Generally Disappointing

It's been a crumby summer generally.  The tomatoes were apparently killed, but have revived somewhat.  I obtained a third "job" this summer, so no time to write much.
Here are a few photos.

We grew fennel this year.  I don't like fennel, but other people do and it's pretty.

Hard to know when to harvest fennel--when it's the right size, they say.  Is that before it blooms?

Beets have done well this year.  These pictures are from the end of July.  Most of these have now been sold.

The corn has done great.  I had the best ear of corn I've ever eaten.  We got plenty frozen while  they were perfect.

Hah!  Now there are giant watermelons.  It's in the 90s finally, so maybe they'll be edible.

Early stages of garlic harvest.  All these have now been cleaned.

Fantastic year for green beans.  Came home with tons, so got ready to pickle.

The non-straight ones were going to be frozen, but they were eaten instead.

Total of 19 quarts.  I think that's enough.

July!

Monday: Bluebirds in the yard hatched!
Tuesday: Thunderstorms.  3/20" in the first round.  Another 3/20" in the second.  Seemed like more than that.  The potatoes were leaning heavily to the east.
Thursday: Potatoes and eggplant are blooming!
The weekend was productive.  Shawn, ever the optimist, planted watermelon.  Weeding happened, and hilling potatoes began.  The latter involves muscles I don't usually use, apparently.  It was warm and I yet again forgot that the first few times I'm out in the "spring" I should put on some sunscreen.
Shawn decided to rebuild the entrance to the shed.  Formerly a sow shed, the ramp was treated hard in its previous life.  It didn't really bother me, but I worried about people who weren't used to where to step to avoid nails and twisted ankles.
We went to the market, selling leeks, fresh garlic, radishes, cilantro, plants (they sold really well!), beautiful head lettuce, and garlic scapes.  Oh, and four tiny zucchini.  Tim helped harvest and sell--it was greatly appreciated!  We did pretty well, but won't be back until July 23 (vacation).  Then we should be there the rest of the season.  I took extra photos because I figure (hope) the garden will look dramatically different after a 10 day absence.
I harvested almost all of the spinach since it won't be edible when we return.  Freezing spinach has got to be one of the most unrewarding activities ever!  You start with a giant pile of stuff and end up with a teeny tiny pile.  I froze 13 cups.
We also tried to sell beet thinnings, but no one wanted any, probably because they could buy good sized beets.  So we ate the greens with friends the other night--sauteed up with leeks and the fresh garlic.  Delicious!

Our stand this week.

Best looking lettuce we've ever grown.

Part of the spinach ready to be processed.

Washing.  Spinach sure gets filthy.

Cooling the steamed spinach.  Since there were plans for daiquiris,  I took the opportunity to clean some ancient things out of the freezer.

Before.

After.

Bluebirds on Monday--1 week old.

Swallow eggs, still waiting.

The older bluebirds in another house.

Clarkia--one of my favorite wildflowers.  Too bad it's an annual.

Pepper army.

Knee high.  (Apologies to Mr. Weiner)

Looks good!

From left: cabbage/shallots, carrots, older carrots, beans, leeks, zucchini, onions...

Bloomin' eggplant!

They don't looks so good, but could be worse.

Cucumbers.

Pumpkins.

Watermelon between two strips of visquine, hoping to warm the soil.

Plenty of potato bug larva.  This unsuspecting family about to be killed.

Trying to make watering while we're gone as easy as possible for Teri.

Ramp repair.

The Garden is In!

Finally dried out enough to get everything in the ground.  We finished planting on Saturday. (Except for the watermelon, which I'm not counting since I don't like them and feel they're hopeless this season anyway.  But Shawn was slaving away tonight with black plastic and high hopes).  We also managed to get everything irrigated, which is good, as today was in the 80s!  Now that's more like it.

Tomatoes on the move.

Best success we've ever had with cabbages.  Thanks to Mia for the tip!

Zucchini time.

Overview.

Also finer heads of lettuce than usual.

Red beets are doing great, but the goldens germinated poorly.

Almost time for peas--such a happy thing to look forward to.

Extra pumpkins Shawn planted after the quail appeared to have eaten them all.

The mini bell that was blooming two weeks ago.

Overview--peppers and eggplant in foreground, fine looking corn in background.

Good beetle.

Bad beetle!

Locust blooms; they smell so good.

Views of foxtail lillies with pollinators.

Baby swallows in the garden.