Hey You Guys I'm Old and Wise Now.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of thirty three years of - ME!!  A friend told me this was the age where Christ was reborn and came back as a zombie and killed all the dinosaurs, or something.  So far my water into wine skills are lacking.  Sad face.

As a pre-birthday present to myself (thank you self) I took a personal day to go to a symposium at Longwood Gardens in PA.  Longwood is an absolutely amazing estate and public gardens established by Pierce duPont (more history, etc here) they have concerts, tours, kid's activities, etc.  Oh, and the Christmas displays ...

Ahhh-maaaaa-zing.  They have themed rooms of different cultivars and climates.  A ROOM FULL OF ORCHIDS, FLOOR TO CEILING.  It is my happy place.
The symposium was called "Today's Horticulture" and touched on everything from sustainable landscape design, container gardening, entomology, water resources management, and native planting vs. non-native.  And in between these sessions that were so informative and interesting, I got to wander through the gardens and shop the plant sale.  The only downside was the majority of people there have degrees in plant science or are professionals - a lot went over my head.  So, it's officially time to figure out this whole getting-my-degree thing.  I have never wanted anything quite like I've wanted this, but I also refuse to give up any time I have with my girls.  So it will take me a loooong time, because I will only, realistically, be able to take 1 or 2 classes per semester.  I have to start with the hard (for me) classes, math and chemistry, and I will probably cry and swear and throw things but I WILL get through them, because without chemistry none of the soil or plant science will make sense. 
And while doing this I will also have to work and take care of a house and husband and two kids, and a dog and a cat and two rats; and volunteer at Mooch's school and take care of the garden and cook every night, etc.  Completely do-able, right??

Oh yeah, resolutions.  Because this post is about me being OLD.  

1. Practice being still and present, at least once a day.  My degree won't matter much without my sanity.
2. Make peace, completely, with my body.  Yes my belly is pooch-y from two babies and my boobs just aren't what they used to be.  Yes, stretch marks happen.  But at 33 I can run 3 miles in under 28 minutes and tear up a spin class.  These things I couldn't do 10 years ago.  Mooch said to me the other day, "Mama you're not too fat and not too skinny, you're just right"
3. Plan more.  I suck at planning.  I blamed this on the Mister the other night (I can't completely remember my reasoning here, honestly - he handed me a piece of dark chocolate and kept watching the Military Channel) but I need to carve out my own space in our home to set up as Mama HQ and plot all this junk out.

3 things, plus all that other junk.  Bring it, 33.

Where The Hell I've Been

Let's just not talk about the holidays and New Year's, mmkay?  It's not like they were super horribly awful, they just took effort this year.  Way to stay strong about being a douchebag right up until the end, 2011.  You can show yourself out, and take the multiple hospital visits with you.

I will give you this little gem, because what do you give the child who has ended up in the emergency room TWICE in her 2 1/2 years?

Obviously roller skates, right?
We also got a new pet right before the holidays - Mooch had been wanting a hamster since her friend got one.  I had hamsters growing up and I get why they're the "go-to" kids pet, since their poo is about as big as a grain of rice and they're all fluffy and cute.  But they're also assholes.  They bite and they're naturally nocturnal and if you wake them up to hold them (THIS IS WHY WE GOT YOU YOU FUCKING USELESS RODENT) they turn on you like Naomi Campbell and will mess you up.  No, hamsters - just no.
Wanting to be the super-awesome alpha mommy I obviously am (ahem) I told Mooch she had to research pets before she decided on one.  We googled "best pets for children" and the first two hits we got were about how hamsters are horrible pets for kids, and if you wanted to go the small animal route you should get a fancy rat. 
Sooooo ... meet Rachel the fancy rat.  Why is she fancy?  Because she isn't the type of rat who lives in a sewer.  By this definition, all of you are fancy humans.  You're welcome.

 

The rat is awesome.  She just hangs out on Mooch's lap, and when she walks around the rat perches on her shoulder.  The lady at the pet store has pet rats, and said that they're pretty happy with table scraps and chickweed, which we have in some of our flower beds.  We do give her rat pellets and timothy hay as well, but she loves any end parts of vegetables that would usually go right in the compost bin (except for plants in the cabbage family, which mess up their digestion)  We're keeping her a vegetarian so that we can compost the bedding that we change out of her cage, complete with droppings.  She is super clean and washes herself constantly, and only ever poops in one corner of her cage.  Rat's tails are somewhat prehensile, so she wraps it around your wrist when she's on your arm like in the picture above.  And the final point I'll bore your asses with on why you should get a pet rat - they are super cheap (around $5 usually) because the majority of them are sold as "feeder rats" to be fed to pet snakes.  Ewww, you guys.

