Straw Bale Garden Update June 8th, 2024

Our garden this year is being grown up the sides of an arch tunnel extending from my back patio out toward the treeline. We have five bales each along the inside of the arch, four on the outer left side, and two on the outer right. There is also a garden container against the house full of wee Little Birdy Yellow Canary tomato plants and some fennel, a hill where Little Pie is growing pumpkins (Jack-O'-Lanters), and  small buckets that are growing Yukon Gold (new) potatoes. I say 'new' because we tend to harvest them little and use them in soups. We have the usual chives and strawberries, as well. 

 

Little Giraffe's Jack O' Lanterns

Hubs went through the garden today with me and we adjusted the names of tomato plants so I can *finally* make my list for the year. We have been updating it all along since it was planted last month. Unfortunately, critters (I believe raccoons that my neighbor is currently FEEDING, of all things) have been decimating plant after plant. We have already replaced something like ten plants and I still have some more naked spots of which I was unaware. :( I should have checked them personally this morning.

So, instead of being the conclusive list for the season, I present to you what we are growing right this minute: 

Outside Left Bales 

1) White Wonder, Jasper, Tatume Squash 

2) Mint Julep, Dr. Carolyn, Weaver's Black Brandywine 

3) Queen of the Night, Pink Brandywine, Sun Gold 

4) Amethyst, Golden Fang, Royal Golden Watermelon, My's Mystery (so named any time we've lost a label or it has faded in the sun) 

Inside Left Bales 

1) Wapsipinicon Peach, Royal Golden Melon, Jasper 

2)Fuzzy Blue Balls, Wild Boar Pork Chop, My's Mystery 

3) Sun Peach, Moonbeam, Chocolate Cherry 

4)Sun Dipper, Pink Girl, White Beauty 

5)My's Mystery, Pink Siberian Tiger, *empty*

Inside Right Bales

1) Lemon Squash, Phil's Two, Yellow Brandywine

2) Goat's Bag, Golden Fang, Banana Leg

3) Beefmaster, Beefsteak *or* Mark Twain (lol), Striped German 

4) Dino Eggs (entire bale)

5) Brandywine Pink, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Brandywine Cherry

Outside Right Bales

1) Freckled Child, Dino Egg, Watermelon

2) Alice's Dream, Dirty Little Chicken, Chocolate Cherry

If you're counting, that is thirty-six distinct varieties of tomatoes. That is down by fourteen from our record-breaking year of fifty varieties last year, but it *is* past the thirty mark I kept trying to hit since 2017. I had fallen short of that by two or three for several years in a row, so I'm chuffed to have hit thirty for the second time. 

That is if the little rat-coons don't keep decimating my plants one by one...

Tomato List: Seed Sewing - Straw Bale Garden 2023

 

And we're off! The 2023 garden season is officially underway. I purchased my seeds at the beginning of February but managed to neglect them until mid-March. Oops! We have started tomatoes and peppers, so far. I thought I had seeds for Fire & Ice, Ancho, and Bell peppers. It turns out that I only had Fire & Ice. It is also too early to plant sunflowers, but my little Koala wanted to see what they would do if she started them in a cup, so I gave her four American Giant Hybrid seeds. :) Otherwise, here is the list of tomato seeds that we are going to try this year:

Paste
San Marzano
Golden Fang
Banana Legs

Cherry/Pear
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
Wapsipinicon Peach
Chocolate Pear
Pink Princess Cherry
Blueberries
Black Strawberry
Bumblebee Mix (Sunrise, Pink, Purple)
Litchi
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry

Tiny
Spoon

Slicing Tomatoes

Pork Chop OG (from the Barred Boar family)
Yellow Brandywine
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Nebraska Wedding
Kellogg's Breakfast
Orange Accordion
Pink Brandywine
The stump of the World
Chef's Choice Pink
Hillbilly Potato Leaf (this callback to my childhood is an annual 'must' in my garden)
Striped German
Solar Flare
Watermelon Beefsteak
Climbing Triple-L-Crop

Straw Bale Garden Produce, August 2021

The wait is over! The garden is starting to ripen. Here are some of the goodies we have taken in. (This post was meant for August but was delayed due to a loss.)

      

    This purple and pink cutie is a Pink Siberian Tiger tomato. I enjoy the flavor but have found the flesh is so quickly soft and temperamental. I also can't seem to stop these guys from splitting around the top. 

