Fruits of our labors...

With all the rain, things have been growing very well here.  The flowers have been the best in years.The 1st crop of raspberries has actually been worth picking--often we just let them go and wait for the 2nd crop in September.  I've made several batches of jam, besides having berries on cereal or ice cream.

The leaf lettuce has been plentiful and delicious.  I had stopped planting lettuce years ago, because it always had a bitter taste and I preferred the taste of what you buy at the store.  But this year, I heard about the secret for making lettuce taste better:  cut it, wash it, and store it in the fridge for a day or two before using.  That allows the sugars to mature, and takes away the bitter taste!  And it WORKS.  We've loved our lettuce.

We've also had plentiful green onions (the ones that accidentally got left in the ground last year and came up again this year).  We got a second picking off the peas--since the deer ate off the first pods, that made the plants put out new blossoms, so we still had fresh peas.

But the biggest treat so far is the new red potatoes.

When I was planting the garden back in April, I had a few leftover red potatoes that had gone soft and had sprouts all over them.  I threw them away--then dug them out of the garbage and decided to try planting them.  Iowa is not known for producing potatoes, so in all the years we've had a garden, I've never planted potatoes.  I cut the potatoes so there was a sprout in each section, then planted them.  I was almost surprised to see plants begin to grow.

Just last week I noticed that the plants were dying off.  Either the potatoes were ready, or the plants were diseased--which wouldn't have been a surprise, considering our very wet weather.

I felt like a child on Christmas morning when I overturned the first shovel-ful of dirt and bright red orbs lay there.  What a gift!

We've since had a great potato salad and I'm looking forward to grilling some potato logs.

***

And here's the fruit of Elley's labor...

First, with flash, so the door is bright and the room is in shadow;

And then with no flash.  Elley purposely turned her head from the camera.

We LOVE the color--so peaceful, calm and fresh. 

Now, on to the hallway, and the front window boxes, and the white kitchen chairs, and the white trim in my bedroom...

Elley is going to be earning her money!