Wandering Wednesday

Time to move off the beaten quilty path and into the garden. 

We are still harvesting lots of peppers. These are all different varieties of sweet peppers. My husband has pickled some, used some in canning spaghetti sauce and salsa, dried and ground some and we eat them fresh for lunch every day. Now we have been giving them away to family and friends. My sister-in-law came with one of her granddaughters to pick up a big paper grocery sack of them. Her granddaughter picked several of them out of the bag and ate them like apples while we were chatting.

The wild asters are in bloom.  They just appeared in the flower garden last year and were a pleasant surprise again this year. Since I didn't plant them I've probably pulled them out in the past thinking they were weeds. Since I've retired I've been studying native species including the leaves and stems so I can recognize things that just pop up here and there. 

It is finally cool enough during the day to see the Four O'clocks open. Despite their name they are temperature sensitive and not daylight sensitive so open when the temperatures are cooler. Usually during the summer they open in the late evening and close up in the early morning so I rarely get to see them open. 

The Japanese Anemones are blooming. 

I've tried separating and transplanting some of these but evidently they are happiest where they are.  They are basically growing in gravel along an old gravel drive now overgrown with grass that goes through the lean-to next to the barn. I planted two plants about 25 years ago. They are an Autumn delight. 

I'm still harvesting broccoli side shoots. These will be for broccoli cheese soup for supper tomorrow night along with some homemade sourdough bread. After the main head of broccoli is harvested a lot of side shoots appear for later harvest. I soak in salt water to lure out any little critters that may be hiding within. 

Yesterday's harvest included several Butternut Squash, Delicata Squash, Zucchini and some small cabbages. Usually my cabbages are really big heads but I think the hot temperatures and drought conditions had an adverse affect on them. The last several years I could use on head to fill a gallon jar to make sauerkraut. I probably won't make sauerkraut for hubby this year. 

Sweet Autumn Clematis is in bloom. It fills the air with a vanilla scent. I guess it can be invasive but I keep mine confined to the trellis and look forward to the blooms and sweet scent that is a sign that Summer is winding down and Autumn is near or is here.  It is time to start collecting seeds. More on that on the next Wandering Wednesday.