Mysterious Visitor
Posted: 7/26/2009 2:19 AM
OK, this is strange. Something built a nest in the garden--twice this week. I found one nest balancing on the branches of the tomato plant and a few days later there was another resting on a large zucchini leaf.
I have no idea what type of critter built the nests--maybe a bird or a mouse? Luckily, whatever it was didn't eat anything from the garden. There are no bite marks in any of the tomatoes or the lettuce. Of course, I removed both of the nests. I can only hope the critter decides to build the next one somewhere else.
In addition to the mysterious visitor, the garden has also been invaded by ants. I can't say I'm surprised. They showed up last summer as well. I set out a bait station to hopefully reduce their numbers. Here, you can see some ants marching along a zucchini flower.
On the bright side, we harvested the first few ears of corn. How do you know when corn is ready? Once the silks begin to turn brown and you can feel some bumps inside the husk, it's about that time. The best way to find out though, is to peel back a bit of the husk and take a peek.
While it wasn't the most beautiful corn we've grown, it was so sweet and tasty. The secret to good corn is to cook it right after you pick it. In fact, I boiled the water before I went out to the garden to get the corn. It was fabulous--as good as it gets!
It seems we're harvesting nearly a pound of tomatoes each day. Plus, every day there's at least one cucumber or zucchini that's ready. Besides picking veggies daily this week, I also had to do a bit of maintenance. Our strawberries are trying to spread. They send out runners which soon grow into new strawberry plants.
Since I don't want the strawberries to take over our garden, I snipped the runners. Plus, doing so will allow the plant to put all of its energy into growing fruit instead of growing new plants.
This past week, it was my turn to host our monthly book club meeting. I got a chance to share some of the goodies from the garden. I served Pasta, Pesto and Peas (www.foodnetwork.com), one of my favorite party dishes. I've been making this for years and it's always a hit. I also cut up some fresh veggies and served them with Goat Cheese and Herb Dip (www.epicurious.com). For dessert, I served Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread (www.epicurious.com), which is more like a cake than bread. Everyone enjoyed it. I didn't get around to using any cucumber recipes as I hoped I would--maybe next week. For now, we're just eating them raw.