Whiskers and a Whirlwind

I had been dreading last Saturday for about a month. I was taking dear Charlee to the vet for her annual check-up and rabies shot. She is always so freaked out that it makes me feel like a terrible person for making her do it. By the time we get the vet’s office, I’m usually just as terrorized as she is.

By the time I was pulling back into my parking space, I saw the note flapping on my windshield. Apparently, I was in such a panic while I was driving to the vet that I didn’t see it on the way there. Someone had hit my car and left a note and I didn’t notice. Talk about tunnel vision.

While this week has been dedicated to body shop estimates, claims adjusters and beekeeper meetings, luckily I’ve made some much needed time to head out to the garden to see the new surprises it had in store for me.


I can honestly say I’ve made my first real harvest which has consisted of more than just zucchinis. It was like Christmas and an Easter egg hunt all wrapped into one. Pickling cucumbers dangling gracefully from the strong and supportive sunflower stalks, red potatoes just waiting for my hand to plunge into the loose earth and pluck out, pumpkins the size of basketballs, green beans hiding in the midst of gigantic leaves, the joy of beets, oh and eggplants, tomatillos and squash blossoms.

Anything missing? Yes, tomatoes would be nice. Isn’t it ironic that this whole garden thing started with a handful of heirloom tomato seeds and I have yet to try one?

Here are some pictures:

We made dinner with all of the garden gems. It was so fun to finally be able to make a whole meal with the things from the garden. Very little of it was supplemented by the market. We made roasted potatoes with garden fresh pesto, fried zucchini (this is really good, just slice the zucchini in 1/4 inch rounds, dust with flour, pan fry in olive oil and then sprinkle with vinegar and salt), blanched green bean, beet and sweet onion salad with goat cheese, stuffed squash blossoms (these were absolutely disgusting but it was my fault. I used the giant pumpkin blossoms instead of the zucchini and they were oh so bitter. Don't use those! I've learned my lesson), and we had shrimp that we got from the fish market.

The disgusting stuffed squash blossoms that looked so good...

We made dill pickles too!