Green thumbs

Early this spring Sam made a raised vegetable bed on the side of our house. The girls and I planted the seedlings from the seeds we started last winter and a few plants that we bought. We had 3 types of tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, radishes, red and white onions, red and yellow peppers, Yukon gold potatoes, and jalapenos. With so many plants, I had high hopes of the girls harvesting huge amounts of vegetables from their garden and giving away the surplus to our friends and neighbors, especially since one of their favorite things to do this spring was to look for earthworms to put in our garden. Whatever wasn't completely eaten by caterpillars or grub worms, was scalded by the sun or just died after several months of not ever growing. The only exceptions were the cantaloupe, which overtook the side yard and produced dozens of the blandest fruit I've ever had, and the jalapeno, that is now taller than the tomatoes and now a hazard for Charlotte. My mom was even in town to witness the big potato harvest when I dug up exactly ONE. I boiled it that night and the girls split it.

Despite the current temperatures in the 90's, we're moving onto our winter crop, and just planted our broccoli, butternut squash, and arugula seedlings. Our spinach and bibb lettuce are still too small to transplant. The girls did a great job "helping," and with our track record, I really don't think it mattered that so many plants were lovingly crushed, ripped, or pulled up to be replanted in a better spot.