Hanging On

The last few years have been a cucumber struggle for us.  Our cucumbers have gotten some sort of boring grub that causes the plants to collapse as soon as they start to fruit.  We rotate beds every year, but to no avail.  Since we love to crock ferment our own pickles, this has been a real drag.

An up side to our late winter/spring....it seems that maybe we bypassed this bugs life cycle!  We planted two sections of cucumbers, each with different trellis systems.  Our hope was that at least one section would make it through this year.  So far, so good!  We are just starting to get baby cucs and the crock full of brine is filling nicely.  Soon we hope to have farm bags brimming over with them.

Last night I was craving some freshness, and though our tomatoes are quite a ways out yet, I broke down and bought some at the store to make a variation of a Greek salad with yogurt dressing.  I completely made the dressing up and only hope that I can reproduce it!  Simple summer flavors that make your taste buds sing!

Greek Summer Salad

Dice up a bunch of cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and a handful of kalamata olives and throw them in a big bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk together (these are approximations, because I was just throwing things in to taste)  1 C plain Greek yogurt,  1/8 C chive flower vinegar, splash of red wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1/4 C chopped dill, salt and pepper to taste ( I also threw in a dash of Penzy's mural of flavor seasoning).  Toss the veggies in the dressing and viola, Greek summer salad.

A Strange Garden Year Indeed

note to self, must find a way to capture the whole garden in one shot!

The garden is thriving, but it is funny how in-tuned you become to the ebb and flow, and how the variances from year to year can be glaring.  We knew we were going to be six to eight weeks late this year with the incredibly long cool wing (yes, that is what I am now calling our late winter/early spring). This week we have begun to harvest our first few geode squash, and despite the sweltering heat, the sugar snap peas are still thriving. 

To everything it's season and to every season a purpose.  Hmmm.  I think each of our little garden delicacies have decided that they will mature by type, and not all in harmony.  They want their own moment in the sun.  As we watch the baby veggies beginning to take shape, I am realizing that this year instead of everything at once in a nice succession, we may have things one at a time.  Then, once they have started and continue (hopefully) to yield for the remainder of the season, we will have multiple varieties at once. 

I do not mind savoring each new, fresh, lovely taste one at a time.  It gets me in mode for preservation, to put up the bounty to sustain us through the dark days of winter.  For farm bags, I think that at least with how we are beginning, we may need to adjust to providing these individual tastes to savor on their own, and expand those flavors as the garden allows.

Regardless of what the season brings, we will enjoy every reward that we receive, and I am sure learn a ton of new ways to preserve them.  How is your garden coming in this strange garden year?