Zucchini, Zucchini and more Zucchini!

Thank goodness for friends and family who want zucchini! I gave away about 10 lbs in the last few days. Not counting last night's harvest, which I haven't weighed yet, I've harvested over 42 lbs of zucchini. Next year I do not need 7 plants... I am shredding most of it for the freezer. About a month ago, the ignitor went out on our oven and it has not been replaced yet. So, I cannot bake anything with it unless I use the toaster oven. The toaster oven is great for zucchini fries, but I don't like to actually bake with it.

Peppers are slowly starting to come in. I've gotten a few sweet banana peppers and one green bell pepper. Jalapenos are about 2 inches long, need another inch or so before they are ready. (I really wish I knew how to fix pictures that this site rotates...)

This cherry tomato is taking over everything. It has pushed it's cage down and is threatening to take over the tomatoes next to it along with some jalapenos. No red tomatoes yet :(

Connor still loves to have fun on his tractor!

And my beautiful hydrangea... maybe next year I will completely clean out the butterfly garden (mostly crabgrass right now - yuck) and put in more hydrangeas. They are so pretty, even not in bloom.

Zucchini and a Visitor

I've pulled a ton of zucchini out of the garden so far. This is from this morning.

It has not been processed yet, but the rest has been shredded. Some went into the freezer for later use, some has been canned in zucchini relish. Yum!

Yesterday, my husband noticed we had a visitor. This turkey vulture sat there for about 15 minutes, then flew away. The chickens were in hiding. At first, we thought it was one of our hawks. Then friends on Facebook nicely told me that I was wrong and it is in fact a turkey vulture. I had no idea we had them here. Jon went out to mow a little while ago and came back in to tell me that he found what it is after (it was back earlier today). There is something dead about 5 feet in front of where it is sitting here. Can't tell what it was, but it looks to be about a foot long with brown fur. Not a cat/dog, it's maybe a gopher, beaver, something like that.