Yesterday was a nearly perfect day for garden work.  Sylvia started early in the morning and soon had more than a little to show for her efforts.  This is our first attempt to raise eggplant, and conditions have been near perfect.  Can you believe the size of that purple monster?  I’m talking about the eggplant.  She harvested two more, which were the same size.  We’ve never before had cabbages ready by August first.  She harvested two of those.  Then there were the zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and green beans.

As I carried the bounty into the kitchen, Sylvia started picking green beans.  She picked a fine batch of them too.  Soon, they’ll go in the steamer and provide a delectable side dish for a meal.

This is the first year for the garden in the new location.  Last year, I killed grass and weeds with Roundup.  It helped a lot.  We don’t use chemicals during the growing season, but it was sure nice to have a relatively pristine garden this year.

The new location is much closer to the house, which makes it easier to visit–or to see with a quick look out a window.  It is also easier to keep it watered, and we had to do that quite a bit earlier this year.  Because the new location is on higher ground and is sloped, it drains better in heavy rain.  (The old location was low and in the path for runoff from the neighbor’s field.)  The soil is also lighter, having less clay and more loam.

It takes work, but it sure is wonderful to eat fresh produce from our own garden.  We love it!  How does eggplant stir-fry sound to you?  Just thinking . . . 😀