The Beauty of Growing Things

beauty from the farmer's market

 Garden Update

The garden is growing and it’s beauty captivates me every day.

sweet potatoes

Lately, this is the sight that greets me, along with the sounds of birds & buzzing beetles, and an overwhelming amount of mosquitoes.

This morning I picked this …

crooked neck summer squash

It was our first.

And the other night I was able to enjoy our first beet.

golden beet

A few weeks back I picked a few tomatoes hoping I could encourage their ripening.  After doing a little internet research I concluded I had made a bad choice and my harvested tomatoes would be stuck the color green forever.

tomatoes

But this is what I awoke to this morning!  HOPE!

And when I walked outside I saw these tomatoes!

pot garden tomatoes

The severe rain we have had has been hard on my pot (container) garden.  Just look at this little tomato plant that lost all it’s lower branches due to over watering.

over watered plant

It took a couple of storms before I realized there was a removable cover/pan on the bottom of this beige container.  Therefore, after the first few storms I was pouring an inch or two of water from the pot.

This past week I hung up a second trellis for the cucumber plants.

cucumber plants

They continue to grow strong.  I have lost track of the number of cucumbers we have harvested, but the number has to be around 40 or more.  (We have 5 plants.)

Mae and I, and I think even our husbands, are getting excited to pick this watermelon…

watermelon

It is a sugar baby, and from what we can determine we are waiting for the stem to dry up before we harvest it.

Behind the watermelon, the peppers are growing strong.

slim red cayenne peppers

When these plants first starting producing fruit I thought they were jalapenos.  As of today my guess is slim red cayenne.

And what I thought to be pablanos …

hungarian wax peppers

Now appear to be Hungarian wax peppers.

Soon we will have more tomatoes than we can count.

tomato plants

a few large clusters

And have I mentioned yet that the BEES have arrived!!  For the last week or so I have been accompanied by these little guys while I check on the garden.

           

bee pollinating a summer squash

Needless to say, my day’s as a hand pollinator are over.  The bees are doing quite well taking care of our plants like these …

butternut squash

zucchini plant

If you look closely at the zucchini plant, you can find two baby zucchini preparing to bloom.

The butternut squash are growing strong.  I can currently count 5.  (There are 3 plants total.)

Before heading out of the garden this morning I checked up on the parsley.  Occasionally I trim back the squash leaves to ensure the parsley receives sun.

parsley

It is a modest supply, but it continues to grow strong.

Then I grabbed my coffee and came inside, smiling and excited to share the beauty of our garden with you!

sage sprouts