Summer in my Garden

Can you believe it? Summer has finally arrived! Wahoo! Now that winter and spring are behind us, the harvest season has really picked up and I'm anticipating bushels of beans, tubs of tomatoes and crates of cucumbers.. zoodles of zucchini?? Ok, sorry, that might have been one too many.

It's now evening and the sun is falling towards the horizon. I was just putting around the veggie patch, adding pinches of lettuce seed wherever I spied empty space and I was struck by the beauty of the Red Russian kale that is now in full flower.

Not only are the leaves edible, but so are the flower buds and bright yellow blossoms. If you look closely, you'll see the stems are purple and contrast so nicely against the flowers. Even the seed pods are dusky purple! As well, the plants are rather prolific and although we've been munching on the flower buds and tossing the little blooms in salads, there always seems to be many MANY more flowers - which the bees and beneficial insects appreciate. This morning when I was watering my new seed beds, there were hundreds of bees buzzing around the early summer flowers and bolted veggies - kale, mizuna, pak choi, mustard, catmint, sage, chamomile, chives and more. Heavenly!

Anyway, the light was nice, so I snapped a few photos.. Enjoy!

Every leaf axil produces more flower buds -
yummy! Just like a peppery broccoli.
Here is a maturing seed pod. Once these pods are dried and
the seeds are rattling around inside, I thresh them and
gather ziploc baggies full of the seed.  Mizuna in bloom.. 

Well hello Indigo Rose tomato.. it's a grafted tomato - my
first grafted tomato ever! These fruits are already 1 1/2 inches across.
Chives anyone?? Please! 
Striking in the evening light. 
A little lettuce.. I've got a 5 by 8 foot bed planted in
salad stripes - 'Peppermint' Swiss chard, 'Ruby Red' lettuce
and this lovely green heirloom lettuce. Photos will
follow soon of the bed..