     Featured: Indigo Pear tomatoes (top left - small yellow and purple), Chef's Choice Pink tomatoes, Golden Fang tomatoes (oblong yellow), Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes (fuzzy small yellow), Pink Bumblebee tomatoes (far right, bottom), Pink Princess Cherry tomato (hiding under the Wapsi), a cucumber, Tigger Melons and I believe an under-ripe Nebraska Wedding.

     I was delighted to grow my own yellow potatoes. :) These are fingerlings, which tasted absolutely heavenly in a pot roast soup. <3  

      These lovely tomatoes are my Orange Orangutans. Aren't they positively a feast for the eyes? Yummmmm. You can see the hint of a Kellogg's Breakfast tomato at the uppermost left corner, right beside a Chef's Choice Pink tomato. These were all quite large and made delicious BLT sandwich tomatoes. :)

    These tomatoes came out a bit "smaller", although not small in any real sense. I had a fair amount of Pink Siberian Tiger, Black Beauty, Nebraska Wedding, Orange Orangutan, Hilliblly Potato Leaf, Kellogg's Breakfast, and this large yellow-orange tomato I grew from seeds I took off of a supermarket tomato a couple of years ago.

    This picture is a closer look at what the Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes look like. If you have a phone, zoom in. Perhaps you can tell that they are fuzzy like a peach, though distinctly a tomato. I don't particularly care for these, myself. They are my teen's favorite, though. Thus, I will always grow them for her. :)

    Here is a picture of Golden Fang tomatoes beside Roma/Rio Grand for comparison. They did very well, I think. You can see the one is still ripening. I like to bring tomatoes in while they are a bit green to keep them out of the hands of eager squirrels. ;)

This seems to be the only (terrible lol) picture I have of green beans. Hm. Sorry about that. lol

    This is what Tigger Melons look like on the inside. They are meant to be larger than this. It took three years of trying to get these to grow. I was so excited to see what happened that I let the vines go wild. I didn't cull a single melon. In no time, we had over forty! Fun fact: squirrels LOVE them! They are a bit like a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew. Their flavor is more earthy and less sweet. My friend loves them, so I will probably grow them again next year. :)

    Butternut squash came up. It was the only one that came up and stuck around. We got exactly one zucchini, two Crookneck (both of which died out of nowhere), no Delicata and initially no Spaghetti Squash. The latter vine came up and put out a small Spag before the squash bugs got to it. My pumpkins, cantaloupe, and cucumbers were all taken down by birds and squirrels while they were still seedlings. I ran to Kroger and saved a dying Boston Pickling Cucumber plant that was on its last legs. We've been making Cucumber Bread ever since.

Our beets grew very quickly but stayed quite small. I will have to look into them more next year and see what I can do to help them out. I gave them good soil, light, and nutrition. Even so, it seems that my neighbors and friends have seen their gardens struggle this year, as well. I am grateful for the few we had. :)

The Parsley (two kinds) has done very well. I am disappointed to say that neither it nor the dill has drawn in swallowtail eggs or caterpillars. Boo! The dill never took off, either. It is still the same single sprig it started out as. Darn if that little guy still didn't manage to flower. lol Chives have continued to boom. I do not love how their bulbs look, but the greens are quite tasty. Cabbage did alright. I picked it before it was full-sized since I am the only one who eats it. It was crisp, delicious, and oh-so fresh! :) I will check on the next head any day now. Carrots wilted and died in the hot summer sun. Radishes were tiny or did the same. Peas came up briefly (Alaska and Sugar Snap) but ultimately fell to wildlife. 

    In all, the month of August was very productive. We also turned my little Giraffe's pool (that she couldn't use with an injured ankle) into a temporary goldfish pond. One of our Bettas, Cobalt, also spent a lot of time out there bringing such a lively pop of blue into the yard. Feeding the fish added another component of tranquility to my gokotta ritual. 

    I adore fall and bear the Christmas spirit pretty much year-round but I have found myself dreading and almost even grieving the close of the gardening season this year. It is the one place in the world where I come closest to much-coveted coveted eutierria. *sigh* I digress. The days are short and best spent intentionally. I must enjoy them all while I have them. <3

August Straw Bale Garden Update

 

August has already arrived, and is over halfway gone! Can you believe it? As you can see from this panoramic photo, the garden keeps on growing. :)

Here is one morning's haul. :) My kiddos harvested everything here! Included are nine varieties of tomatoes. Those are Yellow Pear, Little Rosey Finch, Red Cherry, Roma, Rio Grande, Wapsipinicon Peach, Pineapple Heirloom, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, and Pink Brandywine. We also have some very small Spaghetti Squash (pictured), Green Bell Peppers, and cucumbers. We have more on the vine, of course, but only two were ready to be harvested this morning.

