August Garden

Snapshots of our Kansas garden in August...

A morning picking of peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and zinnias.

The volunteer sunflower towering in the corner by the patio.

The Flat Dutch cabbages survived the spring and summer, despite the heat and worms. The strawberry plants have sent out runners and the patch is enlarging. The tomato vines pulled over their stakes and are growing into the yard, and over some cabbages.

Swiss chard was left uncut for several weeks and we harvested five pounds in one cutting. That's heavy for lightweight greens. You know how big a bag of 10 oz. lettuce or spinach is in the grocery?!

Here is part of it washed and waiting to be cooked or refrigerated. Some of us like it warm and salted, others eat it only in berry smoothies where it is undetectable.

The sweet potatoes have filled up their space (where I ruined our regular potato plants). Hopefully we will get a nice amount of pretty orange ones just before frost.

I've been cutting okra 2-3 times a week. It's situated on the edge of our newly expanded garden area this year and unfortunately the grasshoppers are doing their damage. Anywhere our grass grows tall, the pasture bugs abound.

Some fruits and veggies ripening on the vine...

After our two week absence visiting relatives back east, we gathered quite a few piles of produce.

Produce harvested in August: 126 pounds

Tomatoes, summer squash, cantaloupe, okra, and cucumbers as the main weight bearers, though we picked 3 varieties of peppers, turnips, red beets, carrots, and 3 kinds of greens as well.

End of Summer Virginia Visit with Family

The cousins did a chalk pastel art lesson together. They also took bubble baths and had slumber parties, went to singing class, rode four-wheelers, went shopping with Grandma, watched Auntie's movies and stayed up too late, tore down the old fort, and went to work on the dairy farm.

Our family spent an evening with friends we hadn't seen in several years. We got a house tour of their recent IKEA installations for homeschool organization and had a good general catch-up chat that lasted late into the night.

We swam and some camped at a nearby pond. 

The first day moms,  friends, and seventeen children splashed and relaxed.

The second day the dads and granddad came too as we celebrated August birthdays. (Can't believe I missed a picture of the cakes!)

We cut up bushels of fresh peaches for the freezer. And brought home a boxful too.

The grand Ben and Betty Bowman Reunion that instigated this far summer travel in the middle of garden harvest was near the end of our stay. Over 600 relatives showed up for the event at a Franklin County park. B & B had nine children many a year ago, and the the multiplication of family genes continues on.

The children rode this tractor pulled train all afternoon while the older ones played ball, and the oldest ones chatted and smiled, sharing memories into the microphone as grilled chicken, sweet tea, watermelon, ice cream, and popcorn abounded.

The last day ended with a bang touring Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello. We took it all in and enjoyed learning together...architecture, inventions, science, botany, slavery...rich history.

Of course, my favorite part was the garden and grounds tour. And generally wandering through the 2 acre impeccably organized massive garden, gazing on the mountains beyond this "Little Mountain".