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.