Peak of the gardening season

The season is coming to the point when we can't keep up with our produce. It is physically impossible for the two of us to eat everything that our garden produces, and I think that this is the time our friends are waiting for as we're starting to share 😊 It always starts slowly, and then it suddenly explodes and we end up with 8 zucchinis and 30 cucumbers in the fridge. Before the season ends I will have enough of them until next year.

At this point, it is mainly about harvesting, but I'm planning to plant some lettuce seedlings soon so that we'll have our own all summer long. In a couple of weeks I will plant beans again for September/October harvest. I might even try to plant radishes as I have never tried growing them in late summer. The goal is to have the most productive garden possible. I keep learning bit by bit every year, so one day I might even be completely satisfied with what we'll achieve.

But let's get back to the present. Last week, I harvested enormous amount of vegetables. It started with a few tomatoes, a couple of pickling cucumbers, lots of basil and of course our zucchinis. This year, the insects are playing with the pollination and our yellow zucchinis got cross-pollinated with the green ones which resulted in most beautiful produce. I have also harvested lavender even though I might have annoyed a few bumble-bees, but it's for their best as the plant will push the flowers once more this summer.

And then came the eggplant! I've been waiting for this moment for a few weeks. I think it grew to a decent size and I decided to remove it from the plant as it was taking too much energy and other flowers were falling off. I have noticed today that there are two tiny eggplants now, so it was a good decision - lesson learned.

My cucumber forest found the way out of the greenhouse through the window 😊 I've tried to train it to grow in a different direction, but out of the window it is.

There are many flowers and quite a few of them are female, so we should have tons of cucumbers soon.

There are a few of them already. I will harvest the big one tomorrow or the day after depending on its size.

And a couple of days later this one will come home too...

But for now our fridge is getting fuller every day. The pickling cucumbers are producing like crazy. 2 years ago I had over 200 of them from 6 plants. This year I have 6 plants again, so we'll see how they'll do.

My baby pumpkins are getting bigger and bigger. I know that I should remove the smaller ones so that the bigger ones get more energy, but I just can't do it. They are way too cute. I think I'll settle for tons of tiny ones instead.

I was concerned that my green Hokkaido will not produce anything as the plant kept growing and growing, but there were no pumpkins. Then this one appeared and I was over the moon!

And this is how it looked like only 1 week ago - it grows so fast! And there are 2 more in this size...

These were supposed to be green peppers. Well, I think that the seeds were mixed up and I have no idea what these are. They are shaped like chillies, so my husband will have to try them before I do...

There are quite a few of them...

I picked some and we'll try them today. If they're hot I'll use them in cooking, if not, we'll eat them fresh.

On the other hand, Red Bell peppers is growing as expected 😊

I'm in love with my basil...

And that's not all that I took home today. I think I'm going to make a lot of pesto...

My sister helped me in the garden, so I took some vegetables for her too...

Look at those zucchinis! They are all different and look so tasty. I've started to harvest calendula to make some salve, but I dry it in the garden as they are full of thrips. My hope is that as they dry thrips won't find them so attractive and will go somewhere else. I can't afford another infestation at home.

Every year I leave some radishes to bolt. They create seedpods which are even more delicious than radish. The only disadvantage it that the plants look messy, but insects love them, so it's a win win.

Their flowers can be white...

Or pink... But I don't know which radish produces which colour. They need a few more weeks before I can harvest the pods.

Borage is growing all over the garden. In spring I thought that they died off, but then they started popping all over the place. I love them as they attract bees that are crucial for our garden. Slugs love them too, so they don't attack other produce so much.

Green manure surprised me with new flowers every day...

If you thought that the lavender from the first photo was all I have then think again 😊 I've been drying it in the kitchen and the entire house smells like lavender - not too bad!

A little bit of colour is popping in the most unexpected places - this is the beauty of spreading the seeds and seeing what will happen.

I've trimmed my Hibiscus for the first time, so I'm happy to see it flower. Now I know that I can trim quite a lot and it will still come back. Like this I can control its size as it's growing more than I like.

Those roses are still blooming. They are not as pretty as the first 'batch', but they smell just as good.

You can't trust the weather forecast. We do need rain, but not when we're in the garden watering our plants 😊 We did make it home before the storm though...

I hope everyone is enjoying their harvest and I wish you all happy gardening!

Until next time...