Scarlet Runner Beans

The scarlet blooms of this hardy bean are as lovely as any vining flower you can find.  The bean pods will start forming soon, and these will bear until the first frost.

My Aunt Elsie gave me the lovely wind chime that I hung on the solar woodshed, and it produces a mellow, meditative tone for summer afternoons spent whiling away time in the pasture.

Ground Cherries--Physalis spp.

Ground cherries (Physalis spp.) are native in many parts of the United States, and often grow alongside roads. The plants have large, deep green leaves and tons of pale yellow flowers that develop into cherry-sized fruits. I started seeds from Baker Creek Seed Company in my greenhouse eight weeks ago, and hardened the plants by putting them in cedar planters.
Ground cherries produce up to 300 fruits per plant and bear nonstop until frost. Four to six plants are sufficient for the average-sized family. Here are the first fruits forming on the plants.

What do you do with ground cherries?  You bake a pie.

It takes an hour to peel the husks from a container of ground cherries, the perfect amount of time for your pie pastry to chill while you make a phone call to an old friend in another state. An 8-inch pie needs two pounds of fruit, mixed with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. No spices, no lemon juice, nothing to distract from the flavor of the fruit. Most ground cherries have no acidity to them, and the flavor is the perfect midpoint between a pina colada and a butterscotch candy, with a slight tomato undertone (if you did want to get creative, a tablespoon or two of dark rum might be in order). The only thing the pie needs is a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Summer Corn

I don't think my corn is going to bear ears this year due to the cool and rainy June and July.  It does look taller than last year's crop, though.  I'm hopeful.

The squash and pumpkins are coming along, and I love it when they take over the raised beds!

The Dog Days of Summer

Here's Nala enjoying a rest in the cool grass in front of the cabin.  She loves to lie outside and sniff the Maltby air, which is usually filled with wonderful country smells.  I'm sure we are downwind here to Roberta's chickens!

The Cabin and the Raspberry Patch

Here's the view of the cabin (aka "garden shed") as viewed from the back yard.  You can see my cool horseshoe that Alex brought me from Montana last year, and an old wooden back of a chair that I painted and hung as barn art.  The raspberries have just given up their last berry, and I missed them on my cereal this morning. 

It's so nice to look out my kitchen window and see this new outbuilding on the property.

Peach Pie in the Summertime

I made my Mom's favorite peach pie this weekend, and it was made with sweet peaches from Yakima.  It turned out perfectly, with great taste and just enough juices to surround the pie.  Of course, it was topped with French Vanilla ice cream for a perfect ending to our Labor Day barbecue!

It's Time to Pick Blackberries!

Gather up your buckets, and head to the nearest park to get the biggest, ripest, sweetest blackberries!  The season is very short, and already I see people by the side of the road, filling their containters with the delectable fruit.

They are wonderful as jam, on ice cream or cereal, or if you want a real treat, bake a blackberry pie!