August garden update

Okra blooms are so fleeting that I have been trying to capture one at just the right time all summer. I've seen buds and the next time I look, they're withered. I finally got one! 

This Better Boy plant has outgrown its cage, so I built an addition with a stick and some twine. 

 Cucumbers have taken over most of the garden bed and have produced more than any of my other plants. They've grown all over the air conditioning unit. They've attracted bees. If you like cucumbers, I will give you some! 

I've had a few bell peppers. This one keeps growing bigger and bigger, but I'm waiting for it to turn red. 

Occasionally, Dan gets a wild hair and picks some cucumbers. On this particular day, he ate three. 

I'm not sticking to a regular blogging schedule now, but I plan to continue posting whenever the mood strikes. To make sure you don't miss a post, subscribe by email on the right side of my page, just under my profile. 

paleo supper

I'm reading The Paleo Manifesto by John Durant, which is convincing me to change my diet a little from the low carb/clean way I have been eating for a few months. Sweet potatoes used to be an absolute staple in my diet until I started eating low carb and cut them out. So far, I've still felt great after re-introducing sweet potatoes. 

The salad includes organic spinach, cucumbers I grew, and tomatoes that friends grew. I bought the whole free range chicken and organic sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's. The potatoes are locally grown. 

I rinsed the chicken, patted it dry, and stuffed it with thyme from my garden and Kerrygold butter. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and baked at 425 for an hour and a half. 

The whole meal is what I would consider paleo, healthy, easy, and delicious! 

teeny tiny tomato and curlicue

I discovered that one teeny tiny tomato is growing on my Better Boy plant. I had to snap a picture before it gets eaten by the deer! This year, I have very low expectations for my first real experiment gardening, so I am easily pleased. 

Today is supposed to be my first day off of work for the summer. I'm heading in anyway because I'm not quite done with my work, but I'm SO looking forward to tending my garden this summer. 

I've enjoyed getting home from work each day and looking after my dog and my plants, and I absolutely cannot wait until I can have longer, slower mornings doing just that. After the heavy rain the last two days, last night was the perfect time to pull some weeds. There is much to be done even in my small garden, but I only pulled a few weeds, and the rest will have to wait. 

That's just a bit of what's on my long list of things I want to do this summer. I already know I'm going to have to prioritize. I should learn the lesson that I can't do as much as I think I can in as little time as I think I can do it by the fact that I'm still working!

My cucumber plants are sprouting pretty curlicues, too. The day I eat a cucumber that I grew, I'll be a happy, happy girl. 

Any suggestions for keeping the deer away? Dan chases them, but he's not outside all the time. 

What about must-do's for summer?