Before the harvest

Although this summer has been mild, with lots of cloudy days, it didn't affect our vegetables in the garden.  They got enough sun and more than enough water to grow well.  The rabbits and some thieves have robbed us of some butternut squash and lots of pea shoots, but most of the stuff we planted are thriving.  

We have not started harvesting anything yet.  I expect the peas and beans to be ready in a week or two.  The potatoes are doing well and have started flowering.  We only need to wait until the leaves turn yellow before we can dig up the potatoes.  I think that would be in a couple of weeks.  The first batch of carrots are doing well.  Tiny carrots have started to form.  In a few weeks, they would be big enough to be pulled up.

The cabbage and broccoli would take longer.  I think they would be ready only in autumn.  Same for the pumpkins.  As of now, we have spotted three small pumpkins and some flowers.  They would continue to grow until autumn or even early winter.  That would be great since nothing beats a bowl of hot pumpkin soup and homemade bread when it starts getting cold outside.  I have planted two types of pumpkin - winter pumpkins and giant pumpkins.  The winter pumpkins are growing faster than the giant ones.  The cucumber and butternut squash are flowering but not fruiting yet.  

So, before the harvesting starts, here's a peek at our garden:

The rows and rows of potatoes.

A close-up of potato flowers.

Three out of the four rows of carrots. You can see the first two rows are bigger since they have been planted two weeks earlier.

The rows of peas which are towering and hiding the shorter bean plants behind them.  Next year I would plant them separately. 

The pumpkin and cucumber patch.  See the ugly, empty space where the two butternut squash plants should have been.  I still get upset when I look there.

A pumpkin flower.

The bigger of the three growing pumpkins.

One of my flowering lavender bushes.I might harvest the flowers to freshen up our home.