Dill, rhubarb, and peas... gardening update

The garden has been coming into production.

After only three weeks since the last picking!
All this is from one rhubarb plant.

The rhubarb started in late May already, once the flowering waned. I learned that the flowers have to be pulled out by the base or they hinder stalk production. The plant I kept after pulling out two others a couple of years ago is like a weed, and, unfortunately, the aphids and grasshoppers love it when I don't thin it often enough. Every three weeks is too long between pickings for this thing. I'm the only one in the house that likes rhubarb treats, so one is enough. Even with this plant, I'm often sharing with people I know who like it. I hate to waste too much and already toss out many thin stalks just to thin this monstrous plant.

The peas are slowing production, nearing the end of their cycle. I've picked and shelled over 20 cups worth that have been packed and frozen in single-serve snack bags (since I'm the only one in our house that likes peas). Never mind what I've eaten over the past week. I'm pea'd out. You can get sick of fresh-from-the-garden peas.

Never mind the dill. As long as I keep the bindweed off that, it flourishes. I picked and cut two stalks this morning and, from those alone, have way more dill for a friend than she could possibly use. There's still more than we need for pickles growing. And the dill is starting to seed, so that'll reseed for spring.

Green onions I had planted last summer in the raised bed from seeds never grew sufficiently then but came back this year as full onions and have also gone to seed, so I've been collecting those seeds for next year. It would seem green onions (and probably all onions) require two years for full development from seeds, but I could be wrong. That's just my experience with onions.

Hubby's pepper plants are starting to produce. A couple plants started early, but the rest are blooming now also.

Cucumbers have started producing. Only one plant came up this year, so I don't know if we'll have enough to give away like we usually do.

And the corn is tassled out. The ears should be ready for picking by early September. We'll cook and freeze like we usually do, after enjoying some corn on the cob.

I can't leave out the grapes! We'll have more grapes this year than we could possibly eat. It's unfortunate that they're so small and the seeds take up so much of the fruit. Otherwise, I'd probably have enough to make jelly/jam (need to learn how). We just have to watch for the sphinx moth larva--big ugly things that would destroy the plants.

I'm updating all this because this morning, before the heat wave of the day sets in, I came home from mass (church) and went right to the garden to pick dill, rhubarb, and peas. The rhubarb is cleaned and drying before I cut and freeze it all; and the peas picked this morning are next, to be shelled and frozen with the rest. It's only been a week since I picked the first peas, and the plants are already slowing production.

It's already been a productive year for our garden, but our pumpkin plant appears to not want to grow this year. Not much we can do about it now. We'll be all right, though. We still have pureed pumpkin from last year in the freezer.

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Last of all, Book 24 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds has just the few short scenes left outside the main characters, about one chapter's worth of writing. I will finish in the next week and then start editing Book 22. 

God bless!