I thought the weeds were getting ahead of me. I thought my garden was too big. I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. I thought I was defeated by my vision.

Wrong. I got a grip and addressed one issue at a time. The weeds were driving me nuts. My usual procedure is to deadhead (pinching off spent blooms so the plant will continue to bloom instead of going to seed) and then go around and weed.

But the spent blooms and the weeds were all too much. So I had to change my pattern (flexibility is not my middle name, unfortunately).

Deadheading and weeding simultaneously requires too much switching about of one's tools. If I just move along and deadhead and then go back and weed, it seems more efficient.

But, on the other hand, doing it all at once required taking less steps, literally.

Now that the garden is somewhat established, the perennials are taking up much more room and shading out the weeds, more or less.

There still is a considerable amount of weeding going on around here. I was surprised at how little time I spent actually tending the basic needs of the garden.

A friend visited today and the first question she had was "Where are the weeds?"

I like a weed-free environment. I know there are those who successfully garden with weeds. So be it. I think the weeds compete with the cultivated plants for food, water and sun. And I like the orderliness of it all.

There is nothing like deadheading to make the garden look ever so neat. The peonies, which I thought were through, look gorgeous again. Once the droopy blooms that escaped the scissors for indoor bouquets were removed to the compost pile, the whole bed looked like magic had come to visit.

The annuals "dragonshead" (purple) and double pink camellia balsam, are coming into their own beneath the peonies along with thalictrum. Lovely. The two dozen peony blooms that are left look just excellent with these lovelies filling in among them. I have the late forget-me-not as an understory in this bed.

I deadheaded them, thinking I would be losing their lovely blue, but there are more blooms beneath the spent ones. Now the plants look more compact and manageable. Excellent.

Just what I thought would happen but wasn't really sure.

This brings me, somehow, to harvesting.

Goodness, the vegetable plot is just bursting with produce. This is the time of year when the fish are coming in and the garden is producing and the dinner table is looking just lovely.

I feel very grateful and winter seems really far away.

The strawberries are having a very good year. I have four and a half gallons in the freezer and a double batch of jam in the pantry. There has been one strawberry shortcake after another. On one hand you may think there can never be enough strawberries, but I am ready to share the bounty with friends.

I have been watering the strawberries along with the rest of the vegetable plot all summer long. Now I wish I had been watering the raspberries. As a rule I never do. But I am hearing from those who are in the know that we may have far fewer berries this year because it has been so very dry. We'll see.

I do know that when I cut them down to four feet this fall I thought I was going to eliminate the problem I have of not being able to reach the berries at the top of the canes.

Wrong.

They are pushing eight feet tall as usual. We have eaten a double handful and they certainly taste wonderful.

The white cauliflower is all eaten. I planted only four. I'm so proud of myself for that. Every year we have tons of white cauliflower that no one around here wants to eat after it has been frozen. So there we are with too much cauliflower at once. By planting just four we were able to eat all of it. The purple cauliflower, Graffiti, is gorgeous and coming on strong. It will all be eaten fresh. The real winner in the freezer is the Romanesque cauliflower. We love it all winter long, very tasty and the texture holds up to the freezing process. Excellent and beautiful to boot.

Once again, I need to sing the praises of Packman broccoli. The main heads are in the freezer and the side shoots are just popping out like mad.

The corn is looking too excellent. John and I just keep wondering when it will be ready to harvest. When one is not used to reaping corn, one will have that kind of question.

I read that the market gardeners in Palmer are selling corn at the Anchorage Farmers' Market this year. That is testimony to the kind of weather we have been having this summer.

Keep in mind that potatoes do not need to bloom to make a harvest. Go ahead and enjoy the new potatoes buried just beneath the soil. They are a treasure unto themselves. Why wait?

The Brandywine tomatoes are just starting to ripen and I fear that the basil will all be pesto before the tomatoes are ready. I love them sliced and alternating with slices of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves all drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt. Heaven. I must admit that, 32 years ago, I never thought I would be eating that dish here in the Far North.

Note: The purple flowers growing in containers in front of North Wind on Pioneer Avenue are a half hardy perennial, grown as an annual, trachelium "Purple Umbrella." I have been told that they make an excellent dried flower.