Harvest Time

Green beans and Zucchini galore!!

For the past 2 weeks or so the green bean harvest has been coming in great! I've never grown pole beans before this season but now I'm hooked. The gardening books and catalogs have it right; a little time and effort to set up a fence in the spring has paid off now. My two 12' rows of Kentucky Wonder beans have given up 2 gallons so far. They are a bit stringy when let to get big, I have to remember to pick them small. But all last week I was able to harvest about 2 servings every other day. They've slowed down production a bit this week but with the success of this first planting I may replant some more in late August to take advantage of the warm South Carolina autumn.
The Black Beauty zucchini plants are giving us great squash too. They haven't been huge or forever fruiting like last year but at least 2-3 times a week I get to pick a zuke. We've been slicing and saueting them in olive oil with red onion and yellow squash. Great side dish! The picture above is one days pickings last week.

Garlic Too!

The garlic that was planted last November has been dug up now too. This was my first year growing garlic. I bought some nice heads in Ithaca, NY last November and planted them here in SC. I was a bit unsure if they would grow well in the heat. They wintered well in the mild weather and I was rewarded with about 30 heads. They're a bit smaller than something you would find in a store but I'll chalk it up to first time learning. I have them hanging the laundry room now to cure for a few weeks. As I told Kimberly the other day..... We won't have to worry about vampires for a while! I just hope the garlic smell doesn't permeate the washing.