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The fall-bearing raspberries have started, and they taste really good with yogurt.

Trees are tricky! In my limited tree growing experience fast growing specimens can become a problem much quicker than slow growing ones-- and when they do, you need to remove them and start over. That can waste a lot of time. (Ask me how I know!!)

In my experience sunflowers have been one of the trickier seeds to save because the plant tissue on the back of the seed head holds a lot of water, and can be difficult to dry down. If you decide to try saving sunflower seeds take measures to quickly move the moisture out of the spongy white...

I'm loving seeing all of the bean photos that are rolling in. Great images-- and so inspirational! In the Pacific Northwest we're having excellent weather for ripening seed. Yesterday I found the first few dry pods of Grandma Rivera's Lima bean, and there should be lots more to come.

The Swan Island Dahlia catalogue makes the perfect coaster for that beautiful tomato. 😉

Last year I tried growing a Lima bean for the first time, and it didn't go well. After many months Network Lima Grandma Rivera produced a small quantity of the ugliest seed I have ever set eyes on. This year I tried again, and had a lot of difficulty right from the start. There were multiple...

I grew Gardener's Delight for the second time this year and was unsure whether I would grow it again. It's a large red cherry, and it can grow rather wide with a tendency to ramble all over the place. But then I noticed that the fruits ripen on nice trusses, which made for quick harvesting. I...

Our lunch is often a simple salad of tomato, cucumber, feta and olives. Delicious!

I love your lettuce patch-- it's beautiful. And I agree that Shirley Poppies have value, but can be a challenge to place in the garden. I would happily sow them every year if only I could find the right spot to put them. 😊

You know it's high summer when you start mulching with massive zucchinis! 😂

Finally got my nasturtiums from cuttings in the ground yesterday (the ones I mentioned in my June 26th post,) and a couple of them are already beginning to bloom in shades of yellow and orange. Not all of the cuttings took, but those that did have strong roots. 😊

Thanks for sharing this-- it's a fascinating anomaly, and perhaps more common than one would think. Gorgeous blossoms on your sweet pea plant!

Good point. It's probably best not to overthink these things. 😉

One of my favourite summer activities is wandering the garden and checking out the tomatoes. Pictured are Tigrella, Sasha's Altai, and Zlatava. Seeds of Tigrella were started on February 4th, and the others were sown on April 9th.

There is a remarkable sweet pea vine developing. I had a singleton seed of one variety, a ruffled cream blossom with a slight pink blush on the edges. It's really pretty. Now the plant is beginning to set seed, and a few of the late flowers are blooming in a completely different colour-- hot...

We are in a warm dry stretch, which looks to be ideal for seed saving. Yesterday morning I spent an hour harvesting crisp and crunchy pods of sweet peas and shelling peas. Most of the dry fava pods got picked too. I grew two cultivars this year, in gardens a good distance apart and isolated...

And in my instance the surface tunnel may have appeared as a result of irrigation as well. I had firmed the carrot planting site and then watered it very heavily, to make sure there would be moisture down deep for the carrot roots once the seeds germinated. So that likely flooded the burrow...

A few days ago I found one of my Orange Dream tomato plants lying on the ground, cleanly severed at the base. At first I thought a critter had nipped off the stem, but on closer inspection I noticed tire tracks entering and exiting this tomato patch. Turns out that either me or our daughter...

Went out to the countryside to pick up a load of two year old composted manure, as well as sacks of alfalfa pellets and a couple of compressed bales of straw to mulch the garden. On the way back the front end of our old 1985 Ford pickup started to jiggle, and my husband had to put on our hazard...

Aw...Thanks for your kind words Steve. You all are my inspiration, and I've learned so many tips and tricks from the group here on TEG.