Zinnias

I have been away last two weekends and I can feel it. First, I can sense a gardening withdrawal. Second, the weeds have become more noticeable. On weeknights I do not have much time for any major tasks, but I do find time to walk around the yard at least once.

Zinnias are in full bloom. They are one of my favorite flowers to cut and bring inside to be placed in small vases.

Only two colors this year: purple...
...and orange.
When I was a kid, I always wondered how all the petals could fit in a small flower bud...

After a Trip

Past four days I was in New York for work. The days were busy and I did not get to explore much farther than a few blocks around the hotel we stayed. This rooftop garden caught my eye from my window.

One of my favorite things when coming home from a trip is to check what has changed in my garden during the days I've been away. There were a couple of tomatoes ready for picking, one cucumber and three zucchinis. Zinnias are in full bloom. Sunflower is beaten down by a recent downpour. Mullen has wilted and has to be pulled out and daisies could use some good deadheading. How soon do you make a round in your garden after coming home from a trip?

Beet Salad

This evening I made salad from beets I picked and roasted* last Sunday.Peel roasted beets, then shred them on cheese grinder. Add crushed roasted unsalted peanuts or cashews (see on the left side in the picture), one small clove of crushed garlic (top right) and a dollop of mayonnaise (lower right). Mix. Ta-dah!

*To roast beets, wrap each in aluminum foil and bake in 400F for about 45 minutes. Cool in room temperature. Cooked beets can be stored in fridge for several days.

P.S. This evening I made my first cup of my own mint tea. Divine! What took me so long???

Red Onions and Shallots

The ground was too wet yesterday to dig up onions and shallots. And I have been taught in Latvia not to dig up onions in wet weather, but on a sunny day and then let them dry outside in the sun. Today was a perfect day for onion harvest--not a cloud in the sky and low humidity.

To the left are red onions. My father-in-law bought seed onions in March at some farm. To the right are random shallots. I got a few three years ago at our grocery store and they have done well. I will keep about a third from each to plant early next spring. I store them in brown paper bag in a cabinet under a stovetop. I've been told that onions and the likes should be kept in fairly warm and definitely dry place; if storage is too cold, an onion will put all it's energy into creating a big bloom, but will not create a new bulb.
There are a few beets also... a bit on a small size. I wrap beets in foil and roast them in oven for about 45 minutes, but these small ones do not take that long.

I also cut couple of dill seed heads. I'll sow part of these seeds later this summer for fresh dill in fall and the rest will have to wait until next spring.

In another corner, zinnias are blooming. I have only two colors this year--orange and purple. The orange ones are my favorite.

Spearmint is blooming, too. Small insects are buzzing around.
A small butterfly on blazing star.
And one of my hen-and-chicks also is blooming.
This one's the first for my garden.

Rainy Day

It's raining today and it is welcome. It's been dry and hot for too long. Lately I have not done anything in the garden except for occasional watering, but not much work is needed right now anyway. Some plants are doing well despite the heat. The lily that Erika gave me is blooming--so beautiful.Veggie patch also looks fine. It's time to dig up shallots and red onions; I might do it this afternoon after the rain stops. Ornamental sunflower keeps blooming and golden finches visit it to snack on seeds.
Zucchinis have started producing.
Hot peppers are in abundance.
Cucumbers look great, too. The other day I picked two.
One of my four tomato plants is significantly taller and with more fruit than the other three. I bought this one at The Home Depot; the others came from a small hardware shop and a big grocery store.
And my first tomato is ripening. Here's to hoping I can pick a red tomato from vine in a few days.

Harvest July 4

Yesterday I picked some vegetables from my veggie patch: broccoli florets (some still are coming up after I've let the plant start flowering), two jalapeno peppers (saved for now in fridge for later use), four sweet banana peppers and small bunch of Italian parsley for macaroni salad I made yesterday (did not use ham or peas that was called for in the recipe, still turned out great), and the first zucchini that we'll grill tonight.