In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

I casually checked the trellised Emerite pole beans when I watered two days ago. Pausing the irrigation, I picked 1.5 pounds of slender beans. Yesterday, a hasty harvest yielded three-fourths of a pound. Clusters of thin beans suggest daily harvests.

Emerite flowers are a stunning magenta and the beans hang in thick clusters. I extol the virtues of Emerite pole beans in a blog post My Favorite Pole Bean—Emerite.

The current tomato score is Rat 4, Martins 2. We think the culprit was trapped as we’ve not had more losses for a few days. These Rosella Purple Dwarf Tomatoes are homely but the flavor and coloration are commendable. More importantly, they produce in our cool climate with less blight than other heirloom and hybrid varieties I’ve grown. Read more about Dwarf Tomatoes in another blog post, Dwarf Tomatoes: Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt (Again) .

Dorsett Golden apples that were stored in the fridge for a month became applesauce for the freezer. The best apples remain for late summer apple desserts, while a second smaller crop will arrive late fall.

Bling Zinnias cheer me as I work in the garden and they’re a favorite of monarchs.

I have six Sierra Nevada lettuce plants growing in a dappled sun area with shade coverings. This variety is purportedly very bolt resistant. I won’t be planting any more lettuce until late September. In my summer garden lettuce requires too much water and the results are disappointing, even with varieties that tolerate summer conditions. Instead, I’ve been buying a lovely Organic Red Butter Lettuce at Trader Joe’s that reminds me of my winter lettuce.

Sunday’s church entry bouquet was a bit of “this and that"—mostly things that were hanging over the sidewalk or were a day or two from expiring.

If you have a few minutes check my Resources page for some of my favorite and most useful garden resources. Then head to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Happy Acres blog and see what garden bloggers around the world harvested last week.