There’s a point in every garden season where things stop feeling charming and manageable and start feeling a little… unhinged.
That time is now.
Everything grows a foot a day. The peas are climbing like they’ve got something to prove. The beans are showing off. The tomatoes are suddenly enormous. The weeds, of course, are thriving. I turn my back for five minutes and come back to a garden that’s bursting at the seams.
It’s not just alive. It’s assertive.
The Daily Rhythm
This is the part of the season where every day includes some combination of:
- harvesting
- pruning
- weeding
- more harvesting
- wondering how this happened so fast
We’re hauling in armloads:
Spinach. Beets. Beans. Chard. Cucumbers. Lettuce. Potatoes. Radishes. Zucchini.
So much zucchini.
The Rule of Zucchini
If there is one unbreakable rule of gardening, it’s this: A zucchini will go from tiny baby to canoe-sized monster in less than 24 hours. It hides with ninja skill. You think you’ve picked everything. You haven’t. It was under a leaf, waiting, growing in secret like it’s trying to win a bet.
It does win that bet.
I have zucchini of every size right now. Some are tender and tiny. Some could be used for shelter in a light rainstorm. A few might actually qualify for an international tonnage certificate.
Amazingly, they’re all delicious. The zucchini this year are crisp and sweet. Even the huge beans and (the last of the) overgrown peas are crisp and sweet.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The garden is lush. It’s producing. It’s relentless. And it’s beautiful.
This is what we planned for, hoped for, and worked for. The bed that looked like bare dirt a few months ago now looks like something out of a catalog (if the catalog included weeds and slightly chaotic planting choices).
The work is daily. The satisfaction is too.
What’s Next
– Pick zucchini before they set sail for Alaska
– Keep pruning the tomatoes and beans
– Harvest early and often
– Try to remember this feeling in January
The garden is in full swing. And we’re just trying to keep up.
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