Harvesting...

Unseasonably warm temperatures are really causing everyone's gardens to grow and grow! It's really HOT here, but I knew I had to do some harvesting. Little did I know what the green beans had been up to...

Leaf and romaine lettuce, zucchini, a few stalks of rhubarb, some cherry tomatoes, a couple strawberries, a few blueberries, a little broccoli head and 3 1/4 pounds of green beans + 3/4 pound yellow wax beans.

(Blaine's planning to try pickling some of them on Wednesday evening...)

Perspective ~ huge rhubarb leaf!

Our first crookneck squash ~ nearly ready to be harvested!

Sugar pumpkin

I love watching the sugar pumpkins growing each day...

Spaghetti squash ~ we're going to be eating a lot of this come winter...

The queen of our broccoli row!

I have no idea "how" I was able to grow such a large head of broccoli... Beginner's luck?

(God's a good gardener!)

State of the garden...

Spaghetti squash!

Sugar pumkin (shaded by big leaves)

Sugar pumpkin in full sun!

The squash "pile" with green beans behind them

(When planting the squashes, I remembered that people talk about squash plants growing on compost piles - and with our dirt not being real healthy, I decided to dump a half of a bag of dirt and nearly the same of compost, mix them together and stick the squash plants in. Looks like it worked! There are actually 4 different hills ~ zucchini, spaghetti squash, crookneck squash and sugar pumpkins)

My rhubarb loves its new home! YAY!

(...and the other plant that I thought might not make it, is recovering and has new growth!)

My broccoli is growing!

(However, I've really been battling cabbage worms (little greens worms that keep eating leaves) and I've been picking them off and squishing them daily - though I'm happy to report that a number of spiders have taken up residence and lowered the worm population! I did lose my kale to the worms, but hoping to get the brussel sprouts and broccoli to harvest...)

What is left of the lettuce bed. We've been having salad multiple times per week! I can only harvest the lettuce when it's shaded, as the yellow jackets are all over them when it's sunny...

Snow peas! They've been abundant and sweet...

Blaine and Nicholas have been 'eating, eating' them!

Yellow wax beans

I've been harvesting them already and there are many, many on the plants. Can hardly wait for our next stirfry!

What's this? Our first cherry tomato is nearly ready!

Our 4 monster cherry tomato plants!

We'll have oodles of tomatoes soon enough...
Blaine can hardly wait!

My two thornless blackberry plants are growing well.

The raspberries and blueberries are doing quite well too...

I've really determined that the soil here just isn't really healthy. I tried to build up the planting areas with dirt and compost I brought in, but it's "melting away". We'll need to build raised bed for everything! Now, I just need to figure out the design.

For fertilizer, I've used a liquid fish fertilizer by Eco-Nutrients (and I've only applied it once a month and I use it when putting in new plants).

All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with how the garden is doing thus far...

I've done a major blog update today, so it's off to work on the garden and house ~ and I'll return to my blog another day!

Happy Summer and Happy Gardening!

Garden harvest!

Cleaning the garden shed

The previous owner, Irvine, built a little garden shed out back ~ and it's okay, but not super useful - yet we need to utilize it until we can build a new shed. We are thankful we have something. It's built directly onto the dirt, so the weeds, grass and 'critters' can get into it. We pulled all the weeds, reinforced the shelf and repaired dry rot damage to help it along for another year...

...and my potted plants live in the little garden shed over the winter. It's been a cozy home for them over the past two!

Snow pea muncher...

Harvested some snow peas yesterday..., but they didn't last long!

He ate them all and didn't share with anyone else!

Note to self: increase the amount and variety of peas planted in next year's garden...

Mariners' Baseball!

The boys bought tickets to last night's Mariners "Salute to Japanese Baseball" game vs the Orioles. Great seats - great game! Fun for all...

Blaine with his Japanese "giveaway" baseball hat, Bento box and "overpriced" lemonade!

Yummy! (for him)

I'll stick to lemonade and kettle corn...

It's Me!

Enjoying the game!

Japanese drummers/dancers that performed...

A quick picture of us!

Benjamin and Nicholas walked across the stadium and then tried to 'find us'...

Nicholas enjoying his "space" ice cream...

Authentic Living!

On Sunday, our pastor shared from Habakkuk... One thing that really stuck with me was regarding, "authentic living". He shared that it's okay to complain to God and then what we must remember...

Psalm 55:1-3

"Give ear to my prayer, O God;

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

Give heed to me and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,

Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the pressure of the wicked;

For they bring down trouble upon me

And in anger they bear a grudge against me."

Read the whole Psalm ~ it's well written and expressed!

And, in response:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like those of the deer, and makes me walk on my high places." Habakkuk 3:17-19

"Behold, as for the proud one, their soul is not right within them. But the righteous will live by God's faithfulness, and by their trust in His faithfulness." Habakkuk 2:4

If I deny that I have no complaints in my life - then I do not live authentically and yet, no matter the circumstances, I need to remember to praise God after honestly sharing my heart with Him!

My desire should be for Him to teach me, shape me ~ through this challenging event, situation, season in my life, etc... He is our strength and our shield. And, His love endures forever. Thank you for your faithfulness, Lord!