The garden has been rather neglected this year.  I planted around Mother’s Day and then did absolutely nothing until last week, when I spent a few hours weeding.  I then mulched with straw, but like a moron forgot to lay down newspaper first so am now spending hours ripping out grass seedlings. Ugh.

Despite my lack of attention, things are doing pretty well.

front view

Sapana said last year that I needed more color instead of just edibles, so this year I planted more zinnias and nasturtiums.  All the marigolds I planted died.

Bean Screen

Bean screen doing well! This makes the porch such a cozy nook. I’m just going to let all the beans dry this year and harvest them then. I had a bunch of volunteer bean plants this year, some of which I’ve let grow.

I know I didn’t plant this

Is this a…cabbage? I didn’t plant a cabbage, but here it is.  I suspect that one of the starts that was supposed to be brussels sprouts was actually a cabbage.  It’s growing so happily though! I’ll do more green and purple for next year. Speaking of brussels sprouts, here they are, sprouting away.

brussels sprouts, brusseling

And here’s the first harvest, not bad! This is all the carrots we’re getting this year.  I was terrible about planting them where they might get water. Also pictured: 2 different types of kale, yellow crookneck squash, purple tomatoes and small cherry tomatoes from another volunteer plant I just let grow.

first harvest

I let most of the volunteers grow where they lie.  My favorite one though is this one, taking over the backyard.  Clearly some sort of a squash, a pumpkin perhaps? Our thinking is that when the squirrels devoured the jack o lantern they decided to relieve themselves in this corner of the dirt and thus sprang a pumpkin. I just spied my first female flower today, so will let you all know what it ends up being.  If the damn squirrels don’t eat it first.