Surprises

What surprised me yesterday as I did my gardening rounds?  Well, it turns out we have not one, but two apricot trees.  The younger of the two has begun bearing fruit this year -- not a lot, just a little.  I picked some slightly under ripe fruit to put under a dome and let ripen inside the house to foil the bugs.

When I went in the vegetable garden just to monitor the newly climbing bean plants, I found, to my amazement, that there were lots of fully mature beans ready to be picked.  I filled a bag with beautiful purple beans, which I blanched and froze.  Since these were mostly self-planted from last year's crop, it was especially surprising.  Slow food isn't just a catch phrase around here, and I wasn't in a big hurry to start harvesting in the heat.

Two long cucumbers were ready for picking, and eating, evidently.

Much chard must be cut, cooked, and frozen.  Some of the fennel is ready for picking.  It is all self-seeded.  Black raspberries are abundant in certain parts of the weedy lower yard.  The cherries are all pitted and in the freezer.  Zucchini is shredded, the recipe for muffins open on the counter for later today.

So, continuing my voyage of discovery, I'm out the door to do the chores before the sun gets too high in the sky.  I'd like to trim some goat hooves early and start to catch up on their maintenance.