Our personal favorite tomatoes are the Pink Brandywine. Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they are also massive! These big boys have been on the menu daily here in our home. We have made more BLT sandwiches than you can probably count! This tomato has a rich flavor, is in no way bland, but also isn't terribly acidic. Each slab (lol) of tomato lays like steak, covering the entire slice of bread. Yum! In short, it is the *perfect* sandwich tomato!

Our arches did experience die-off after vine borer moths had their way with our squash and zucchini. There are new vines planted, which are still small yet. To my delight, we still had enough Butternut Squash, cucumbers, and canteloupe still growing that - while visibly thinned out - the arches do not look entirely decimated. :) Even better, they are still laden with goodies!

The littles and I did something new this year. We decided to make support nets for our hanging fruits and vegetables! 

YouTube and Google both brought up options, of course. One can make slings out of old hosiery. (Honestly, do people still wear those things?) That isn't an option for me. For one, ew. Also, I wouldn't even know where to buy them now. 

There is also the option of using old tee shirts cut into strips. Meh. Neither choice seemed inspired. I wanted something made of cotton yarn. I looked for a crochet pattern with no luck. So, we came up with our own! Our garden is now supported by many colorful yarn slings!

Our watermelons had a bit of a flop. First, Shell was adjusting our full-sized melon and accidentally knocked it off of the vine. While light pink, it was in no way ripe. Then, our only other melon stopped growing. While tiny, it had all of the markers of being ripe. It made for a refreshing addition to lunch one afternoon. We currently have one tiny melon growing, and two new vines sprouting. We may see a ripe full-sized melon yet!

I mentioned last month that we would be seeding the second set of squashes and other goodies. We did! Here is a zucchini finally growing vine borer-free! Perhaps next year, I should simply wait until the end of July to sew any of these at all?

We also sewed the next batch of radishes, beets, cabbages, carrots, and additional spaghetti squash. These are in varying stages of sprouting right now. To be honest, I had forgotten about the cabbage. We were delighted when two little heads popped up! :) 

The green peppers continue to put out batch after batch. Unfortunately, bugs are getting to quite a few of them, keeping them small and ugly. No matter - we gather what we can. 

I am sure that I am leaving something out. The raspberry bush is still too young to produce. Strawberries grow well enough but are all stolen by rabbits. My Purple Dragon Carrots have still tucked away under the dirt - no visible shoulders yet. Canning tomatoes are ripening, but are being eaten too fast to can. (ha!)

The potatoes sit quietly in their pot, minding their own business. I do not expect the plant to die for a while, yet. They occasionally get flooded by a good rain.

My's lettuce is finally coming up, now that the intense heat has backed off a bit. I look forward to fresh salads full of home-grown-from-seed goodies!

Our herbs also continue to grow well. Shell asked me why I grow them if I don't use them. I do *intend* to learn how to use them. Does that count? ;) We have enjoyed a lot of fresh food this year, both raw and cooked into dishes like BLT sandwiches, vegetable pizza, roasts and soups, in pasta, etc.

Also, the parsley is there to entice swallowtail butterflies. :) We haven't seen a single one so far. This is the first year that has ever happened. Still, I cling to hope. Swallowtails are my very favorite! The bees came back. Perhaps the butterflies will, as well. Next year, I need to add more flowers to the yard.

I think that about wraps up this update. I have loads of pictures to share, but I think these will do for now. We go out almost every morning, first thing. We bring out our chairs and sit there, relishing in the fresh air. The chirping of birds and buzzing of bees fills the soul.

Some mornings, we just rest. Other times, I can be out there for around three and a half hours pruning. I like to harvest, but so do the kids. I tend to let them have that pleasure. You are only young once, and I know the intense satisfaction of gleaning from plants you've sewn and tended. I am thrilled for them to have that experience! I even chuckle to myself when they are in the tomatoes fighting over who gets to pluck which one. haha

Before long, autumn will be in the air. We are already starting to witness leaves dancing down to the ground on the breezes. For now, my garden has shed its first life and is sprouting the second round of infant vegetables and fruits. There is a certain contentment in staying so nearly literally grounded. I find immense peace here with my little family. God is good.

