The green bean plants were heavy and ready to harvest the first picking of the season. I almost filled a 5-quart ice cream bucket. They were so tempting that I could not wait - and wasn't going to be home for dinner anyway!

My favorite way to eat green beans: water sauteed and served with a wee bit of butter (actually I used Earth Balance Spread) and sea salt. Yum. I had a large bowl for lunch.

Last year I was in Michigamme this month and missed the green bean harvest. In a small way I'm glad I'm still in the land of trolls.


One cucumber plant had a couple ready to harvest. We're having those for dinner tonight. Too good to cook, so I am going to slice and serve as a side dish with a bit of rice wine vinegar.

The zucchinis have about fifty blossoms between the plants and some lovely little babies beginning to grow. I have never had zucchini blossoms and am going to try some for dinner tonight if I get a chance to get back into the garden.


I was bent over the green beans, looking for some hidden in the center of the bed. I raised up to put a handful into the bucket and spooked a buck that was about 10 - 15 feet behind me at the edge of the pond. He was a younger one with a cute little rack. He sprung up the pond bank in a quick bound and ran into our wood behind the old garden shed. Usually, I just interrupt the herons!

I have plans for next year. In Michigamme I have some pine boards that we took out of the house we tore down. They are rough boards from a local mill and in really great shape. I am going to bring back enough for two more long raised beds, about the same size as the green bean bed. I want to expand the garden and have a bed for kitchen greens and herbs.

I am also redoing all of the tomato pots next year. I have had nothing but trouble with the potted tomatoes this year. They were flooded a couple of times by heavy rains and started to set a couple of tomatoes while still small. I'm going to research this and decide if I am going to raise tomatoes in pots next year or dedicate a bed to them.

On a good note... once construction is done on the porch - more about that later - I will have a place to start my own seeds.

Today's Brew: Beaner's French Roast - We needed an "auxiliary bag" of coffee so I bought a large bag of this at Sam's. Disappointing! Strange bitter aftertaste. I am going to try it in a blend with some regular roast 8 O'clock coffee and see if that is any better. Sorry Beaner's ... I mean Biggby!

Today's treat - Blueberry Muffins from Flavorvegan.blogspot.com - I changed up the recipe a bit with applesauce instead of oil and brown sugar instead of raw sugar. Great! Very tart berries in a sweet batter.