This afternoon the sky was grey but it was still warm. Carl, who is at Dhamma Makaranda in Mexico, has been after me to take a picture of his first grapes, so he could see how big they are. So here’s a picture for him. This is the first year he has gotten any grapes, and this is the largest of 5 bunches.

The garden is way overdue to be harvested, but I am way behind in all my projects. I did cook up some tomatoes this afternoon, and added frozen basil (from Tam & Michael’s garden last year) and frozen garlic from our garden last year. I blended it with a wee shake of salt and half water. I drank it in a cup that John Muir left with me once when he and Eve visited us at Fatt’s Landing, in the Snohomish River Delta. Excellent soup!!!

I froze a couple pints to make more soup or a sauce later.

I had thought that the snow peas were long gone. They were planted back in February. And then today I see more snow peas coming on.

At last, the blackberries are finally getting ripe. Several years ago, we got quite a few blackberries out of a small clump down by the pond. As we made garden beds and paths, I left a row of the evergreen blackberries above the lower path. Since then they have grown vigorously, but this is the first year that there have been more that a handful of blackberries

Then with the wet summer, it looked like they would never ripen. But these last few weeks of sunshine have produced ripe blackberries. I can’t believe that I’m excited about another crop to harvest, but having blackberries is extra special.

I ate a few blackberries today and they were sweet, but I think tomorrow is going to be the day to start picking. There will probably be a scone shortcake in my future, with yogurt and Maple syrup….. And probably several more scones and berries when Carl gets home.

The seedlings are just coming up in the winter garden.

The sunflowers have been quite prolific this year. This orange one is from seeds that Tamerly gave me.

For lots more garden and flower pictures, visit Picasa: Today at the Homestead