"So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." 1 Cor 3:7

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." Ecc 3:11

Straw Bale Garden Update July 2020

Are you ready for pictures? :) Here comes the July update on our straw bale garden! :) As you can see, the difference since our last update is pretty clear. :) Plants which were just sprouts or (in some cases) seeds are growing merrily up trellises and over the arches. To say that we are excited would be an understatement. We are completely enthralled!

Shelly can be found in the garden every single day, checking on cantaloupe. :) They grew more slowly than the squash, perhaps, but once they got going, look out! There are presently 13 wee cantaloupes growing on the inside left of this arch! You can see her carefully counting each one, sizing them up, and looking to see how many more might show up soon. 

This same arch also boasts cucumbers, spaghetti squash, and even a random yellow pear tomato plant that my little Pie planted. We started yellow pear seeds after realizing that some of our other varieties may fail. As always, when she helps put in seeds, my youngest always ends up surprising us with plants growing in the 'wrong' places. haha That statement is only half true, however. We like to think that any place a plant comes up happens to be the 'right' place. ;) ;) ;)

Another surprise we encountered in the garden this year came in the form of our zucchini. I was having trouble getting my Black Beauty plant to survive. Desperate to have zucchini to share with "the neighbors in the grey house" (who really, REALLY love the stuff) after two bad years in a row, I had Hubs pick up some zucchini plants at the store. Wouldn't you know, these warty looking yellow guys showed up! haha Those are apparently called "yellow crookneck squash". They are a type of vegetable that is something of zucchini or summer squash. I hear that they are tasty. We shall see! :) 

As you can also see in the picture above, we have another summer squash. This one was intentional. Ha! This is our spaghetti squash. We have three really big guys. I am sorry the picture to the right is so dark. I had Shelly put her hands on each end to try to get an idea of how big it is. They are every bit the size a spaghetti squash should be, and have only to ripen. :) These will keep well through the fall, too. :) The squash plants have fallen victim to vine borer bugs. Boo! However, we knew to plan for this. I have retained some seeds. We will be laying in a second crop. They will have plenty of time to grow and 'bear fruit' by season's end. 

The green peppers are both flowering and producing. The peppers we planted in the bales came from the store. They are only about half the size of the plants that came from my very own seeds. :) Those plants are the ones I referred to a month ago in the last update. We had given up on their seeds germinating and dumped the dirt into a planter. Since then, they've grown quite tall! They are just now bringing forth little peppers. As to the smaller plants in the bale, all in a row, every plant there has at least one pepper. :)

Here is a peek at my admittedly small potato plant. Lacking in size though it may be, it still brings me great joy! Again I cite the difficulty I had even finding seed potatoes. The one time I thought I found Yukon Gold seed potatoes and made my purchase, instead of a 'shipped' notification from the vendor, I received a notice of order cancellation and refund. *That* is how hard it was! Thank God one of my store-bought potatoes (for eating) sprouted! :) We cannot wait to see how well it yields later in the year. 

To the left is a picture of a small, happy little watermelon. :) I had seeds for 'Sugar Baby' and 'icebox', so we planted both. It was only recently that I learned that the Sugar Baby variety of watermelon is considered an 'icebox' watermelon because it can fit into the refrigerator. haha So much for having two varieties! Ah, well. We tried! 

You can see that this little guy is tucked into a sling. I saw videos online about using pantyhose or tee-shirts to support heavy produce growing vertically. I thought, "I can do the exact same thing using cotton yarn and crochet!" So I did. Or rather, *we* did! Both Pie and Shelly have been crocheting slings with me! :)

In this next picture we have a cucumber. :) I think I will end on this photo today, actually. There are more things to show, but these updates get so very long! haha I probably should break them into parts more often. These cucumbers are growing very well. We have some growing up the right side of either arch. While not my favorite cukes of all time, I am pleased with the output. :) 

So, anyhow, there we are for today's update. I will show up again later on and we will talk tomatoes. ;) In the meantime, happy gardening to all! Be blessed. <3

Tomato Update

I finally have some pictures of tomatoes! These photos are a combination of freshly harvested tomatoes and greenies we brought into the house to ripen, in hopes of saving them from critters. 