 My little garden is STILL producing.  I pulled up the last of our beets a few weeks ago and roasted and pureed a bunch.  After one season of growing I'm a beet convert - my garden will never be without them.  Versatile and beautiful.  On January 2nd (!) I pulled up about half of what is left of our radishes

Another veggie I can't live without ever again.  Ridiculously easy to grow in these parts and so useful. 
I've planted 3 rows of garlic, one row of which has already sprouted since it's been so unseasonably warm.  My broccoli is still struggling along, and my kale plants were decimated when Zac decided to take out some digging frustration on that corner of the garden. 

I know he looks somewhat remorseful here - trust me, he's not.

I have more shit to say but honestly Smelly Boss is here and just heated up his lunch and my eyes are tearing up from the sheer disgusting RANKness of it.  Apparently yogurt fermented in a homeless man's asscrack is what's on the menu (and maybe cabbage?  What the FUCK is that smell???)  I have to go find something very important to do in another part of the building because blasting Pandora isn't getting him to close his door. 

This Post Is Not About Seattle.

Because my pictures from Seattle are on someone else's camera who is still *in* Seattle.  And I refuse to post about how awesome it was until I have pictures to back it up (complete with a picture of French Post Doc telling me to fuck off).  It was awesome, though.  Also, my mother drugged me with something other than Xanax.
FPD on plane:  What are you taking?
Me: I thought they were Xanax, but aren't Xanax blue?  These are not Xanax. (gulp)
FPD: You're taking something and you don't know what it is?
Me: I'm very trusting.  And scared shitless of this plane.
Luckily they worked anyway.


And so I will tell you about things I am doing that I have no expertise in, besides blogging.  Remember my pictures from the farm we went to?  This one?

  This farm and I have history.  My mom worked there before and after I was born.  I have memories of toddling into their farm store to get apples.  We apple pick there almost every fall, and every year I bite into one of their apples and have the same reaction - my lips and tongue get itchy and my face swells slightly.  When you pick an apple off their trees and turn it over, there is a residue of white on the bottom from pesticides.  
  I have a strong reaction to some chemicals and metals, from a rash to problems breathing.  I always thought I was allergic to apples until I had an organic one and had no reaction to it.  So it's sad to me that every year I have to feel conflicted about getting apples from a gorgeous local farm, literally right up the road from us, that has a family running it.
  This farm has a Facebook page and were advertising the start of their apple picking season, and I commented on how I wished they integrated more organic growing practices into their farm, both for health and environment's sake.  I got a comment back that their head grower would like to speak to me, and they messaged me his cell phone #.
Shit.
He probably thinks I'm some arrogant hippie who's going to try and tell him how to run his business.
I got up the nerve to call him and expressed how I hoped I didn't sound rude, and asked if we could talk about farming.  He graciously agreed and we spoke yesterday for an hour, sometimes heatedly and sometimes laughing.  His stance was that organics, more than anything, are a "marketing ploy", that the benefits haven't been proven, that they cause more outbreaks of food-borne pathogens, and that they are too time consuming and expensive.  My stance is that we NEED a local organic farm (since our farmer's market is packed with people every Sunday, and most of the produce is grown at least 20 miles away), that they sit right on the Christina Watershed and are responsible for the plant and animal life in it, that they could become a role model for other small farms, and that they make such a good income on hay rides, tours, and fall activities that even if they started with only a portion of their produce being organically produced, they could still turn a generous profit.  

*I also researched his claim about food-borne pathogens in organic produce.  While it is true that manure, used commonly to fertilize organic crops, can introduce bacteria to food; properly treated and composted manure (along with other organic matter) presents little threat to crops.  The most recent outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe were from a non-organic crop that had had manure dumped near it within the last year.  Basically, don't just throw poop on your crop and expect it to do well, there is a science and a delicate balance to this*


