my garden - midsummer 2015

It's hard to get up early when you stay up late!  But the mornings I do get up early, I really enjoy being out back in the yard.  It's the best time to weed, of course, and I find it to be a soothing contemplative activity.  During the summer, as I am sure I've previously mentioned, it is lovely to sit out back and sip - hot tea in the morning, cool beverage in the evening, and hear the city just beyond view, the birds and insects within view.  A better place to read, knit or visit is hard to find.  

Some of the things we've harvested so far this year include sugar snap peas...

Sugar snap peas are the first things we plant, at the end of March.  They're a cold-season vegetable, and just when I think I can stand winter no more, I can start my garden.  A few years, I have forgotten to start these soon enough, but luckily not this year.  We had some warm weather in early spring, so we dug up a bed and turned over soil, and planted two rows of peas.  A few weeks later, we were getting record-breaking rains, and the peas were soon poking up from the ground.  They did very well this year.  Everyone in the house loves to eat the pods right off the vine, as well as sauteed with olive oil and salt, or in a stir-fry dish.  First up, delicious, and beautiful blossoms to boot!  I'm telling you, it's win-win-win.  

For the first time ever, my own homegrown garlic...  

A few years ago, we planted garlic - and didn't know when to harvest them.  Since then, I've read up on garlic, and when I saw the plants dying back, I knew it was time to get the shovel!  Boy, I love garlic.  When my mother-in-law introduced me to fresh garlic, it changed my views on cooking forever.  And to have it straight out of the garden, to know we took care of it and raised it organically, so much the better!  Can't wait to roast some, or add it to marinara.  Yum!  I love the dried roots in this picture.  

And the blueberries...

Blueberries are something I did not like until we started growing our own.  Truthfully, blueberries do not readily grow in Colorado; when we planted these, we dug a big trench and filled it with a bale of peat.  The plants have done alright, they are still alive, and we've had blueberries every year.  Though I'm not sure we can say they do well.  However, I know my boys love them, and I know how good they are for us, so it has been worth the few handfuls (and many lovely pictures.)  

Perhaps it's all the rain, I don't know, but we've noticed more butterflies and tons more ladybugs than ever, this year.  I've gotten a few really nice pictures!  I even spotted one without spots today - ha! 

Hopefully we'll have peppers and tomatoes, soon.  I'll let you know!