Garden, Early August and Tropical Cha Cha

This was taken almost a month ago before I harvested the carrots (upper left), leafy stuff, beans (upper right), and beets (lower right). We had so much rain in July that the leafy stuff kept growing strong through most of the summer. August was hot though, so it's all pulled up now.

A good swiss chard harvest filled a large mixing bowl and made four servings of veggies for Josh and I over the course of two meals.

I pulled half of the beets up and pickled them in the fridge. I will do the same with the remainder. My cherry tomato plants occasionally choose to produce a small snack for me. Yes, they are orange. Yes, they are sweet and delicious.

Cha Cha has a renewed interest in the jade plant. If it can survive her tough love I'll probably have a whole album full of Tropical Cha Cha.

Farm Show Specimens

Josh said something about a "big surprise" at the end of the aisle but this was more like a "dream come true" at the end of the aisle.

Look at this handsome ram with a spotty coat.

The baby goats are always a favorite.

The larger goats are pretty cute too.

One big fellow was relaxing in a peculiar position.

By the end of the day I was exhausted.

This bunny was all head.

They even had some exotic leopard bunny mixes.

There goes that crazy cat!

Swiss Chard, Purple Beans, Carrots, Beets, Basil, Sunflowers

The chard just keeps growing and growing and growing. I don't know if Josh is getting a little tired of it but I might be. Does anyone have any recipes to share for this?

I pulled out a couple of bean bushes today to give the tomato plants some more room. There are still some flowers on the bushes and baby beans.

I've pulled most of the carrots at this point. What's left is a sparse field of carrot tops and open ground that may be too enticing for the weeds.

The beets are getting to be about the size of limes. I will probably pull them next week for Thursday's Dinner With Dave Summer Vegetable Extravaganza!

The basil seedlings Ivette was kind enough to share with me are now in the garden. I'm pretty sure the collection includes Italian as well as Thai.

The first of the sunflowers is blooming. The plants grew about 6 feet tall and are the classic yellow variety. I will probably plant the more dramatic red kind next year.