Visions of Peas

I have this vision.



I am sitting on a swing on the deck. The kids are on either side of me, and the dog is laying at my feet.

The summer evening air is warm and still, and there are no bugs. We quietly talk about our day and sing a few silly songs. There are lots of smiles and laughs and love.

We're shelling peas together. Every now and then we steal a few peas to munch on, but the bowl of shelled peas fills more quickly than the bowl of empty pods

There are enough peas for us to eat fresh with supper for many nights and enough to freeze for the winter. Every time we eat them, we smile and think of the wonderful time we had shelling them all together, and we talk about how the weeds never seem to grow in our garden.

*chuckle*

I have this reality.

I throw some salmon on the grill and run out to the garden in my husband's sandles to quick pull a few pods off the vine. The intense heat of the past week makes me concerned that my cooler-temps loving peas will soon shrivel. I steal a few seconds to pull the weeds that seem to grow overnight and repeatedly scold the dog for romping through the carrotts and onion.

I shell the peas hurriedly in the kitchen while the brown rice cooks. The pitifully small amount of peas steams quickly while I throw everything on the table and call everyone to supper.

I carefully dish out a golf-ball sized amount of peas onto four plates and make up fanciful tales in order for the kids to eat them, pretending the peas are little baby Nemos and that we have to put them into our mouths to save them from the big scary shark . (I realize it makes no sense, but it works.)

Reality is rarely what it should be.

Visions are rarely reality.

But that's okay.

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We've been eating lots and lots of salads around here. The garden lettuce is tough to keep with up! We've got buckets of it in the refrigerator and it seems to grow back almost as soon as I mow it down with my scissors. Thankfully everyone in the house loves a lettuce salad!

I'm always looking for new things to try with these salads, and the latest concoction was roasted garbonzo beans (aka chick peas).

Drain, rinse, and pat dry one can of garbonzo beans.

Spread on a cookie sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and season as desired (this particular recipe called for cumin and coriander. I used cumin and a little bit of cayenne. If I try it again, I will likely use garlic salt or powder and paprika).

Roast in a 450 degree oven for 20 min, stirring once.

Sprinkle on salad.

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We enjoyed a decent amount of freshly picked green beans at supper the other night. Despite a heat index of 115 degrees, my children loved picking them and were thrilled to gobble them up.

Green beans out of the garden are one of our all time favorites around here. I still have a few bags of beans  in the freezer from last year, which is okay since I don't think our green bean harvest will be quite as plentiful this year.

And I am loving the fence that my husband and his brother put up around my typically-eaten-by-critters plants. It's made with hog-paneling that my in-laws let me reclaim, and it also serves as a support for the peas.



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Everything had a slow start around here with a dreary May and a cool June. But a hot July has given us hope for a bountiful harvest. Everything is in bloom and putting on fruit. And most of the garden appreciated the 5 days of 90+ temps with the 90%+ humidity that was thankfully buffered by 4 inches of rain the previous week.

{marigolds from my annual trip to Lu's greenhouse with the brunettes that are finally doing something}

{zucchini blooms. What to do with the 10+ bags of frozen shredded zucchini still in the freezer?)

{I had 3 blueberries amongst my 3 blueberry plants. Now, I only have 2 blueberries. But they are ripening!}

And guess what!? I am actually doing a KinderGardens post this week! And I am actually writing it long before the Mr. Linky closes. And I am linking up right HERE.