garden | a bumper harvest

a bumper harvest of delights... This has been a tough summer for gardening. Between the weather, the blight, and frankly, my complete lack of time to dedicate, I was torn on several occasions to just throw in the towel and turn my focus to next year. Thankfully, I gave myself a much-needed swift kick in the bum and rallied to the side of positivity to find fortune in the successes rather than drown in the failures. So, it was both by delight and surprise that I was able to bring in this harvest this morning.

I love starting everything by seed because it gives me the opportunity to experiment with different varieties. This summer I tried my hand at de Bourbonne picking cucumbers which technically should be harvested at gerkin stage, but some do grow faster than I can pick at that stage. My Cross Country cucumbers are starting to kick-in, but the Suhyo Longs are lagging.

Peppers are a constant delight for me to grow, but it is hard to give them the long growing season that they need. Maine weather often turns to hard frost before these crops can turn to a lovely red. Above is my favorite pepper, Chilipeños, along with a Jimmy Nardellos sweet pepper. Klari Cheese peppers, and my mystery yellow hot pepper from last year's seeds.

My six-year-old usually eats all my carrots before I can get them in the door, so I'm psyched to pull in this morning's harvest of Over the Rainbows. I love, love all the different colors.

The shallots are curing on my drying rack, along with another rack of cipollinis. Ironically this year of odd gardening, I have had great success in my onions, shallots and carrots... three crops that have never thrived really in summer past. I would have thought that all of this rain wouldn't be beneficial to these crops, but obviously I am mistaken. It's just such a thrill to see these root vegetables grow to full, thriving crops when they started as such tiny little seedlings.