On Summering, Preserving, and Not Letting the Garden Run My Life

No. 17 | Summer Gardening in Greenville, SC

Jul 20, 2026

We’re summering hard this year.

I missed the start of summer in the garden (and with this newsletter). It feels like I was gone all of June. I was out again for a work trip last week. With the slow cool spring and trip after trip, we’re just now cooking…but oh, how we’re cooking.

I’ve had a bumper crop of cucumbers and we’ve made jar and after jar of the quick pickles I shared in my new zine.

I harvested and cured 4 LBS of garlic!?! Best ever. I made pesto from the scapes, froze some cloves whole, and plan to make roasted garlic to freeze from some of the hardneck variety that doesn’t store as long. I’m not buying garlic again until sometime next spring, folks!

The tomatoes are hitting their stride. I made my first batches of skin-on tomato sauce for the freezer this week, which we use all fall and winter as pizza sauce. I also made a big batch of salsa and portioned it out for three different meals and froze. I like to use it in slow cooker chicken tacos.

I want to make cherry tomato butter…but Josiah eats every cherry tomato as it ripens.

I’ve got jars of dried mint and dried chamomile tea put up on the shelf, and bags in the freezer filling up with peppers and onions (for fajitas) and another for onions, carrots and parsley stems (for chicken stock).

I have cilantro oil frozen as cubes in the freezer, and oregano, thyme and rosemary hanging to dry from a rack in my kitchen. And coriander (the seeds from cilantro) are filling up a spice jar.

And we’ve been eating lemon squash carpaccio and stuffed squash, as well as All-American salads with cucumber, tomato and shredded carrots tossed in homemade ranch made from buttermilk and sour cream with dill, parsley garlic and chives.

Our berries are still getting established, but we foraged for handfuls of wild blackberries, thornless blackberries (thanks, mysterious man who brought 12 live plants to the swap last spring!) and blueberries all June, enough for our morning yogurt, and of course, garden snacks.

In short, we’re humming over here.

The balance I’m trying to strike in my garden is eating from it every day, without feeling like the garden runs my life.

I’m not a homesteader or a market gardener…just a work-from-home mom who loves to grow delicious things and loves to cook.

Each year, I’m dialing that in a little bit more.

And since I document my successful ideas in my preserving notebook…and I used that as the inspiration to make Garden-to-Table All Year: A Minimalist’s Guide to Preserving…it’s been extra rewarding this year putting all those plays into action.

Thanks to everyone who already picked up a copy!

The balance I’m trying to strike in my garden is eating from it every day, without feeling like the garden runs my life.

Summer 2026

This and That

Locals

I added a new section to this newsletter called “Locals.” You’re automatically subscribed to it, but if you’re not a local, or if you don’t want news about events and happenings in Upstate South Carolina, you can now unsubscribe from just that section, and keep getting the rest of my posts.

P.S. If you ARE local, expect to get some exciting updates about a new project I’m working on with Mandy Blankenship and Abby Moore Keith very soon!

Want to Go Tour Famous England Gardens with Tessa Pinner?

Greenville garden designer Tessa Pinner and her friend and fellow designer Molly Hendry (here on Substack they make the duo behind Garden Gab) are gathering interest for a trip to tour some of the most celebrated public gardens in England next year. Here’s what they shared:

For years, we have dreamed of sharing the English gardens that have shaped our own understanding of beauty, design, and gardening. In Summer 2027, (likely an early June time-frame), we're planning an intimate journey through southeastern England, visiting some of the gardens we've most loved studying, visiting, and working in. While details are still being finalized, the itinerary is expected to include celebrated public gardens such as Great Dixter, Sissinghurst, and Gravetye Manor, with special behind-the-scenes tours by the gardeners on staff, as well as a selection of private gardens not accessible without a personal invitation.

Join the Interest List Here

The Regenerative Gardener’s Handbook: Essential Techniques for Growing a Garden That Leaves the Land Healthier Than You Found It

Briana Selstad Bosch

I’m always reading books that challenge me as a gardener. This one might have pushed a little further than I will realistically go, but still, I learned a ton. If you’re market gardening, or interested in small-scale farming with a focus on leaving the land better than you found it, I’d consider this book invaluable.

Additionally, if you gardening at a new-build or in any location where the land has been significantly degraded, Briana offers very clear guidance on strategies to restore it to health.

Get It Here

What I’m Growing

Sowing

Arugula, broccoli, anuenue lettuce, lacinato kale

Growing

Figs, ground cherries, lemongrass, Meyer lemons, peppers (‘Leysa’, ‘Jimmy Nardello’, ‘Peach Sugar Rush’), squash (lemon, delicata, butternut, mini butternut)

Harvesting

Basil, blackberries, blueberries, carrots, chives, coriander, cucumbers, dill, mint (sweet and peppermint), oregano, parsley, peppers (bell), rosemary, sage, thyme, tomatoes (cherry and roma)