  He was very nice but very defensive, and he has every right to be.  Farming is a hard life and he has managed to turn a little family farm into a booming business.  Then I asked the question I had been building up for :
Me: So, do you think in the spring I could shadow you for a day while you planted?  
Him: Excuse me?
Me: I mean, I'll help out.  You can put me to work.  I would just love to get more insight into this.
Him: Umm.  You mean you want to work a day for free?  This is hard work.
Me: I know.  I just want to see this better from your point of view. 
Him: Umm, ok.
So next spring I get to spend a day working a field and observing what goes on in a day on a farm.  So effing excited.
And of course it made me lust after the Plant Science courses here.  While I was planning on holding off until both kids were in school full time, I need to start taking at least one class a semester.  I need it.  I got off the phone with this man and wanted to skip down the hallway.  This is my passion.
Also, I never really have a plan for everything, which sometimes makes me feel like an impostor of an adult.  But then Jenny Lawson on  The Bloggess said something to the effect of, she never plans anything, she just does shit and some other shit happens and some is good, and some is bad.   If you would like to cross-stitch her quote onto a pillow and send it to me I will happily pass it down to my grandchildren.  

But then I continued to try and address things I have little to no expertise in.
Like this bridge:

  Our street is right off of this one.  See the little tunnel to the right?  I ride my bike through there.  I love that when they built it they kept walkers and bikers in mind, and I love that it keep huge trucks from going down our street.  Go ahead little bridge!
  The problem is that the only care the area around it ever gets is occasionally getting mowed by a work crew in the summer.  It's weed choked and ugly and gets graffiti-ed a lot.  Kind of a downer when you have to wait your turn to make it through and are forced to stare at it.  
  Last summer I said to The Mister I wanted to volunteer to landscape it and he looked at me like I was crazy, which we all know I AM.  I thought, since Home Despot is so good at throwing out perfectly good plants, maybe I can sweet talk them into donating them (and writing them off on their taxes) instead.  Maybe I can get permission from the mayor to landscape it.  And maybe I can plant mainly native plants and herbs, and maybe even some edibles (with a sign that everyone is free to pick what they want).  

So guess what?  They said I could do it.
Yup.  Mayor of our town gave me his permission.
Now to approach Home Despot and sweetly ask to raid their plants destined for a dumpster.  And try not to scream or throw things if they try that "oh but we compost it" horse crap. (Note - they do NOT)  And I guess they will probably want to know what my plan is.  Hurry up on the cross stitched pillow so I can show it to them.


Wish me luck.

2011 Veggie Garden - Lessons Learned

First, let's look back at the pictures, shall we?  Even though it will make me miss summer.

Lil naked baby garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sprouts, and the WORST pea trellis ever

Holy abundance, Batman!

And what it looks like as of this morning ....

  Super sad face.  Remember when I blithely said I wasn't planning where everything would go?  Dumb!  At least estimating the space needed around plants is verrrry important for good air circulation around the plant, which helps fend off fungal diseases and pests.  Did you know most pests and diseases need wet foliage to be able to penetrate the pant's structure?  So if some dummy (me) plants all her tomato plants with maybe 5 inches of space around them each, she (me again) will end up with tomatoes that will get wasted.  

  Also, in order to maintain a biologically diverse (and therefore more stable) soil, you need to rotate what goes where from year to year.  Great resource for this here.  If you are planning an organic garden (please, please do) this is so important, since it will negate chemical fertilizers and pest control.  

 A few more discoveries from this year :
* Pea trellises need to be bigger and stronger than you think
* IMO, the absolute BEST soil mixture for growing a culinary and herb garden is half composted mushroom soil, half organic garden soil.
* Compost, compost, compost.  Apply to the roots of your plants once a month.
* If you use the above soil preparation, and you're growing tomatoes - don't even mess with tomato cages.  You need to build big ass supports around those suckers.  Mine were over 5 feet tall by the end of the season and loaded with fruit.
* If you plant only one edible - plant lettuce!  It is so easy to grow, so easy to maintain, and it tastes so much better than what you get at the store.
* Stock up BEFORE growing season on canning and freezing supplies.  Research recipes for your produce in the off season so you're ready.
* Get a hay bale for harvest decorations, then stash it away until spring.  After you have planted your seeds and everything sprouts, spread hay around the seedlings.  It holds in moisture so you don't have to water so much and suppresses weeds.
* You need a rain barrel.  If you already have one, you need another one. :-)

And also ... growing season doesn't have to stop in the fall.

 
This is broccoli and kale that are loving the cooler weather.  I also have two cabbage plants that came up and are thriving (none of the ones planted at the beginning of the season survived the cabbage worms)  Now to teach myself to make floating row covers ...
One last thing, Mrs. BC has an awesome new blog, Witch In The Suburbs,and guess who she interviewed for her Witchy Mum Interview?? ;-)If you don't follow Mrs. BC, she's hilarious and smart and her emails bring me joy because she says things like whinge and fortnight and other Australian awesomeness.  So go stalk her!







