River Walk

Another spectacular day!

River walk

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Pure Yum

Amen! 😋😄

Pure yum! 😊

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Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes

You won’t want to miss out on these delicious scapes… with only a two week growing window.. pop on over to your local farmers market, if you don’t grow garlic yourself. You won’t be sorry! Yum!

Here’s a few ideas on how to use these wonders.

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Knee High

… by the 4th of July! The corn is climbing, the deer haven’t been through since the electric fence was re-installed for this season. I just love corn season!

Knee high by the 4th of July

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Beachcombing

What a beauty of a day! The muggies have moved out.. at least for today. So, when I finished up with my walk I hit the tidal pools to see what treasures I’d find. The tide is low this morning, and the north end of the beach is the best place to go.

When the tide goes out, it leaves dozens of tide pools and rocks for young and old to turn over finding so many treasures. Snails, crabs, starfish, baby eels, hermit crabs, sand dollars, sea urchins and if you’re lucky enough even a lobster or two.

Sand dollars 💕

Starfish

Jellyfish

Escaping crabby

Today I bumped into two little guys that had a bucketful of treasures.. and the thing they were most excited about was catching a baby lobster! I asked if they liked “crabbing” and they both looked at each other saying, “Yes! We can do this by ourselves.. no parents”. 😁 Out of the mouths of babes.. pure honesty. I moved along and let them get back to their treasure hunting, knowing that they’d go away hopefully to have learned something about sea life. And being a Mom, cautioned them of being aware of the tide turning. It’s pretty easy while exploring the pools to get caught up in the adventure, forgetting all about the changing of tides.

Baby lobster catch!

Crabbies too!

I’ve been enjoying the tidal pools since being just a youngster. Nothing thrilled me more than flipping up the seaweed covered rocks to find a gazillion crabs scurrying to find a new hiding place. Quick! Grab them! 😊 Then my daughters were introduced to the pools, and now my grandsons. It’s one of the highlights of summer vacation for them, and me too! Then into the beach pail everything went until it was time to head home… when what was captured was dumped back into the ocean for another day.

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Dazzling Coneflower

Red echinacea

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Taking Flight

Egret taking flight

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Cast Aways

Hoping to land an early morning bass

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Harvesting Agastache

Agastache harvest for my tea

Anise hyssop is a gorgeous hardy perennial of the mint family, with tall purple spikes of long-lasting tubular blooms and a fragrant minty leaf.. plus wonderful addition to your herbal tea blends. Not to be mistaken with plain hyssop, which is an herbal stemming from the carrot family… an entirely different creature.

Bees, butterfly and even humming birds are drawn to it.. some folks even call it the “butterfly mint”.

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Beans Beans Beans

Bean picking

As hot as it was yesterday, it was a perfectly dry day… just right for picking beans. I’m afraid with all of this perfect weather we’ve been having and everything coming in all at once, I’d gotten a bit behind on the harvesting.. sighs.

So, with this five gallon bucket of beans I ended up canning some, pickling some more, gifting friends with many LOL.. and finally making a summer fave dish of mine.

Canning green beans

If you’re looking for a way to use up all those garden beans, you might like this too!

One of my all time favorite green bean recipes is called Lubee alaham, but in our family it is known as ‘Get A Good’. I’m not certain how this name came about, but I can guarantee you it surely is very good. My sister introduced this bean stew to the family when her husband’s Armenian grandmother brought it to the table. It was always made during the summer months when fresh green beans and ripened tomatoes were plentiful and then typically served over rice pilaf, or steamed bulgar wheat but during the cooler months I’ve even served it over creamy polenta.

You can prepare this with seasoned ground lamb, cubed lamb pieces or even just lamb bones, as Nana did, so when your having that leg of lamb boned at your butchers market–tell him you want the bones saved. Bush green beans are fine to use, but I find the young pole beans or flat Italian green beans both excellent in texture and flavor.

I personally think this dish tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have a chance to intensify. Oh yes, a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the flavorful juices goes great with this, too!

Lebanese Lamb & Green Bean Stew aka ‘Get A Good’

‘Get A Good’- Nana N’s Green Beans with lamb stew

1 lb.seasoned ground lamb, or cubed lamb pieces
2 TBLS olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. crushed dried basil
1 tsp. crushed dried oregano
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb. fresh green beans or Italian pole beans–washed and trimmed
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
1 cup roma tomatoes, or half a can tomato paste

In a skillet, brown meat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain any excess fat. Place meat in a bowl & set aside. Using the same skillet, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until soft and slightly brown.. Return the meat to the skillet with the onions. Add salt, ground pepper, allspice, basil, and oregano.. Cover & cook 10 more minutes.

In a large pot, add the green beans. Stir in the tomatoes, and the tomato paste over the green beans and stir. Add the meat mixture to the green beans and bring to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer for 1 hour, or more until beans are fork tender. Serve over rice pilaf or steamed bulgur. Enjoy!

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