Gardening 101

It's hard to believe summer is half over already. We've been busy, as usual around the house. T has been working on a path out back that is coming along nicely. Here are some before pictures where you can't even tell where the path is supposed to be. When we moved in, they were gravel paths that were not maintained well (before or after we moved in!), and they turned into weed paths.T has been working like a crazy man on nights and weekends getting the weeds dug out, the steps built and the pavers laid. Don't the steps look great? I should have taken a before picture, because they were ugly. The treads were upside down cement gutter spout things (I know there's a name for them, but T is not here to supply me with that name). We didn't know this until he dug them out. A is a big fan of the new path (and ice cream cones)...I love walking on my new path. When T is done with his work, I will plant a creeping groundcover around the pavers to fill in.While he is doing that, I've been busy in the garden. Our first. My folks can't grow tomatoes at their house - not enough sun in the hills, so they talked us into growing a garden to supply their tomatoes. I came home one day in May and dad was tilling up a plot in our backyard. We put a little fence around it to deter the bunnies, added a little hummus/manure, and planted in late May. After we finally defeated the Creeping Jenny, the garden is doing quite well. First we laid straw mulch, but the weeds made their way through it, no problem. So, I put wet newspaper under the straw. That has worked. We harvested our first zucchini this week, and have had several fresh spinach and lettuce salads.

Here's a baby eggplant, isn't it cute? And we have tomatoes galore. 11 plants. Mom and I are going to can some tomatoes and green beans. Here I am pinching off the "suckers" as mom calls them. The tomato plants are huge (Isn't the view from our backyard nice? You can see the sunset on the horizon). Here is our very first green bean. I think he's cute too...And we can't forget my little helper (also cute). You'd think I work him to death by the look on his face, but he just shows up at harvest time, makes funny faces for the camera, and picks whatever is ripe. Here's the first green pepper bulking up... Oh, and weeds...I'm picking weeds out of the strawberry patch. There are always weeds to pick.

And we can't go this many posts without a picture of Tiny E, who is going to be a year old in just 8 days! This is her 11 month photo with the teddy bear.