 

It's Fall, Y'all

Remember mystery vine?  The one that sprouted out of our compost bin and creeped through the fence and started growing all over my neighbor's yard?  Because she is the nicest lady ever she didn't get upset, and actually said she was interested to see what it turned into.  When it started sprouting pumpkins I told her she should of course keep whatever pumpkins she got, but she insisted that the girls should have them. For some reason the ones that grew on our side of the fence are a weird shape, kind of butternut squash/pumpkin hybrid, but hers were perfectly formed "faerie tale" pumpkins.
Mooch was so excited to get to pick them.  Who needs a pumpkin patch when you've got a compost bin??

 I wanted a new fall wreath for the front door, but I'm picky.  We've all seen some of the fall themed ones on Pinterest, and some are cute but some are just .... not me.  Let's just say if it can be described as "cute" I'm not going to dig it.
I had this simple wreath frame I picked up at The Thrift Store That Shall Not Be Named

I found fake leaves and yummy smelling potpourri at the Dollar Store.  Brainstorm - some of the potpourri has interesting stuff in it, seedpods and herbs and such, that are really pretty, and this variety smells fall-y without being overpowering.

Of course I ended up being totally sucked in to the fall and Halloween decorations at the Dollar Store, which happens every year even though I swear this year will be different.  I turned a corner, and lo and behold ...

Is there anyone out there who DOESN'T need about a million of these?  I only got 2 and I'm kicking myself.  I want to cover the front of my house in them.  

The Mister came in and took a look and said jokingly, "Now you just need to put a 3rd eye on them!" and then saw how excited I got and immediately said, "That was a JOKE."

"But I'm so going to do that.  Best idea ever.  High five, craft buddy!"

"Don't do it.  People already think you're a witch"

"Too late, seed of brilliance planted."

And after a night of wine consumption and burning my fingers - again- with hot glue and catching up on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (and the horrible realization that I think I don't hate Camille so much now) this is the beast:

 I love it.  I have a Halloween sign that I put up every year that says "Don't Make Me Use My Flying Monkeys" with a pair of witch's boots underneath it, but I do not want to take this down.  

I'm trying to harvest herbs and preserve them now.  (In all my spare time.  HA)  I did pull up my basil plants the other day, and made vegan basil/chive pesto that is pretty amazing.  My chives never flowered this year, which I think is because they were in too much shade, but I still have lots.

 Guess who won't take off her Halloween costume?

I did not measure (I don't really, ever) but here is an approximation:
Vegan Basil Chive Pesto
Approx. 3 c of basil leaves
A good handful of chives
1/4 c macadamia nuts
2 Tb pine nuts
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
Place macadamia nuts and pine nuts in food processor and process until it resembles coarse flour.  Add basil and chives, pulse until incorporated.  Add olive oil (about 1-2 Tb) salt & pepper to taste, and crushed garlic clove, pulse until completely combined.
And in closing, if you don't follow The Blogess, your life up until this moment has been completely wasted. 

The One Where My Thoughts Come Rushing Towards You In A Horrifying Torrent.

I'm going to attempt to not comment on the weather, since we all know that it is hotter than satan's taint out there.  115 heat index here today.  

What I will comment on is - despite the evidence right SMACK in front of their noses (aka, the burning hot steering wheel, all vegetation burnt, food prices soaring) people are still not standing up for our Earth.  If I hear one more person deny global warming while sweat drips down the front of them I may have to re examine my "harm none" policy.  The Mister and I were discussing this last night and he said despite recycling containers being placed around his work, some people don't use them "on principle".

"On what FUCKING principle would that be, other than being an assmonkey?"
"Calm down.  *I* use them.  I'm just saying that some people don't, to make a point."
"To make the point that their mothers should have drown them at birth?  I'm not getting this."
"You know how people are, they think if they vote Republican then they should be against all that, Obama, etc."
"Do you shoot them?  Or maybe just Taser them.  One way or another, these people need the stupid knocked out of them."
"Yes, I shoot them.  For not recycling."
"Well it would certainly start working on overpopulation"


It's true, we solve many a world problem in our little house.


