I love this time of year

I spend late fall and winter plotting and planning (and, okay, resting). Come January I'm starting seeds. By spring I'm turning beds and setting up trellises. It's a lot of preparation for these few months of July through October when I get to see what fared and what didn't.

I couldn't be more thrilled with these carrots.  I've tried twice before to grow carrots with little success.  Armed with the book "Golden Gate Gardening" which finally told me with accuracy when to plant carrot seeds in Sonoma County, I tried them once more and here's what I got!  Since everyone in the family will eat lots of carrots (and they're a staple in the Minnestrone soup I make out of my freezer saves) I'll be growing lots more of these.

Pole beans, you are the charm of my garden.  Not only are the plants beautiful, but I always get such a wonderful bounty.  And they're another veggie that doesn't go to waste in my house.

On the "Eh" list this year--as in every year--are bell peppers.   What you're looking at is probably actual size.  They do well for me, I get lots of peppers, but never anything larger than a tennis ball.  Yet year after year I keep trying.  I have not yet decided whether to try again next year.  Definitely, I need to find room for more carrots, so these puppies might finally go.

But whoa, whoa, whoa look at these.  A bumper crop of Anaheim chiles.  This is a little over half what's on the bushes.  I'm in the process of looking for a good chile rellano casserole.  If it's a success, these peppers will be a new garden staple.

And even though I grew fewer zucchini plants this year, I still end up with more than I can eat.  I gave away a bag of them yesterday to clean out the fridge, and pulled these from the garden today.  But I'd definitely rather have the problem of too many than not enough (cough-tomatoes-cough).