Q-tip Love

It's nearing the end of July and things don't seem to be slowing any time soon around the house. I've been picking up hours to afford all our outings while the boy has been bashing his brain to bits in order to finish his undergraduate dissertation. Needless to say, it's a bit chaotic.

The garden with me in the background, hi!

Speaking of chaotic...the garden has exploded. I meticulously planned the 4x8 raised bed with square foot gardening in mind. I don't think the plants got that memo. The tomatoes tower over me and try to crowd out the poor bell pepper plant - even with pruning. The butternut squash and pumpkins have run amuck, sprawling across the lawn as if it knows it has better places to be. Let me tell you...nothing says fun like Q-tip pollinating pumpkin blooms because the bees are slacking...(too many blooms to choose from)

By the way, if you're going to play with cucurbitaceae family plants (i.e. cucumber, squash, pumpkin) be careful if you have sensitive skin. I'm out there in shorts and flip-flops with my Q-tips, next thing I know it's hive city on my arms and legs.

Slowly emerging

The, sometimes itchy, fruits of our labors are starting to pay off as we harvested a nice sized cucumber today and over the last week collected 6oz of snap peas (there would've been more but I kept eating them). There are more cucumber on the vines and the super chilies are hanging out until they redden. We've got a few okra and tomatoes that are ripening as well. It's nothing significant with some of the veggies - like the snap peas and okra. But it's something to put on our plates outside the normal farmer's market fare.

As for the rest of the gardens the daylilies and hosta have finally started to bloom with the Black-eyed Susan not too far behind. The sunflowers are already producing wonderful yellow flowers. But the chocolate ones are just starting to open. The golden finches love the sunflowers and I often times see them hanging around our front porch.  Meanwhile, the regular house finches are using the bare patches of our yard as their personal sand bath. There are whole colonies crowded in the 'dead zones.' It's a mad house out there....