I'll start with the greenies pictured above. These were all solid green when Booh Bear picked them. We had lost too many huge, luscious tomatoes to invisible deer *eye roll*, squirrels, and rabbits. I should have taken the photo after they all turned, but I found the mid-ripening-process colors fascinating to look at. At full ripe we had a range of reds, yellows, red/purple, and yellow/red. They looked beautiful and tasted delicious!   

This next picture was a fresh batch that was brought in one evening. Most prominent in this photo are my Sunrise Bumblebee cherry tomatoes. Aren't they lovely? Not only are they photogenic, but the flavor is tomato perfection! I would describe them as relatively mild, with a seemingly low acid content and good mouth feel. I have already harvested some seeds to dry for next spring. <3 

The other small tomatoes pictured above are your standard orange plum tomatoes, along with some yellow pear tomatoes not quite in view. Also pictured is a smaller yellow mortgage lifter. 

The larger tomatoes, like this steakhouse, have been ripening mostly indoors. This is one of the smaller ones, but it gives you an idea of the size we are going for. I am serving these up in meals as quickly as I can get them ripe, along with the equally-large hillbilly potato leaf tomatoes. (Those are large red/yellow streaked heirlooms.) The flavor is bold, and everything you would expect from a hybrid tomato. They are delicious in fat, meaty slabs on a sandwich or in wedges served raw. <3 

This is part of our most recent haul. I say part, because I literally just tried to get a good mix of what we were harvesting into the photo. The basket in the background is the standard shopping size hand-held basket like you might find at a grocery store. (It was given to us by an elderly friend who had had it for decades.) The take I have partially pictured here was fully half a basket, both green and ripe. 

We took in sixteen different varieties of tomato that day alone, I believe. In fact, out of the twenty-three varieties of tomato I have planted, we have confirmed harvest of twenty-one of those (as of yesterday) in total. There are two that I have not seen come through yet, although I swear that a couple of the ones we had to throw out (half-eaten on the vine) fall into those categories. 

One tomato missing from my harvest so far is the black early, which plant got accidentally snapped in half early in the season. The other is, I am guessing, a plumito. Those look like the shape of bell peppers, even though they are tomatoes. I have yet to see any, although I did see plenty of them green on the vine. It may not be their time yet. 

This is a picture of different kinds of 'cherry' tomatoes. There are nine distinct varieties pictured, although I forgot to add the tenth. I placed a chocolate cherry in the picture, but not the black cherry. I have both. :) Not pictured are the yellow pear and the red cherry tomatoes we harvested earlier in the season. 

Again, you see most of these varieties because I took seeds from two variety packs I had purchased at WalMart and Sam's Club, dried them for a week, and then germinated them here at home. I do not even know what the long red paste tomato is called. It tastes a bit like a roma. They hang on the vine looking like jalapeno peppers. haha I am getting quite the return on those two purchases! ;)

One last picture before we go... 

We are done with zucchini, cucumber, and broccoli for the year. I have some baby romaine lettuce growing. We are just now beginning to take in orange bell pepper. My peppers in general (green, orange, and mixed) are still growing very slowly. Our potatoes were gorgeous, and tasted *so* good! I will definitely be growing these again in the future! Spaghetti squash has tasted delicious, as well. Butternut (only a few of each of these things pictured) squash has been prolific. I keep spotting another and another hiding out there in my jungle. In fact, we have shared more spaghetti and butternut squash with our neighbors than zucchini. That is crazy! The picture only shows a couple, but you get the idea.

Something killed my cantaloupe vine. That was heartbreaking for my daughter, who so dearly loves them. The watermelon vine put out two small melons, but those also fizzled out before we could really enjoy them in fullness. Most of our fruits and veggies have produced, but you can see that some had an off-year. Next year, I am going to consider working harder on a smaller garden.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it. If you were curious about the myriad of tomato varieties we have growing, this is your answer. They are definitely coming up! It took ages for them to ripen, we have dealt with critters eating them, the weather has been hot and brutal at times, but we have persevered. The 2018 garden season had a late start and has had a difficult summer, but it *is* producing goodies. We are very blessed. <3

Don't forget to tend those spiritual gardens! Feeding the soul is as necessary as feeding the body.

Early July Straw Bale Garden Update

Good Morning! :)

Today is Independence Day here in the US, but this post is not about that. It is another garden update! *wide grin* I know, I know... I have become very one-note, haven't I? So what! There are growing goodies to share! Let's get to it!

