End of July Garden

We just got back from a week-long vacation. I have pictures from last week, but the first thing I did when I got back in town was to run to the backyard and look at all of my plants. I left the garden in my mom's expert hands, and now it's looking better than ever.

All three beds hanging out earlier this morning.

Onions are starting to bulb.

One of a million dragonflies that likes to hang out in my garden.

Caution: spicy hot peppers. And we've got loads of them.

'Sugar baby' watermelons growing up their trellis.

One of four baby 'sugar baby' watermelons on the vine.

A hiding clump of green zebra tomatoes starting to turn zebra-y.

Tomatillos I've been waiting a long time for.

A hidden 'alibi' cucumber that's almost the perfect pickle size.

One branch of jalapeños from one plant.

A mystery variety tomato. Colin pulled out my garden markers, and I can only remember half of the tomatoes. I think I've narrowed it down between 'Tennessee britches'  and 'Cherokee purple' varieties.

This monster tomato makes me think it is indeed 'Tennessee britches' but I could be wrong! Time will tell.

A few little blueberries that didn't get eaten by birds on our baby blueberry bushes.

A giant bowl of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and a hot pepper that my mom picked yesterday. We have more beans in the fridge. My parents already ate a few meals of beans. We've got a lot of beans.

It was nice to come back to the garden after a week away and see all of the progress it's made. Today we're pickling the green beans we've gotten so far, along with the cucumbers and some hot peppers. I think most of the other beans will be blanched and then frozen for use throughout the year. I'm waiting impatiently for the tomatoes to ripen so I can make salsa with the hot peppers and a couple onions. In the fall, the onion leaves will die and flop over and I'll dry the rest for use throughout the winter. The few blueberries we've had escape the birds have been eaten almost immediately by Jared and Colin.

It's kind of amazing how much food can be grown in 96 sq feet of dirt, with 15 minutes of my time each day.

Donuts.

Yesterday I left the kids watching TV while I took a phone call. When I came back out, I looked for Colin and couldn't find him. Actually, I noticed that the container of donuts was missing from the counter before I noticed Colin was nowhere to be found.

I  eventually found him (and the empty donut container) under the dining room table. He ate the last two donuts and a few grapes before passing out on the floor.

The scene of Colin's crime: a grape, a smear of chocolate frosting, and the empty donut box.

Ask Colin to go find his shoes and he can't. Hide a single M&M somewhere in the house and he will tear everything apart until he finds it. I call it the Law of Colin.

July in the garden.

I've spent my whole life thinking I don't like blueberries. Today, curiosity got the better of me while I was sitting on the deck and I ate one of the first ripe berries from our new bushes. To my surprise, it was amazing. I picked and ate all of the remaining ripe ones. I guess I've never had a good blueberry before now. I might even have to buy more bushes.

With July officially here, the garden is growing well. I'm so glad that we put my beds in this year, because I don't know how I would be sane if I didn't have this little naptime diversion each day.

A little snack of peas for Jared's lunch and a sampling of hot peppers for his co-worker.

Cherry tomatoes getting ready to start changing colors.

My new raised beds as seen from above. Beans, onions, lettuce, tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, carrots, and melons.

'Northcountry' blueberries gearing up for end of July harvest.

'Jelly Bean' blueberries starting to ripen right now.

'Marianna's Peace' tomato, on its way to becoming a 2 lb giant.

One of hundreds of tomatillo blossoms being pollinated by a little bug friend.

Lettuce waiting to be thinned.

Pole beans twisting to the top of their trellis.

Future cucumber pickle in the making.

A glut of what I thought were supposed to be lemon peppers, but they appear to be turning red. Surprise!

Onion scapes hanging out.

We have the contractors coming to our house tomorrow to (hopefully!) continue work on our project and get things sorted out. I'm kind of worried about that. I just want things to be done and to be done nicely.

But at least my garden looks good, right?

Thank you for making my day better, Cake.

I haven't published anything for a while because I was CERTAIN that my next post should be about something good. I kept waiting and waiting for something awesome to happen so that I could write about it and share a positive experience, but nothing like that came my way. We're still dealing with our home improvement nightmare. My stomach muscles are still (and will continue to) rip apart slowly and torturously for the next 7+ weeks. The house continues to be a mess and we will never be 100% caught up on housework and laundry and dishes. The roads remain flooded with the Minnesota River's equivalent of muffin top, leaving Jared to commute and me to sit home alone for an extra hour each day. We've been transitioning the kids to sharing a single room, so we're running a little worse for the wear when it comes to sleep.

But good things did happen. Good things are still happening. My garden is growing. We're managing to hold down the fort and do at least the bare minimum of housework to get by. We are all healthy and safe. Jared and I went out for our anniversary and spent some time by ourselves for the first time in a long time.

I've been starting to feel the pressure of my impending due date and freak out about getting everything done. Jared has been really great at reminding me that when it all boils down, my concerns are trivial. There's a saying that I really like that goes something to the tune of, "Don't let perfect get in the way of good."

We have enough laundry. The house is dirty but okay. The weeds aren't hurting anything. All of these things are "good enough" and "good enough" wouldn't be called "good enough" if it weren't at least moderately acceptable, right?

Right now, I think it's healthiest for me to just say "good enough" is "good enough." I need to stay sane and present for my family. My kids still need me regardless of whether the house is sparkling or not.  I don't need to get upset about things that won't even be an issue six months from now.

Today I felt angry and discouraged after my doctor appointment and coming home to an ugly house. I got kind of fixated on my bad mood until this Cake lyric came on the radio:

"The ornaments look pretty, but they're pulling down the branches of the tree."

Pretty is nice, but not at the expense of pulling down my branches. I just need to focus on keeping my head in the game. Maybe I should buy that song to remind me.