Our little house.  I'm trying to do grand things there.  I need to work on the interior, to get it all Mama-fabulous, so when I'm holed up in there during the winter dreaming about my garden, I can at least do it in a pretty place.  
Mooch will be back from vacation tomorrow and while I have missed her terribly, as has Butterbean and Daddy, the feeling is not mutual.  She could barely be convinced to come to the phone to talk to us, what with being on the boat within 5 ft of dolphins, swimming at the beach, and running my parents around like crazy. (SUCKAAAAHHHSSSS!!!)
And ... she is coming back to ... drum roll please ....
a completely re-vamped room!

OK, maybe not completely re-vamped - but I did paint one wall purple, her favorite color, and my artistically talented friend is coming over tonight to add a little flair to it.  I also got a gauzy canopy for her bed, and painted the little chair to match her vanity, and did some other cute stuff.  Pics to come soon.
When I envision the rest of the house, I see this -

Sigh.  One day.  Until then I'm re-working rooms one by one, trying to breathe a little more life into them.


The Mister has developed some sort of allergy to eggs, we think.  He has gotten violently ill the last 2 times he has had them, with me and the kids having the same eggs and feeling fine.  Have you ever heard of someone developing a food allergy at 40?  He has a doctors appointment next week to be referred to a gastroentorologist.  


Oh, and these little bastards have found my squash

The lovely squash bug.  I picked a zucchini the other day and it was covered with baby squash bugs, which made me shudder and squeal and throw the poor zucchini violently to the ground.  Which of course made no sense and probably let the little buggers crawl over to the next squash and keep going.  I'm not good at being surprised like that. *tangent time*


I had bought a bag of mulch at Home Despot and thrown it on the lawn next to the tree I was planning to mulch around until I got the kids to bed.  Got the kids down to nap, and came out to start working.  Picked up the bag of mulch and something fell off the back - a BABY BLACK SNAKE.  It was dead, it's little head crushed - so I must have thrown the bag right on it.  Ooops.  I personally am terrified of snakes but I would never intentionally hurt one.  
I took a shovel and flicked the snake into the street - then realized, if this was a baby, then potentially mama snake was somewhere nearby.  But I had to mulch around that damn tree.  I did the only logical thing you can do - I took a rake and poked it all around the base of the tree to make sure there were no more, then very tentatively started spreading the mulch and weeding, all the while ready to bolt if I saw any slithery things.  I was just about to reach for a weed when something moved, which later turned out to be one of my daylily leaves - and at the same time someone down the street slammed a car door.  I screamed and ran off my own lawn, into the street.  SEE???  No sense.  


In my defense, this post was labeled appropriately.

Sweet As A Potato!

This is why you love me ... I do important fact-checking type stuff and follow up with relevant details.  And I'm cute.
Mother Earth News, my favoritest magazine besides the almighty Oprah, has an article this month about growing sweet potatoes.  And I did a double take when I read that you should NOT eat your sweet potatoes after you harvest them for at least a few months.  Wha - ???  But I was going to be all smug-like and serve them at Thanksgiving!
If you can keep your potatoes at 80 degrees for a week after harvesting, they will "cure" - grow a second protective outer skin, and this way you can safely store them for a few months until they're ready to eat, without risk of rotting.  Have you ever gotten a sweet potato from the store, cut into it, and there is this weird dried-out spongy-looking center?  That is the result of un-cured potatoes.  Potatoes when they are harvested and cured are a living tuber, and will be right up until you cook them.  Un-cured potatoes die, and when you see that weird center, that is rot happening from the inside out.  Yuck.  Freshly harvested sweet potatoes aren't that sweet, and are pretty starchy - you have to give them time to finish sweetening.  The article states the earliest you should think about eating them is December. (insert sad face)

Speaking of yuck, it will be at least 100 degrees here on Friday.  Our Earth is heating up, no doubt.  I've resolved to go even more crunchy because of this - I need to be better about planning wash days to coordinate hanging out wash, I need to break out the bike more, and I really need to get on installing our second rain barrel.  Our barrel has been dry going on a week now - I'm hoping the thunderstorms in our forecast are a real possibility.

Mooch is headed down to the beach with her grandparents on Wednesday, and staying over for two nights.  Butterbean is convinced she's going too - I'm not looking forward to the minute she realizes she's stuck at home with boring Mama and Daddy. And she's going to miss her sister - lookit these two

*Photos courtesy our weekly living room dance party*
And my new addiction is Moon To Moon - she's giving me the inspiration I need to feather my nest a bit more!
Be well

I'm Baaaaaack .....