SBG July 2, 2018

Here is a somewhat panoramic view of our garden at the beginning of this week. :) You can see that the garden has taken over the bales and framework, to the point where you almost can't even see the cattle panel. Yay! *This* stage of gardening is what I live for! If you look in the corner of the bales at the right of the frame (immediately behind my watering cans), you will see that a volunteer wild sunflower plant has sprung up! 

Side note... I call any plants that were not planted by any of us 'volunteer'. This sunflower was the one seed that escaped intact from the copious amounts of seed mix we put in the yard for the local wildlife this winter. It happened to grow in the absolute perfect location, so much so that it looks intentional! haha Next year, I *will* grow some on purpose! I have mysteriously gone from hating sunflowers to absolute mirth when I see them! :D :D Photo credit to my Booh Bear for every picture you see in here. She has become quite adept at taking them!

As you can see, things are growing quite well in the garden. We have too many kinds of tomatoes to keep mentioning over and over. Plus, in this stage of growing, they are all green and hard to tell apart. However, this is a picture of our Sunrise Bumblebee tomatoes. You can clearly see that they'll be striped. <3 

What follows are other pictures of tomatoes that I won't be describing in detail. ;) Like this one!

And these happy little growers right here. :) I love that you can see the a cucumber flower kissing a tomato in the left of the photo!

There are also these...

And these...

Aaaaand these.
You get the idea! ;)

We also have spaghetti squash growing very well, like these. In fact, you can sometimes spot more spaghetti squash in the pictures of other veggies we've taken and shared. 
There is also a squash growing that my Booh Bear keeps swearing up and down is a spaghetti squash. The thing is, it has stripes on it. I have an inkling that it is something else entirely. I have not checked it out in person, but I hope to soon. It doesn't make sense to me that absolutely all of our squash look alike but that one. I am hoping that it is a watermelon, actually.

I have a picture of it sitting by other plants, but I want to get close and solve that mystery before I post about it any further. :)

This is a butternut squash. I have grown these in honor of my beloved dad, God rest his soul. They will not go to waste. My mom (Granna, in these blogs) loves them every bit as much as my dad did. My plants did not thrive last year, yielding only one (much-appreciated but tiny) little squash. It sits on a shelf with pictures of my dad. <3 <3 <3  

There are also zucchini coming on very well. My mom and Booh Bear have already been enjoying them consistently. <3 I may not like this vegetable personally, but I will attempt to grow absolutely anything I can get my hands on! :) We are also going to begin carting some over to the neighbors, per usual. 

After last year's struggle, I happily  report that we are again keeping ourselves in cucumbers. Yay! This is one of my favorite veggies to eat fresh from the garden, though you will rarely catch me buying them from the store. Little Giraffe really loves them, as well. We've had some pest issues, but I am about to try a neem oil/dish soap/water mix. Finger's crossed!

We have very few pumpkin plants this year. I think only two, maybe? They seem to be doing alright. The garden is so big that it is somewhat painful to dig around the rough vines. I am not sure how many pumpkins we have, but there will for sure be at least one! lol

The broccoli are finally starting to develop wee heads. They, the spinach, the watermelon, and the cabbage are all kind of being buried under the massive squash and zucchini plants. That said, I've not had squash actually kill any plants at any point in the past. I just have to get some gloves on and go digging when the temperature finally drops to a tolerable level.

This is the last picture I have right now. My pepper plants are a mix of "Aaawww, maaaannnn!" and "Meh". I know... not great. The plants I started from seedlings are only a few inches tall. They are beautiful but too small to do anything this year. The plants I bought from the farmer's market (one is pictured) are growing orange peppers. The plants are growing in funky shapes and the peppers are small, but they are at least there! :) I find it so odd how I can have great success with a plant seasons in a row, only to have a random bad season. 

So, there you have it. The garden continues to grow. We haven't seen any cantaloupe on those vines yet, but everything else seems to be off and running. Most of it is doing very well. Only a couple of things are not. I neglected my potatoes on accident for a very hot week. Now I am fighting to save the plants. Yikes! Live and learn!

I hope that everyone is having a happy and healthy summer. School will begin before you know it. We are probably going to be starting the new grades ourselves here in another week and a half. In the meantime, Hubs, Granna, Booh Bear, Little Giraffe and I all bid you a Happy Independence Day! 

Quick Edit:
The mystery plant is a second pumpkin! It is very light in color for some reason. We have also found wee little watermelons and cantaloupes! Yaay! <3

<3 Remember to tend those spiritual gardens! <3