A technical note...

I just realized that comments aren't working on the site, so hang tight if you've recently submitted a comment. I'll be working on fixing the error over the next few days.

More on the harvest

The garden is on its last legs. So I'm tallying up what we've got. Lots of tomatoes, lots of beans (some a little tough), a couple butternut squash and three pumpkins:

We also grew some onions, which in the above photo are drying out behind the pumpkins. It rained nearly all last week, so we lost a fourth pumpkin and a couple onions -- they turned to mush before I could pick them. The tomatoes are still delicious but slowing down a little bit.

But we have also planted a few fall crops; a few weeks ago I got a row of beets in and they are now coming up/ visible. This afternoon we planted spinach and broccoli raab. Last fall we had pretty good success with spinach, and today's planting is from the same pack of seeds.

And we were finally able to plant the grasses on the bank next to the patio Evan built in July.

The next project is the kitchen. If I have time, I will be documenting that in detail, as it is going to be the largest renovation that we'll be doing around here for the next few years. We're doing a complete remodeling -- floor to ceiling. This past summer we spent countless weeks working on the remodeling plans; soon we'll start in the actual work.... well, "we" includes the contractor, an electrician, plumber, etc. Maybe it will all be done by Christmas.

Hard to explain

It's unbelievable to me how quickly they grow.

Tomato abundance

It's been a while since we've updated. The baby and work have kept us too busy.

But the bounty of summer has inspired me to start posting again. I've managed to plant and maintain a garden (sort of...). And it's tomato season here and this year's crop is much better (well, larger) than last:

Last year we had lots of very small, flavorful tomatoes. This year we've got some heirloom tomato plants that are going gangbusters: The tomatoes are mostly very large -- some weigh a pound apiece. There are also some other tomato plants producing smaller tomatoes.

They all taste great, and tonight we had a dinner of them tossed with basil, garlic, shallots and linguine. Two nights ago I made a sauce of them, with some diced eggplant, and we had it over polenta.

The plants themselves are so top-heavy with foliage that they look like they'll fall over. The tomatoes are mostly clustered at the bottom of the plants. Next year I have to do a better job of staking them up. You can't really tell in this picture, but the plant in the middle (background) is tipping over.