How Our Garden Grows: Part VI

What host doesn't love receiving bouquets from guests? This summer we're bringing to dinner parties bunches of abundant kale, clipped in the gardens minutes before we dash to dine. Above, two bountiful varieties - Tuscan and Lacainato.

Our assistant gardener takes a short break from yard work. Lloyd often needs an hour or so in the cool of the house before returning to his garden patrol.

Hosta plants may not be the most exciting foliage in the gardens, but their cool, deep green leaves are soothing to tired eyes. The short-lived flowers, with their dramatic, long stalks, lend whimsy to table arrangements.

Forever harvesting mint to be dried and enjoyed throughout the winter, as a seasoning and herbal tea.

Our nascent cutting garden plot exploded in July. The four photos above were snapped a couple of weeks ago; today, the number of blooms and new growth has tripled.

July has also brought Cafe Drake HRV Asian long beans, sometimes referred to as "yard long beans" or "asparagus beans." We were surprised to discover they also sprout lovely, delicate white flowers.

Just two varieties of chili peppers growing at Cafe Drake HRV this summer.

A nightly ritual at Cafe Drake HRV is a cocktail or glass of rose wine, in the garden, with Lloyd and Arabella.

These poblano peppers will soon be ready to pick.

Long beans drip from vines amidst a jungle of tomatillo bush branches.

Our neighbors' Rose of Sharon bush is growing over the fence. We're not complaining.

Various Asian stir-fry greens planted in part-sun are thriving despite pin-pricked leaves, an annoying calling card from a plethora of garden pests. Such is the life of an organic farmer! Above: red mustard, amaranth, boy choy, tat soi and mizuna.

Long beans easily grow to 2 feet or more in a few days. The vegetables thicken and become tougher if left too long on the vines.

Flowers, vegetables, berries . . . Summer Lives at Cafe Drake HRV.