Garden Update

I know what you were thinking.... what's been going on in that garden of theirs?  Fortunately for you, I have an answer.  To date, we have harvested:

10.5 lbs of zucchini
8 lbs of green beans
Almost 5 lbs of tomatoes
Lots of basil for pesto.

The purple hull peas are just ripening now, and we finally have teeny tiny baby egg plants that may eventually grow to adulthood.  On a sad note, we had to rip out several zucchini plants tonight because of squash borers and the tomato plants are not looking so hot.  It's a cruel, cruel world out in the garden.

On the plus side, we have an amazing volunteer squash that planted itself in a perfectly blank spot in the garden earlier this spring.  Joe said to pull it, but I argued that any plant that just appears in the perfect spot deserves a chance to see what it can do.  And then it grew.  And grew.  Everywhere.  Think "Little Shop of Horrors" growth.  I keep expecting to hear a knock at our bedroom window at night.

(Is there anyone else besides my Dad who is currently humming "Little shop, little shop of horror...  Bop-She-Bop, Little shop of terror..."?)

This terror inspiring vine was a mystery, until it started to set squash.  For a while, I was terrified I had devoted 20+ feet of garden space to decorative gourds.  But now, it's clear, we have butternut squash.  Six of them so far.  According to our research, they won't be pick-able until September, which is a little concerning since there's no end of buggy damage that can happen before then.  But at least it's not decorative gourds.

And the last word on gardening from Calla.... yesterday, she helped me pick, trim and wash basil leaves for pesto.  In recounting how we made pesto to Joe last night, I prompted Calla to tell Joe about the most important ingredient.  It's basil, I reminded her, when she kept looking at me blankly.

"No, Mom," she corrected me.  "The most important ingredient is love."

Well, sure.  But lots of good basil doesn't hurt.