It is late June, and I really thought I would be harvesting more from my vegetable garden by now. So far, I’ve only gotten the occasional Early Girl tomato and a few peppers.
I’ve had dry weather and slug and snail issues; they ate most of my bean plants and cucurbits (cucumber and zucchini). I’ve started a some more from seed, but they won’t be ready to eat for awhile. And most of my tomato plants just haven’t really started producing fruit yet.
However, I have been able to forage some blackberries around the edges of my yard. Most of the fruits were eaten by animals (deer?) before I got to them. Then I discovered several taller blackberry bushes, probably 10 feet tall with clusters of berries hanging over my head.
I could have eaten them with something healthy, instead I decided to use them for a summery cocktail. I knew the slightly tart fruits would be a perfect combination with the botanical flavors of gin.
Blackberry Gin Collins Recipe
Make a blackberry syrup by blending:
2 cups of freshly picked blackberries 4 mint leaves 1/2 cup lime juice 1 Tbl brown sugar or honey
Chill the syrup for at least four hours.
In a 12 oz glass mix:
2 oz gin or vodka 2 oz blackberry syrup 2 oz tonic water
Stir, fill with ice, and garnish with a sprig of mint leaves.
This week I am loving daffodils. I planted several bags for bulbs this winter. I actually didn’t get them in the ground until the week after Christmas. I was afraid it was too late and I had killed them all. But I didn’t and they have been blooming for the last few weeks, and they are BEAUTIFUL!! The pops of yellow sprinkled around the yard look so cheerful. We are still having some cool days, with temps in the 40s or 50s (don’t hate me if you live up North), but I finally feel like spring is here.
These are some photos I took with instagram.
And here are some great daffodil finds on Etsy.
Back when I lived in New England I remember the weather noticeably cooling after Labor Day; almost as if someone had flipped a switch. But here in the south, we are about a month behind the seasons changing, and it is only now at the end of September that the nights and morning are slightly less hot and humid, while the days are still quite hot. It will be early november before we see any change in the leaves. I have however started planting my fall garden. Pictured above are my broccoli plants, which are doing very well this year. My collards however seem to have attracted the attention of a rabbit, and I’m not sure if they will recover.
