Garden Love

Last Wednesday, we finally had rain. It's been a long hot, dry summer with highs in the upper 80's everyday with matching humidity but never any rain. (=miserable) Wednesday was a blessing. It poured for hours drenching the parched grass and garden. The kids and I were able to head out, weed some of the garden (really, how can weeds thrive without rain!) and harvest what was ready.
We are inundated with tomatoes and it's time to start canning! We grew 17 plants of heirloom tomatoes (but lost a few early in the season). And 17 cherry tomato plants. I've eating cherry tomatoes for lunch, dinner and snack and giving them about by the bucketful. Happily, they've been a blessing to many people this summer! We get a break from the heat this week (low 80s) and I have a two bushels of tomatoes to can. If the lack of counter space wasn't telling me it was time, the abundance of fruit flies would be...

Calendula! A pretty and hardy flower and one of my favorite herbs. I use it in the healing salve I make. We've had a really good harvest so far and, surprisingly enough, it is drying well inspite of all our humidity. We (my daughter is a great helper) will soon be collecting seeds for next year. Hopefully, we'll be able to sell seeds or seedlings in the spring above what we need to plant for our own use.
Another bit of green from my thriving herb garden (it gives me such joy). Lemon Balm.... mmmmm. Sweet and lemony mint-relative. My little plant has really grown after I transplanted it this year. I'm looking forward to tea....
Me. And my Teva tan-lines. :) Enjoying time outside barefoot in the wet grass after the rain. Looking forward to cooler days ahead as summer and farmer's markets wind down and school starts up...