By 8 o’clock on Saturday night, my husband and I had finished the kitchen chores, put up the day’s harvest, and we were ready to crash!

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Our sons were backpacking, our daughter was on a rafting trip. We had the entire weekend to ourselves to work around the house, in the yard, and harvest some of the garden. (If you want to read about our raised beds and how we got started, you can, here.)

I told Paul that these are my favorite days. A day when I get to putter, can, clean, and do things I would normally not do. We were having friends over for dinner, two of the friends being master gardeners, so you bet! we worked hard in the yard and garden. Not for perfection, but for satisfaction. And … it was time. Time to pull the potatoes, the beets, clean out some of the lettuce that had gone to seed, prepare the beds for fall crops.

Learning how to grow, cook, preserve, and work the soil is nothing short of a revolution in its tastiest form.

We appreciate it, our kids love it, and our guests are always enthralled by the farm to table approach, as a unique dish is placed in front of them at dinner, even on a city lot.

Tomatoes: Mostly green, a few are starting to ripen.


Rutabagas: We picked some big ones.

Potatoes: Harvested, but left some potatoes in the ground for next year’s crop.


Sweet Potatoes: I. Cannot. Wait.

Fig tree: An aborist told us we had our fig tree planted in the wrong place. We transplanted it this year and it’s thriving!

Peppers: Still pretty little.

Green beans: Slow growing this year due to a very mild, late summer.

Beets: Harvested and we’ll be enjoying over the next few weeks.

Lettuce: A few heads are popping up, but most has been already harvested. We are growing new starts in our AeroGarden and will plant for a fall crop. And we’re still eating the Italian lettuce.



Swiss Chard: Beautiful and a tasty treat (one our kids are still trying to form taste buds for).

Raspberries: Taking off. We’ve harvested most of them, but still a few stragglers.

Strawberries & Pumpkins & Squash: Season pretty much over. Pumpkins are starting to grow! Squash is taking off.

August is a crazy month for gardens and cooking and preserving. You really have to stay on top of it all and have a plan and rally the troops to get in and help.

It takes commitment and work.

But it’s so rewarding.

I’d love to hear what you are looking forward to harvesting, canning, or cooking with in August?