What a pathetic blog- You don’t know how many times a week I say “but I need to update the blog!!” and then all those projects I’m working on come and go…or never get to fruition. I actually have two posts I shot LAST summer that I could finally post since they are more appropriate for summer cooking, BUT…I digress…

This fourth of July week has been hectic getting back to work. We just got back from a week-long vacation with our family (that I promise will have a travel diary post coming soon) and our garden has gone bonkers.

I also got a new camera for my birthday in May (ehhh, ehh?)

Remember that little plan we had? Well, some of it has changed…and that’s not a bad thing. We are new to the world of gardening so some minor setbacks and differences in plans were bound to happen.

That said, we still have some great produce coming out of the garden to look forward to…and have already enjoyed some!

I know I joked in April that I’d maybe have 2 salads out of the arugula that was growing….and it proved me wrong…we had 2 salads…AND THEN SOME.

Sadly, it has already bolted and we are now harvesting the last of it (and its seeds to replant!) and will probably plant brussel sprout in that spot later this season for fall.

 

The majestic bean teepee hasn’t risen too high yet, but we’ve already harvested about 2-3lbs of string beans off of it. Which is great because Ro LOVES beans. Her nickname around here is “the bean”.

Now we’ll get the sad parts over with quickly, above was/is spinach. It didn’t really take. I think its too hot, but WHAT DO I KNOW, Brett.

The four types of tomatoes we are growing have gone sky high. ok, so only about 5ft for now…but I’m starting to see the little tomatoes showing up and I am so excited! Heirloom tomatoes and basil all summer!!!! I guess I’ll have to make a post about making my own Mozz at home, which I’ve never done before.

And speaking of basil…

We grew the above image from seeds, it’s Italian sweet basil. The leaves are as big as my palm (or Ro’s face for some cute-factor.) But even funnier, is that before we had our basil growing we had bought one of those packets of fresh basil from the grocery store. You know- the kind that comes with roots but never makes it long? Well, Brett replanted it all and now we have…

All of this too…

Funny enough, it tastes different than the other, and is a bit smaller.

 

 

And while Basil leaves the size of Ro’s cute little face, squash leaves BIGGER than my face is downright prehistoric (and no there is no cute photo of me with a squash leaf next to my face, sorry.). We’ve gotten two zucchinis so far and much more to come…SOON.

 

My smaller herb garden is doing well. The plants that came back from last year (oregano, sage, and thyme) are exploding…but I also planted new rosemary and parsley that hasn’t taken off so much. That garden sadly has been overshadowed by a huge tree that wasn’t so grown over 7 years ago when we first built the raised bed. Time for a trim!

 

 

So now all our garden needs is a name! What do you think?

“Ro’s Bean Factory + Other Stuff We Don’t Like”

“We Promise Our Dog Didn’t Fertilize This Farms”

“Brett’s New Home – Since He Spends More Time In This Garden Than His House”

What do you think? Leave your suggestions in the comments! I’m going to be breaking out my wood burning tool to give our mini-farm a proper name!