Summer Half Time

Shockingly, summer is half over. I feel mildly despondent over this, as we have not had very much sunny weather and the tomatoes are offering up a mild sigh of fruit. Partly we are super distracted with the upcoming Baby Abbingsole arrival, and partly we are still learning what this incarnation of the Oaktown Farm can produce.

Also, I can't quite find the time to just sit in the garden and enjoy it. I am training for an ultramarathon in September and the training for it takes an entire weekend day. The next weekend day is spend recovering from said training. Couple that with weeknight shenanigans (birth class, pre-natal yoga, dog walking), and evenings in the luminescence of the carnival lights seem to melt away with the Bay Area fog.

These are german catchflies, which are my new favorite. They sway in the breeze with a certain majesty. I put them in two spots and wish I would have planted more. They re-seed easily, so next Spring we should naturally have a whole carpet-full. Annie's Annuals is a Richmond, CA treasure and is where these are from. We took my Mom there for a garden tour over Mother's Day weekend. Annie has an awesome array of native and non-native annuals and some perennials. It's a must see!

This evening we are having an pack of gals over for some Malaysian spareribs, coconut rice and stir-fried green beans from Oaktown Farm. The ribs rested in a brine for 7 hours prior to going into the smoker for 5 hours. I will let everyone know how they turned out. I did not do a test run, so keep fingers crossed. If it is awesome, I will post the recipe here later in the week.

Mexican marigolds are the final sign off today. Nature's natural pest deterrent.