Pulling peas and pruning pumpkins

This morning I climbed into what I call the Bed of Chaos -- where zucchini grow from pumpkin seeds, pole peas grow in piles, and volunteer tomatoes outpace pepper transplants.  I went in to pull out the peas, which are not producing, and to prune the pumpkin so the peppers and eggplant could get some sun.  And I found more strange things.

I'm pretty sure this is a yellow crookneck, growing from that same row of pumpkin/zucchini plants.

And, alas, I think this may be a baby pumpkin!

I also found potato berries, from which I can harvest TPS, true potato seeds.  TPS are planted to produce a tuberlet which is then planted to grow potatoes. 

 

I love the blackberry blossoms, and how the blackberry vines are spreading all over this back area!

I also found another overgrown zucchini -- how did I miss this the other day????

I was most excited to find cucumbers!  I have had so little luck growing them in the past -- fingers crossed!

Hopefully the eggplant and peppers can now get growing, with a little more sun on them!

The bed before:

And after.

It's going to be a bumper crop of at least one thing...

That which was hidden

If you have viewed my photo montage below you might be thinking, "Those are not vegetable beds!  Yes, I see green tomatoes and zucchini and grapes and peaches but the rest is just WEEDS!"  Well, actually, the only true weed in there is the dandelion -- she is tall and beautiful and yellow so I left her.  Everything else was planted, at some time or other.  Many things have decided to reseed themselves and do grow quiet wildly but they are all welcome.

The one mystery for me is that I planted these:

And this grew:

I am sure that I am not mistaken.  The row was clearly marked and I had planned on that area for what I hoped would be a couple pumpkin plants.  Twelve germinated and took over.  And now are growing zucchini.  Aside from this one, that I wasn't expecting and let grow too large, zucchini are very appreciated.    Bummer about no pumpkins but we'll get over that.  

These are what made me happiest this week:

My first ripe tomatoes.  They made Alex happy too -- as she popped them in her mouth with an excitement most children reserve for gummi bears.  

She was also pleased with these:

Yup, that is my ENTIRE pea crop to date this year.  Well, it surely never made it to the table -- became part of the mid-afternoon snack tray.  

One of the pictures in the montage that is probably not identifiable (it is the picture just after the dandelion) is of my bed of overgrown (and hopefully self seeding) chard.  I had planted rainbow chard for a late season harvest last year - and it didn't really "happen".  When we returned home in April it was already overgrown and flowering.  I let it be and planted new seeds beside it.  What you can't see in the photo is that the new plants are beautiful!  I lifted the elderly shade off them and found a lovely harvest!

I also picked some baby spinach and some fresh basil for a fabulous salad -- served with a drizzle of walnut oil and some celtic sea salt.  

Speaking of dinner, I woke up craving homemade ravioli.  But I had no ricotta.  A good friend

suggested I make my own using this recipe.  Three simple ingredients -- milk heated to 180, vinegar, and salt.

After it curdled for a couple hours, I drained it in cloth lined colander. 

and voila!

I really wish I had a better camera that could take a decent close up!  In any case, it was just YUM!  Really sweet and good.  I mixed with some raw eggs and fresh basil and stuffed it into some homemade pasta pockets.

I sauteed the chard with some garlic in olive oil and Gregg grilled some sausages and we had the salad, for a delicious, garden inspired dinner!

Oh, so what was Gregg doing while I was making fresh pasta and cheese and picking garden goodies?  Brewing beer.

I like this picture of what I think is barley.

These are his hops.

Hidden in a garden wild

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Two Weeks in Jersey

It was so hot during our visit that my dad's car window exploded. 

Gregorie had a blast catching fireflies:

Uncle Steve escorted all the little ladies to Nancy and Erik's wedding.

We caught a quick pose with most of the cousins (missing Charlie and Nathan).

Sara, Alex, and Gregorie explored the museum.

We all laughed with the bride.

And the mother of the bride shook it up!  So did my mom!

Mom and Dad and I posed with the other Nancy.

Alex and Nina danced with the bride and then Alex and Sophie just took a good spin.

The next day at the picnic all the kids had a blast hanging out together.

My girls got dressed up fancy and had some professional photos done (password is Marlyn).  After Greggie worked on some pictures of her own.

Alex and Gregorie dragged me to the attic to pull out some of my old Barbie stuff.

We went to the Turtleback Zoo and met up with Tory and Zane.

Alex sought some advice from her wise, older cousin.

We went "down the shore" with the Marzullo clan.

The Alex Marincas Family posed for a family photo.

And the girls had some final laughs with Emily, daughter of my friend Karen.

It was a good trip.  We miss everyone.  But we're happy to be home!