Entering my favorite time of the year

As the year continues to migrate from the hot and dry months of April and May we are starting to enter into the rainy and more temperate season of June through September.  It is during this time of the year that the gardens explode with fruits and vegetables, everything starts to flower and turns brilliant shades of green and best of all, Jo Ann's garden is teeming with fresh produce.

Last night we had one of Mother Nature's spectacular displays of a desert storm (no not the current administration's type).  We had lightening and thunder for several hours and yes we even got a little rain, not much, but enough to wash the dust off of all of the plants.

But what really excites me about this time of year is the ability for Jo Ann to just stroll out to her gardens and pick what ever produce is ready and to create dinner using only the freshest produce that you can get.  And it is even better to know that it has been produced using only earth sustainable techniques, compost and other organic processes.

Of course it helps that Jo Ann is a trained chef so being able to whip together a new plate based solely on what is fresh, which seems overly difficult to me, is to Jo Ann what it is like solving a cross word puzzle.  Start with some basics and experiment from there.

So to share what the gardens are looking like, here is a little virtual tour of Jo Ann's gardens.

 

One of our favorites, the french green been, better known as haricot verte, we will enjoy these through out the summer.

There is always an abundance of lettuces, we always have at least three or four different varieties.

What garden in Mexico can exist without Cilantro?

Carrots and more carrots, not only do we enjoy carrots, but we have two horses and two burros who also do.

One of the vegetables that we grow almost year round is Rainbow Chard, it is so colorful, it can be cooked or eaten raw in a salad.  The colors of the stems always are so bright.

And of course anyone who knows Jo Ann knows that she loves flowers of all types and varieties.  Here is a wonderful sunflower that just screams "look at me".

So we now have the garden in almost full production, the tomatoes are growing in front of our eyes, the melons and squashes are spreading out over the vast territories we gave them and we will soon have more produce than we can eat.  We always share it with our friends and neighbors so if you are hungry, come on by.

One final note before closing, the San Miguel Down to Earth garden club is touring the organic gardens at Rancho las Glorias del Huerto this Tuesday from 9:30 to 11a.  This is a commercial farm that produces only organic fruits and vegetables.  It is on a much grander scale than what we do, so it will be fun so see how someone else produces organic food.  If you are interested in joining this tour, please visit the groups web site here.