The garden always starts to look a little more wild and unkempt than normal this time of year. Some plants are past their prime and looking scraggly. Some have spilled over their boundaries to scramble over paths and up tomato cages. Some (like the mile-high lettuce in the center-background) are allowed to bolt so I can save the seeds or are permitted to self-sow about the garden.
After dinner, George helped me pick some tomatoes and plums and summer squash for a delivery in the morning. He got a thrill out of being hoisted up to help reach the first wave of ripe Stanley plums.
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He thought this Pink Brandywine tomato was really cool and deserved a close-up.
As the sun was getting close to setting, Ruth brought out her favorite chicken, Cookie, to peck around in the Rain Garden before she and Casey locked up the poultry for the night.
It’s a good thing Cookie is the world’s snuggliest chicken, because Ruth absolutely adores her. She’s a total puppy dog and wants to be picked up and held at every opportunity.
All in all, not-too-shabby for less than an hour’s picking with small children “helping”, especially considering I also picked another dehydrator-load of calendula and comfrey, and some golden raspberries for the kids’ dessert, and weeded as I went along. Definitely, not-too-shabby.
Definitely not too shabby!