Hey there lovers!
After my week off I got back to work and was absolutely clobbered with a bunch of stuff, so I am just now getting back into the blogosphere.  The week off was good, although it could have been more relaxing.  I also had to lay down some ground rules for the anklebiters of our neighborhood.  All of a sudden our house is THE house to be at, which I'm fine with - but seriously, apparently no one teaches their kids manners anymore, whatsoever.  Among the standout quotes:
"I'm hungry. What do you have to eat?"
"Ewww, I don't like that.  What else do you have?"
"I forgot my towel, on purpose.  I'll just use one of yours"
"Where's my lunch?"

I swear to god.  I started out nice and my the end of the day I was stomping around with a war face on, and all the kids were scared, which I was fine with.  If it keeps them from running through my house dripping wet because "I was hot!" then so be it.  And seriously, our pool is a crappy rinky-dink plastic pool I got for about $15 at KMart, not a freakin in-ground monstrosity with built-in jacuzzi, and they still flock over.  Whatever.

Soooo ... I had this fear of making pickles.  It just seemed super complicated and like you had to have 2 uninterrupted hours to make it come out right.  I planted our one little cucumber plant thinking I'd have enough for salads etc, but not excess.
WRONG.
Zac chased a rabbit into our garden last week and trampled two of my zucchini plants (they are fine, though).  After he squashed them I discovered this :

 

About 8 full grown cucumbers, just hanging out.  I had already collected a basketful 2 days earlier and was kind of wondering what to do with those - it was PICKLE OR DIE time.

And I did it!!

 3 jars of dill hamburger chips, 3 jars of sandwich slices, and I had 1/2 jar leftover that became refrigerator pickles.  And the big, beautiful (seriously if I get married again I would carry them down the aisle) dill seed heads came right out of the garden.

Here's the perpetrators of my insanity.  Sure, they LOOK cute ...

Don't be fooled.

Our little mystery vine has fruited.  Did I say little?  This sucker has snaked it's way through my neighbors fence, and because she's a cool lady she's fine with it.  When I saw the fruit I told her it is shaped kind of like a butternut squash - she said the ones on her side are definitely pumpkin-shaped.  So mystery vine may be TWO mystery vines!

Here's whats happening on my side of the fence:

 And next to it, something else that I didn't plant - some sunflowers coming up below our feeder

 I had this idea to grow sweet potatoes, but I got discouraged because everything I read said they spread like crazy.  So I found an article about growing sweet potatoes in a barrel - all I needed was a sweet potato slip.  So I suspended one on toothpicks over a jar of water and put it in the sun, just like suggested - it rotted.  And the next one, and the next one.  I gave up.  Butterbean is my sweet potato queen, and I had picked her up some at the Co-op and had them in our pantry.  I reached by them one day and yes - one great big tendril, about 8" long, had sprung out of that thing!

I ran to Home Despot and got a cheap ($12) black plastic trash can and some organic potting soil.  I used a very sharp knife and cut out semicircles all over it, so the potatoes would get good sun and drainage.  I put about 4 inches of soil in the bottom, dropped the potato in, and covered it with more soil.  The conventional wisdom is that you add more soil anytime the sprout is 6" above the soil - obviously I need to go pick up more!

So excited for this.  When you are ready to harvest you just dump the barrel out, how easy is that?  Our family loves sweet potatoes!

  Peas are gone.  I pulled them out and harvested what was left as starters for next year.  In their place went a cantaloupe plant generously donated by a neighbor, 3 rescued pepper plants, and some heirloom lettuce.  I want to find some little corner to put in more radishes.  (Pickled radishes!!)

 One of our dumpster-rescued pepper plants is going ca-raaaaazy.  I have no idea how hot these are, the Mister will be recruited as taste tester/guinea pig.  I can make some salsa with them and THESE

Holy effing hell, I am going to have a buttload of tomatoes.  Most of the time this makes me want to dance, and then sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat wondering what the hell I'm going to do with a ton or two of tomatoes.  Speaking of which ..

This lil heirloom tomato plant has no home :-(  He is an orphan. Once he had a name (Blondkopfchen?  Black Tula?  Peacevine Cherry? Green Zebra??)  He now has no name, and no home, because some fool forgot that her little garden could not possible handle 80 gazillion tomato plants.  I swear every time I walk by him he looks at me with this pathetic little look, waving his sad lil leaves like, "Whyyy??  Why don't you love meeeee??"  I think I'll kick my now-done bean plant out of it's big roomy planter, and move Lil Dude in.  I can't take his complaining anymore.
So what did I miss?  Who's pregnant?  Who fell off the wagon, and who climbed back on?  Who was forced into a psychiatric facility?  Catch me up!