Fruits of Our Labor

The picture doesn't do it justice. I had an excellent home-grown lunch at work today. (Don't look Dr. B)

Our tomatoes have been the envy of all our friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We really didn't have to do anything. I didn't do anything special. I guess fresh picked is just that much better than store-bought.

I've planted more cucumbers, summer/fall tomato seeds, and more green beans (the first ones quit producing). My plan is to try the summer tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets on the side of the house where they won't get scorched. I'm trying 3 different sizes: Arkansas Traveler (big heirloom), Sweet Chelsea (plum-sized cherry), and Texas Wild (small cherry).

Next up: Building trellises for the green beans and cucumbers, and finishing burying the water line to the soaker hoses.

Our Produce

Just thought I'd post some pictures of our veggies. I forgot to take a picture of the green beans before I ate them. I've been getting one raspberry per day, and will have to make salsa so all the tomatoes don't go to waste. I think I'm going to start weighing all the vegetables and fruit we produce, and find out how many pounds of food we can squeeze out of our backyard. Yesterday I put in the soaker hoses, and I'll spend this afternoon after work burying the supply hoses.

Expansion!

Major expansion. Or at least major for us. This past weekend I put in eight 2.5'x8' raised beds in between the fruit trees. I've already transplanted the peppers, and have planted summer squash and black-eyed peas. Everything is going really well. We've had more tomatoes than we could eat (3-4 per day), and 5 huge cucumbers so far. I've only been able to pick ~ a half pound of green beans, but hopefully production will pick up. If you look closely in the picture, you can see that the beans have grown up into the gutters on the porch, and are almost 10 feet tall. All the peppers we've picked so far have been delicious. (and hot!) The bugs got one of our bell peppers, but there are few more still on the way.

Next up: Soaker hose irrigation system