Garden

The garden is starting to come in nicely. Green beans are starting to fade out. I think the okra is getting so tall that it's shading the beans too much. Being gone last week didn't help, my house sitter will water, but I didn't want to burden her with harvesting. I let her take everything I had already picked, though.

This is the first time I've grown okra. It's such a pretty plant. The flowers are gorgeous and it has sort of a tropical look, like a palm tree. Ds doesn't like eating them, but he likes the velvety feel of the pods. I admit the texture is hard for kids to manage, even if you fry it. I hope to make some gumbo next week when I have a few ripe tomatoes.

The tomatoes are finally ripening. In the food section of the paper this week, they published a *what to do with all those tomatoes* article. Mine are only just starting! We had a big windstorm yesterday which knocked them down and broke the supports (so much weight with all that fruit on the vine), so dh helped me restake them.

The first cucumbers are in. I made one of dh's family recipes for refrigerated pickles, from the Fanny Farmer cookbook.

WILTED CUCUMBERS

1 or 2 Cucumbers, peeled, sliced. Soak 1/2 hour in ice water. Drain and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons sugar.
Combine and pour over 1/2 cup herb, cider, or wine vinegar (I use red wine), and 1/2 cup ice water. Let stand 1 hour, drain. Add freshly grated pepper (optional).

I usually add slices of sweet onion, like a vidalia. His family refers to it as *Cukes and Onions*, but you could add peppers or carrot slices, or any other vegetable to the brine.

Enjoy!