This Summer's Garden

 Our garden is one of my favorite places to be in the summer.  It's a little wild, completely imperfect, but it never fails to give us an abundance of fresh, delicious vegetables every day.  

 Each year I hesitate to post pictures of our garden... sometimes I feel like I do everything you shouldn't do in a garden.  None of my rows are perfectly straight, I always plant my tomatoes too close to each other, weeds and grass grow abundantly no matter how hard I try, but I think that's the beauty in vegetable gardening.  It's very forgiving, and really the only rule I adhere to is never plant your cucumbers next to your squash (a lesson learned the hard way). 

This year particularly has been one of my favorite years having a garden.  My girls are at an age now that they love the garden just as much as I do and love to help pick.  Jillian is a huge helper this year... in fact, she does all of the tomato picking every day.

 

Our fence has worked wonderfully in keeping the chickens out.  In fact, not one hen has made it in yet.  (Plus it helps my garden look pretty from the road... even when my cucumbers are dying and my lettuce is going to seed.) 

 

 

 I had a late start planting my pole beans, something I've ended up being thankful for.  I've been spending so much time picking the bush beans and our bumper crop of squash and cucumbers that I've been grateful the pole beans will come a little later!

 

 Pretty okra blooms...

 

 Our squash plants are huge... this is just five plants and actually since this picture they have grown even more, if that's possible.   However, that's been a nice thing since the dreaded squash borer is having to work hard to get rid of these plants. 

 

 My favorite pickling cucumbers... the girls and I snack on cucumbers with salt every single day.  So much so that I've only made a few batches of pickles.   

 

 Jillian hard at work on the tomatoes.  I'm especially grateful I have her help this year since the tomatoes are so large and planted so close together that it's much easier for her to climb through them than me (smile). 

 

 A day's bounty of vegetables.  Time to take them in the house, sort through the basket and figure out what to cook for dinner!

 P.S.  If you're wondering where Rosetta can be found, I often see her sitting with her favorite chicken (a Buff Orpington) on her lap, talking softly to her while petting her.  Such sweet summer days...