Garden update

For those of you who haven't heard me rant and rave about Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, well, just go to his website, get the book at the library and contemplate the possibilities. In a weekend, we got our garden up and running. We planted from seed: beets, radishes, two kinds of lettuce, carrots, onions, beans, sweet peas, cucumbers, squash, and green peppers. Then we transplanted our three tomato plants. We are learning what things we like to grow and where to strategically plant them so they don't take over the sunlight of some poor unsuspecting lettuce plant. Here is what it looked like when things were just starting to sprout in May:

And here is today:

That monster in the middle there is apparently a bush tomato plant of the grape variety. It looked so small and innocent when I bought it at Lowe's. It is taking over and we keep having to support it up and up. Ya, probably not going to get that kind again next year. Or maybe we'll have to make that support system Mel talks about.

Another view. We replanted some more lettuce and sweet peas because we want more of them. And our green peppers are a little slow to grow, that's what the little ones are.

Our carrot box is doing so-so.

Here are just a few pictures of our harvest, though tomatoes, peas, beans, and lettuce are not included because we are constantly harvesting them.

Look closely and you'll see two tiny frogs playing in the lettuce. We love that the frogs like our garden and hopefully they keep the bugs in check.

Favorite Things Friday #7

I had the best tasting, most tender, melt-in-your-mouth nectarine today. I'm pretty sure they are my favorite fruit. Nectarines are said to be a "mutant" peach. They are genetically identical to peaches but nectarines have a recessive gene that makes them fuzz-less.

If I like nectarines so much, then other people must like them too. Why, then, are there not nectarine-flavored things like yogurt or candy or recipes for nectarine pie or crisp? Nectarine-flavored gum, jelly bellies, fruit juice, ice cream, jell-o, or chewy vitamins.

Someday I'd like live in a place where I can grow nectarine trees and pick them perfectly ripe. That would be nice.