every twenty-four hours, so if a day goes by that they aren’t harvested, it’s trouble.
“While we’re gone, come to the garden and pick whatever you want,” we told our friends before we left. “Come every day! Take it all!” Only true vegetable gardeners take such comments seriously, of course, and they all have beans and zucchini of their own, so why would they want to harvest ours?
Today we started playing catch up by picking the produce that won’t wait. Later in the week we’ll dig potatoes, cut chard and pak choi, and savor the tomatoes as they ripen. It’s a marvelous time of year…just don’t go on vacation for a week.
This basket was so heavy I almost threw my back out carrying it into the house. And this isn't all of today's harvest.
