Vibrant Summer

Oh, the vibrant colors of summer. It is the season of flavors and cuisine which I associate only with this time of year. It has been a very good season for most of my favorite summer plants, all grown here in the gardens of my “hidden” estate. I hope it stays hidden for the rest of my days and I believe it will, but I do fear the psychosis called “progress” coming too near and too soon. Some of us do not want it, or embrace it.

But “Don’t fear the future” the positive thought psychologists tell us. But what is the future? If it is tomorrow, next month or six months we might have reason to, if not fear it, simply dislike the change we see coming. Isn’t that alright?

You’ll be dead in six months, your favorite places will be destroyed, soil air and water are being diminished, but don’t fear the future!

Ah, I see, so everything is going “according to plan” ?

Even if I could somehow discover an ancient Cloak of Invisibility and place it over the hidden estate, it wouldn’t stop the so-called “progress” from simply bothering me! Not even medieval era Arthurian legend can save me.

Well, I can still love and respect the vibrant season. I can have these earthly delights from my own garden, and not buying produce for several months is a pleasure. Then, I wait until next year to have them again.

All of this gardening activity brings ideas of what to change for next year. I have 6 planting areas, but I have discovered that I need one or two more.

This season I had 20 tomato plants of the following varieties:

Mortgage Lifter (heirloom), Rutgers (heirloom), Cuore de bue (Italian heirloom from seed “Oxheart”), Chef’s Choice Orange (a hybrid from the heirloom Amana), and Early Girl (popular hybrid).

Notice the heart shaped tomato on the left, a cuore de bue.

I know that hybrid tomatoes are bred for quantity and disease resistance. I never plant these “hybrid” types but I was too anxious this spring and I haven’t had them for years. They are perfect looking probably because the skins are thick. This protects from bugs, disease, splitting, etc, but they do not taste as good as the natural heirloom tomatoes. They are good, however, for making sauces and that I did. But no more “hybrids” for me.

Heirloom tomatoes are never perfect and are disease-prone because they’re complex organisms living on planet earth.

But these taste wonderful! I’ll take it.

Some of the many basil plants grown from seed.

Pesto from these beautiful basil plants is the one dish I miss the most in the winter. But unless I have basil from MY garden, I can’t make my beloved pesto. That’s it! It’s another summer time dish. Well, I can admit to an occasional store bought jar in January when I just miss it too badly to wait until July.

Pesto a la Genovese, Zucchini and home grown garlic sauteed in pan and seasoned with lemon and olive oil.

For many years I purchased 40 plants from the garden center. I would then dig 40 holes for these plants. But I don’t do that any more. These are all planted from seed which I collect from the dry flowers.

I’ve started collecting them this week, for next year.

Floriculture in front of house.

The vibrant summer has a few weeks left. The humming birds are still on the Rose of Sharon and zinnia flowers and the gold finches are still eating sunflower seeds.