Lately in the gardens…

Our green bean plants are basically done, so we’ve cleared some of them out. The pole beans spread and curled around everything they could reach – tomato cages, cucumber plant stands, stems of surrounding plants – so now it looks a little empty, or just tidier, with them gone.

This week, Morris blanched some green beans and put them in the freezer. Blanching is a simple process: boil the veggies, then throw them in an ice bath. They will be a winter treat. As will the bags of basil I’ve frozen and will use for soups and pasta.

The cucumber plants are starting to feel fall is coming; the leaves are drying and crispy, and the stems are turning yellow. Some cucumbers are still growing, and there are bright flowers that may still form cucumbers, but I remember they ended quite suddenly last summer, too.

There are still lots of green tomatoes that will ripen, eggplants that will grow, and cabbages whose heads are getting firm and almost ready to harvest. Rex’s chili reds are still reddening…

We had a black swallowtail resting in our garden this week. I remember seeing its striped caterpillar a few weeks earlier, and I’m amazed at how beautiful it became with its spots of orange and electric blue. Rex really wanted to hold it, but I wouldn’t let him.