a walk in my garden...

the wonderful thing about gardening...

is that in a blink of an eye...you go from this:

3/09

to this:

6/09

i have to be honest...i've been terribly neglectful of my little patch of land. with school ending for me and the kids...e working longer days...and me finding my voice in painting...i've been almost "un-interested."

i wanna say not completely...just not enough for me to want to get out there and work.

in my defense the skies have been covered in grey for the past week plus...i saw blue skies today in what feels like 2 weeks...seems like as soon as the calendar changed from may to june...a switch flicked and the weather wizard remembered ooh yeah..."june gloom."

its as if someone took out a marker, broad tip...and marked the sky in grey.

i should be honest and say that there was also not too much work to do...just harvesting...and staking plants...

we went out yesterday afternoon...thinking we were going to just harvest what was ready to be picked...but i was shocked to see how much harvesting and staking i really had to do...

this growing season...i decided to plant a number of different tomato varieties...since my boys love the fruit so...and i also decided to crowd them in...and let them go un-caged...

boy do we have a jungle in our garden...

there is actually a home underneath that vine structure...that is our living and dining room covered in the beautiful morning glory vine...

e is planning on chopping it down this summer :(

i let the arugula bolt and flower...it's really an impressive flower specimen...

five varieties of squash and and our first cucumber...i'll be making lots of sweet squash bread this week...and maybe some squash burgers too!

cherry tomatoes, strawberries and one lone raspberry that was very ripe...i hear the strawberries were really good and sweet...wasn't enough for me to get a taste...

a thumbelina? or a baby carrot? 

i pulled this carrot to check their progress...problem is i don't remember if this is the thumbelina variety that i planted...or they just need more time...i misplaced my "seed planting map" 

we're a bit confused as to what exact variety of squash this is...it came off the spaghetti squash vine...yet it looks like a zucchini...i guess i won't know until i cut it...it weighs about 3 1/2 lbs...it is the largest squash i've ever seen...or grown!

you can see the creamy white color of the spaghetti squash in the picture above...

i'm wondering if the varieties can cross-pollinate? i wouldn't be surprised.

and as if i could never get enough of fruiting trees and plants...i got a new almond tree today...can't wait to add that to the land! i love nuts...especially almonds...and for $22 i couldn't resist.

i'm looking forward to this growing season...even more than before!

paz....

ki

Comments

[Dee]

That's amazing! I'm so jealous of your bounty. I haven't put anything into the ground yet, I'm hoping it's not too late!

[inspiring mama]

absolutely divine....i love it..as usual, every year i drool over your garden of goodies! I just got back from home depot with my little peeper plants and two flowers. I am so inspired..i am already thinking of next year, only then I hope to use more seeds to get more of a variety..hey, how do you take care of your strawberry plants..I have one, but we have only had one berry from it thus far..it's not dead, but i do not see anything budding?

ps..I want some zucchini sweet bread..i love that stuff!:)

[quejimenez]

Thank you ladies!

Wanna know something...I had the brownest thumbs before i started veggie gardening...somehow...it makes sense to me..i see them as little beings that i need to take care off...and i try to pamper and nourish them...

dee: i don't think its too late...its never too late for tomatoes long as the weather is getting hot! and squash are so easy to grow too!

ericka: i drool over your cooking...if we lived next door to eachother it would be amazing...i'd grow it and you'd cook it up and do some wonderful things with it! strawberries are fickle...these are going on two years and still aren't really giving us more than a berry or two a week...if we get to it before the birds and snails! they take a while to take off...let them go dormant in the winter...just make sure they are mulched up really good...and after a couple of years (i hear...ain't happened for me yet) they start producing better. also make sure you don't bury the crown...or else they will die off...i learned that one the hard way.

ahh! i wish i could ship out veggies to all my web sisters! wouldn't that be great!

[janice]

Hi,
I am curious if you ever discovered what the large green squash was, and what it was like when you opened it. We have 2 that I grew from some sprouted seeds that may have been pumpkin or another table squash? - set them outside and forgot what they were. After a rain they were sprouted so I planted them and this squash is enormous and looks like yours above. One is round and one is oblong.
I am thinking it may be a cross-pollination as you mentioned.
Thanks,
Janice

[heather Silvasy]

I found the squash/zucchini along the Mohican river in Ohio. The flowers on the vines were squash flowers but it did look like a zucchini. It tasted sweet like a mix of spaghetti squash and zucchini. It was great roasted in our camp fire. I wondered what it was too. Lol I'm thinking definitely cross pollination!

[Jasmine Diener]

Hi there,

I landed on your site because I came home with a squash that looks Identical to the one your holding in your hands above(..got a nice great price on it). I asked the guy what type it was and he didnt know, but it never occurred to me that I would have such a mystery on my hands. ..was wondering how to cook it. Anyway, if you get this, I'd love to know what it's like on the inside (preferably before I start cooking it) Do you think its more suitable as "masher" of a "soup" type, or just grill it? ..the whole thing is rather funny.