I've been AWOL

I was away from my garden for 14 days. From July 10-27. It was a long planned European trip so I had planned my garden accordingly with LOTS and lots underground this season. When I left the morning of the 10th the thermometer registered 43 degrees. How do you grow tomatoes in THAT kind of weather , I ask you?

But now summer has arrived, and with the help of neighborly garden fairies and some plentiful rain in my absence, my garden IS salvageable. A few baseball bat sized summer squash escaped the keen eyes of the garden fairies, but all in all things look pretty healthy given the kind of summer we have had.There were some garden moments on my trip. While only in Paris for 3 days, I consumed TWO Tranche de Miel Melons and dried their seeds on the kitchen counter of my patient hostess. I also marveled once again at how the Swiss make such productive use of slanted plots of land and how totally weedless their gardens seem to be.

OLS ~ Week #4 Roasted Chicken

Well finally a few more options among the vegetables ... When I saw potatoes at the farmer's market I decided to make a simple roasted chicken after a recipe in Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires.

In the bottom of a cast iron skillet I put a film of olive oil and then tossed 8 cloves of garlic, 8 spring onions and a basket of new potatoes. I dressed the chicken in some salt and pepper and rosemary and thyme and popped it in a 400 degree oven for an hour. To this I added some fresh snap peas with mint and a dessert of fresh local strawberries.

Chicken - Flat Point Farm
Potatoes - Whippoorwill Farm
Strawberries - Morning Glory Farm
Garlic, onions, snap peas and herbs - the garden

Rain, rain ... go away

ENOUGH ALREADY !!! It started raining on June 9, and with the exception of a few reliably sunny Saturdays, it has not stopped. Then yesterday, my rain gauge registered 2 INCHES in an hour !!! I was not here for the downpour ... was visiting in the next town over, but when I returned I could see the evidence of a real gully-washer. Later I heard that some towns got hit with hail ... the size of the hailstones increasing as the story got retold ... but settling somewhere between a mothball and a golf ball in size.

The garden is a mess. I have rampant blossom drop on all my tomato plants ... not ONE fruit has formed yet. I fear my garlic is rotting in the ground, but it is still too early to pull it up. The only happy campers are the ones living underground. And, of course, the weeds.

There's always one you miss

"Hey!! Where'd everybody go?"