Returning from vacation, I went up to our garden to see what had transpired over the previous ten days. The good news was that the bush beans were abundant. I have already frozen 8 quarts and I suspect I will get another 5-6 before the season ends. A favorite green bean dish that we use with the frozen beans is simply to saute them with some pine nuts (or almonds) in olive oil and a little butter; add some fresh nutmeg, pepper and salt and voila. Done. Also in the good news category is that I have squash this year! Last year, with the cold, damp weather, none of my squash (winter, cucumbers, summer) materialized. So now I am left with the dilemma of what to do with the oodles of zucchini. I have already stuffed some and made some into bread. I will probably end up pickling some when I pickle the cukes later on. And then I will shred and freeze the remainder for use in bread and casseroles during the winter.
The bad news is that we had a torrential rain storm after several days of hot, dry weather. This meant that much of the second planting of peas and the third planting of lettuce essentially got washed away. Bummer.
Also, the potatoes and tomatoes look questionable. After a horrible late blight season last year, I am somewhat paranoid. I brought samples of each to our Cooperative Extension and they were unable to determine if blight was present. Apparently, the leaves are in really good condition, but the black lesion on the stem (and that plant was the only one with the black lesion) concerned her as it did me. Her advice was just to keep a close eye on the situation. So far I have and everything is stable. We'll just have to wait and see.
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