Bright Ideas

It comes as no surprise to local residents that my husband enjoys his vegetable garden. It is fenced to protect from hungry deer, although we haven’t seen many deer this year. His rows are straight, and rain keeps the plants watered, or we have a well when rain needs to be supplemented.

While seed catalogs arrive in January and February, Brice forgot to order seeds this year; he was forced to use seeds left over for a year or two. They all produced in spite of age.

We have been enjoying the tastes of garden plants, the first bites always producing smiles. Radishes, spinach, and lettuce came first. Then it was fresh green beans for supper every night. We just enjoyed the last meal of them.

I have tried several suggestions for preserving beans, but never found one I liked. I just enjoy them fresh and wait for next year. In the meantime I have corn, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes make the BLT a tasty and drippy sandwich.

I know there are varieties of tomatoes with less juice, but not these. They are the variety Brice’s mother grew: early ripening, smaller, and reliable, a “one size fits all” tomato. It has served us well.

Doug Marston, and his Red Greenhouse, have supplied us with small plants since we left the Eagle in 2014. He is retiring this year, but Brice thinks he can start his dozen tomatoes in our south window. Some things will not change.

We decided not to freeze any corn this year; we have plenty in the freezer already. Brice just started bringing beets to the house. They are “blanched” in a pressure cooker, sliced and frozen. I love beets. I never ask Brice his preferences in vegetables. He eats anything.

We still have a few cobs of corn. A view of my profile shows a potential problem with my eating corn on the cob; butter drips off my nose and chin. The ears of corn are getting more mature; they would make perfect gifts for a pony…

Carrots are very sweet. Potatoes will soon be dug, and onions are maturing. When Brice is certain they have finished growing, with tops folded over and brown, they too will be dug. Those underground crops are stored in our crawl space for future use.

Now we make pickles and dilly beans. As long as pickles last, they will complement sandwiches, and dilly beans will be a nice treat at Christmas.