He has us both scratching our heads and laughing at the same time because for whatever reason, Gabriel absolutely loves tomatoes. He frequently asks for them at snack time and when he gets out in the garden he raids the beds with the tomatoes growing like untamed animals. (I never really got around to staking them this year.)

{This crazy weather we have had! We are still gathering tomatoes every few days.}

Ariella is much more interested in the flowers than the tomatoes.

These two green zebra tomatoes were meant for lunch but when I looked away Gabriel swiped them for himself.

He probably would have eventually ran off with the bright orange ones (Kellogg’s Breakfast) as well but I put those inside before he could.

See, he attempted to steal one after the green zebras were all gone!

My two little ones know this garden so well. Watching them run about in it this week has made me a little sad since we will be leaving it so very soon. I keep reminding myself we will make new memories in our new home and what fun we will have there.

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{Seeds from the green zebra tomatoes can be found here.

And seeds from the Kellogg’s Breakfast tomatoes can be found here.}

I am amazed how much growth the vegetable garden has put on in the past couple of days. It does not seem to notice the gloomy and down right chilly weather we have had the last three days. Temperatures did not even reach 70°F over the weekend! Not exactly what I would call summer like weather! Today I thought I would share some of the pictures I took of the vegetable garden over the weekend. I took advantage of the overcast weather to get some nice shots of a view vegetables that are growing beautifully right now.

This year I am trying out raised beds for my corn and I think the photo below shows just how much this year’s corn likes this raised bed!

The zucchini is getting huge and is starting to produce some nice sized zucchinis this week.

The other day I was able to harvest our first one and we ate it raw right then and there. YUM!

Growing next to the zucchini is a pattypan squash and I have found it is always slower to flower than the zucchini. It looks like it should be flowering within the next week though.

I decided to grow some tomatoes, peppers, and basil on my deck in some old nursery pots I happen to have on hand. The deck always gets so hot so I figured they might really like residing there.

Finally, here is a shot of my bush beans that are flowering. Aren’t they pretty? I did not know this variety would have such pretty flowers. Now I can’t wait for the beans to develop.

That was a small glimpse into how my veggies are growing this week. How are your vegetables growing right now? Harvesting anything this week?

In my last post on Friday I wrote about my family’s little trip to a U-pick strawberry farm. I mentioned I was going to be busy making lots of jam with the amount of berries we ended up coming home with. I had originally wanted to post these pictures over the weekend but time got away from me so here they are today instead. Better late than never!

We had so many berries and they were so ripe and ready to eat. The only down side to them being so late in the season was the fact that they were rather small. I did not feel like freezing such tiny berries so I ended up making preserves on top of strawberry jam. I have never made strawberry preserves before- just jam. The preserves did not set up as nicely as the jam since the recipe did not call for pectin to be added. The preserves consisted of three simple ingredients: strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.

We ended up having our homemade pancakes the next morning for breakfast instead of for dinner that Friday night as I was too tired from putting up all those strawberries! We used the preserves on the pancakes which were so good seeing that the preserves did not jell up as much as the jam. Plus I like the large chunks of berries the preserves have.

I am bracing myself for the next few months as I have a lot of preserving and canning planned. I am making it my goal to can as much fresh produce as possible to have for the rainy and cold winter months (that seem to last forever here in Oregon!). The blackberries are just a few weeks away from being ready and the first few crops of cherries are starting to roll in. Also by mid-July there will be the blueberries and I know a great farm for those. At the same time the blueberries are ready, the lavender farms are having their festivals. Then come August I will try canning tomatoes from the garden for the first time ever (we usually gobble them up before they get a chance to see a single canning jar!). On top of the tomatoes there will be the U-pick peaches that we plan on devouring. September will bring pears galore from the Fruit Loop. Not long after that the apples will be ready for more U-pick family fun which will find me making applesauce, pies, and apple butter. Oh, and let’s not forget that all the herbs I grow still need to be gathered and dried. This is of course on top of keeping the garden healthy and happy! This time of year can bring a frenzy of activity when it comes to harvesting and preserving summer’s bounty but I would not have it any other way!

I have been taking an interest in drying food for preservation as well and might give that a try this year. How about you? Are you planning on preserving some of your harvest this year and, if so, how?