it was just slightly misty/foggy this morning after yesterday's rain.  the garden was thoroughly watered and we didn't have to man the hose this time!  as you can see, the tomatoes have grown considerably and many of the plants have begun to set fruit, i can't wait to try them!  my new favorite green, chard, is one of the best things to plant in the garden.  the seeds sprout easily, the plants grow quickly and do not bolt in the southern summer heat.  pictured is bright lights which comes in many colors from yellow to orange to red and many shades in between including hot pinks.  this plant looks like a candy cane to me, red and white stripes.  a new plant in our garden this year is the asparagus long bean, they have the prettiest flowers.  the vines are growing up the tee pee and we have the beginnings of many beans, we will be trying them out soon.  when the girls went to italy last summer with linda and mike, they brought me some packets of seeds.  one of those packets is a zucchini variety that we planted.  the plants have begun to bloom and i am sure the zucchini are coming soon.  the banana peppers are the first of the peppers to set fruit and we should be experiencing a crop soon.  we will be traveling to california this week so look for pictures from linda's garden to posted next!

garden update

take a look and see what's happening in the garden.  a bumper crop of yellow wax beans, cukes galore, asparagus bean stalks climbing the teepee and big beef has the first tomato of the season.  we have been eating lots of fresh lettuce and greens and we are patiently waiting to pick cucumbers and tomatoes.  the beans have been delicious, both yellow and green and we can't wait to try the asparagus long beans, the get about 18" long and should be fun to see.  this year, we are hopeful that the tomatoes will succeed and that we will actually get to eat some.

josie helps out

josie has embraced gardening, she loves to help weed-especially grass.  however, the birds do not enjoy her company in the garden.  here she is weeding the new asparagus bed.

where are the bees?

there has been a lot in the news, gardening news that is, about honey bees.  specifically about colony collapse disorder and other ailments bees are experiencing and the problems they cause. i have always thought it would be interesting to have a bee box or two out in the yard in the hopes of trading the space for some honey with a local bee keeper.  in my search for information, i visited the nashville area beekeepers association website and found about the great sunflower project.  it is a project being run by an associate professor at san francisco state university and i signed up to participate.  they will send me seeds and i will plant them in my garden and when they bloom, i will count the bees that visit. this information will help them decide which parts of the country are experiencing the most trouble.  it is free to join and you get the seeds for free as well, and maybe we can help save the honey bees!  check it out and join the program, but you better hurry because they will only send out seeds to people that sign up through 6/15, after that you will be signed up for next year.  (the photo is of a bumble bee, i didn't see any honeybees!)

great sunflower program