Gardens and images

Time away and then an earlier-than-expected family visit have rearranged my routine over the last few days. But it was a good time, and the raised bed gardens are growing vigorously without my attention.

I'm hopeful of LOTS of tomatoes;  there are many large green fruits, so I'm anticipating a good harvest this summer, but you never know.

Beets and swiss chard continue to be stand-outs and the squash is flowering and the beans are growing rapidly.  I'm looking forward to fall beets;  the young spring beets and their greens have been so delicious, I can't believe that I haven't figured out how to grow them successfully before. (Basically, it's deep fluffy soil in the raised beds and plenty of water and nutrients...not the usual 'tough love' gardening approach that is my usual mode.)

Thankfully, afternoon and evening thunderstorms have brought ample rain, so with added water for seedlings and greens, it has been a good spring (now summer).

We're looking forward to more hiking time in the mountains, too.

This pastel by Carl Peverall, from a recent Toe River Studio tour, provides a wonderfully evocative image of the Blue Ridge Mountains.