The July Garden, Too Wet

 The garden is massively overgrown this summer. It is not often we see too much rain like this. Combined with the heat, it brings an uncomfortable humidity. Not shown in the photo are the ugliest tomato plants I have ever seen. I think I will harvest what fruit remains on them and then pull them up. 

I bought pole beans by mistake this year. I had never planted them before and always used bush beans. When I realized my mistake, we scrambled to give them something to grab onto and climb. They overtook the snow peas that were planted on the arched trellis and completely covered over them. Steve now likes the pole bean variety better because he can pick them without bending over. I canned Dilly Beans for him this week as a reward for all the beans he keeps bringing in. We gave bags of beans and tomatoes to Audrey and Tess and we have eaten green beans at every other meal. My dad always grew green beans and having them reminds me of him and his garden and all the goodness we ate in those summers long ago. I like to cook them as my mother did, cooked until tender,  then added to a saute of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil. 

All the marigolds and dill were volunteers along with the basil plants that are growing on the gravel paths. I let those three plants go to seed last year and the birds loved them during the winter. I think the birds dining habits scattered the seeds which created a more widespread propagation. There were marigolds everywhere and I had to transplant several to get them off the pathway.