Tomato Thief

Someone or something is stealing my tomatoes as soon as they are ready to be picked.  It's bad enough they are taking so long to turn red and now some selfish little prick is stealing them before I get to taste all my hard work and devotion.  I'm peeved to say the least.  At first I thought it was our dog, Nico, she's mischievous, but just not smart enough to pull this off without me figuring it out.  Then I thought it might be my roommates eccentric hippie uncle, but he swears it isn't him.  So now I think it's raccoons.  I haven't found any evidence it's raccoons, but what else could it be?  Either way I guess it's another trip to the hardware store for some kind of wire to protect my beloved tomatoes. 

Fresh Caprese Salad

Just got back from belly dancing and needed a snack, so I decided to go pick some fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden. I just bought some mozzarella balls from Trader Joes today so I put it all together and poured some balsamic over the top. It was delicious! I love eating out of the garden.

Evening in the Garden

Tonight after a delicious dinner by Chef Judy and amazing lemondrops courtesy of bartender Willow, my mama and I decided to take a trek down to the garden to survey everything after last night's storm.

I realize that marigolds are not that exciting to most people. They were the first thing I ever grew from seed so they have a special place in my heart. Not to mention the way they protect everything around them by attracting good bugs. What's not to like? All the marigolds I grew from seed this year were collected from last years crop. I have done this now for two years. See how well my marigols in the pot are doing. They look happy to me.

We headed down to the first plot. This is my third year of growing squash, but it never fails to amaze me the way they grow so quickly. I think they secretly want to take over the world. This year I am growing cinderella pumpkins, butternut squash, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash. I took a picture of the beginning of a little pumpkin, atleast that's what I think it is. There are a few on there. I have only grown pumpkins once and only one tiny little pumpkin showed up, so it was only a partial success. I'm hoping for more this year. Plus cinderella pumpkins are supposed to be awesome, they are flatter and have big lobes. We shall see if they are the fairytale pumpkin they are cracked up to be.

Lastly, we went down to the second and final plot to check on the rest of the tomatoes and snap peas and carrots. The tomatoes are getting huge and they are even beginning to flower. I also showed mom how to remove the sucker limbs between the branches which of course left us both smelling like tomato plants. That smell is so particular. I was telling her how I dream about in the winter, not that I like it, but it reminds me of summer. Everything looks good, in fact there might even be enoughroom to plant my last cucumber plant down there. He wants a home desperately and he could climb the fence down there.

As we headed back up to the house my mom's dog Zoe wanted to know why the snap pea plants don't have any snap peas and to be honest I would like to know too!

After the Rain

It has been raining quite a bit here over the last week. The gardens are loving it as is everyone else it seems. I went out today to stake some of the tomato plants and I couldn't believe how happy everything looked. It seems the rain was exactly what the garden ordered. Which makes me wonder why the squash and tomatoes are loving the rain so much, but they don't like it when you spray their leaves with the hose. They are really sending mixed signals. They must be male.

Oh and the most exciting news of all...the cinderella pumpkin plant has a little baby pumpkin growing. Also I've harvested two banana peppers. I have no idea what to do with them so I just put them in the kitchen so everyone can see what an amazing gardener I am and compliment my handy work. So far no one is taking the bait. It's only been a few days, I'm still holding out.

So all is well in the garden world of Willow, except of course that nagging question about the fickleness of squash. Do they like water on their leaves or not? It's enough to drive me to madness or an early afternoon cocktail. One or the other.