A Wonderful Harvest from My Garden

August 2, 2025

Here at my farm we're picking lots of wonderful and nutritious produce from the garden.

Earlier this week, my head gardener Ryan McCallister harvested a bounty of vegetables - beans, artichokes, peppers, eggplants, carrots, onions, and more. And, we also picked nearly a bushel of peaches - that's almost 50-pounds of delicious, sweet fruits. A lot goes in to growing all these foods, including selecting the right plants, preparing the soil, watering, weeding, and staking if needed. Ryan and I check the beds every day. It's so rewarding to then see all that comes out of a well-tended garden - and there's still more to come.

Enjoy these photos.

: After any harvest, the freshly picked fruits and vegetables are loaded up and brought to my flower room, where they can be washed if needed, then bagged and stored in the refrigerator. It makes me so happy to be able to share all of this produce with friends and family every summer.

: Here’s the season’s first big bounty of cucumbers. Cucumbers, Cucumis sativus, are great for pickling – I try to find time for pickling every year. I like them best when they are about six to eight inches in length. These will be so sweet and juicy.

: There are also a lot of beans. Beans grow best in full sun and moist soil. Bush beans are among the top most popular vegetables in home gardens. Bush beans are eaten when the seeds are small. They are also called string beans because of a fibrous string running the length of the pod.

: Ryan picks a few handfuls of beans, but there are still so many growing on the vines. They can continually produce throughout the season with the proper care. In general, bush beans are ready in about 45 to 50 days if the weather is right.

: There are two types of green beans. Pole beans grow on climbing vines and require trellising. Bush beans like these grow on bushes up to two feet and do not need support. Bean pods can be green, yellow, purple, or even speckled with red!

: Next, Ryan checks the bell pepper bed. Peppers hold up great in the heat, and we’ve had a lot of warm days, so there should be some good, flavorful peppers.

: Peppers always do well in my garden. Here’s one of many just picked.

: Sweet bell peppers are popular in the garden – all grassy in flavor and crunchy in texture. I love making stuffed peppers – so easy and so delicious.

: My crew loves hot peppers, and I grow many of them to share. Jalapeño peppers thrive in full sun and are ready to pick when they are firm, green, and about three inches long. This one looks ready.

: The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is actually a flower bud, which is eaten when tender. Buds are generally harvested once they reach full size, just before the bracts begin to spread open.

: When harvesting artichokes, cut off the bud along with about three inches of stem.

: Artichoke harvest starts in late July or early August and continues well until frost.

: It is good to pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Try to pick a little early, which will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.

: I planted a lot of white, yellow and red onions. Ryan picked these, but there will be a bigger onion harvest soon.

: Here are some of this year’s red onions.

: We have such beautiful carrots this season. Most are familiar with the orange carrots, but they also come in red, yellow, white, and purple. I like to grow an assortment.

: So many tomatoes are developing on the vines, but they’re not ready just yet. Most tomato plant varieties need between 50 and 90 days to mature. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests.

: And then it was a walk to the orchard. My orchard surrounds three sides of my pool. Most of the fruits are not yet ready to pick, but many of the peaches are ripe and sweet. And all the peach trees are filled with bright pink fruits.