Yay Zucchini!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have grown my first big zucchini. This isn't a monster zucchini -- just a 6-inch specimen. But oh, it is beautiful. And considering that I thought this plant was diseased (turned out it's the other one that is), quite a special zucchini.

Last summer, I was the only gardener in the world who couldn't grow zucchini. Maybe it was the soil conditions. Maybe it was because I had to transplant the poor plant. I don't know. It caught something (powdery mildew, mayhaps?), and just wouldn't grow. I was stuck eating little puny 3-inch zucchinis in August and September, and didn't have anything big enough to sneak onto my neighbor's porch.

And now I have my first lovely yellow zucchini. I'm going to grill it and eat it. Yum!

June and July are a time of growing -- so there hasn't been a whole lot to report. Today I staked the tomatoes I had remaining to stake, attempted to get a handle on Tomato-zilla (a Peacevine cherry tomato which is growing out of control), picked my zucchini, and planted some veggies for fall. I planted lettuce, chard, radishes and green onions.

This gardener's life has been quite busy. I'm taking a wilderness class which keeps me outdoors most weekends, and just started playing soccer. All the activity is making me lean and mean -- I'll have the muscles of an Amazon by the end of the summer! I'm taking summer quarter classes at the UW, and have been really enjoying them. Who knew that children's literature could be so fun?

The garden is busy with color -- and honeybees! I've discovered that lavender is a GREAT plant for attracting bees in the garden. You bet I'm going to grow some next year. Every time I go outside, there are these fat little bumblebees buzzing around, pollinating tomatoes and looking quite cute doing so! Because of the cool summer, the lettuce I planted in March is just now going to seed. I feel pretty lucky to have had great salads until now. I still have green onions, too. And my walls-o-water were good purchases -- my neighbor's tomatoes are teeny-tiny, while mine are 4 feet tall and flowering! I've already picked two yellow taxi tomatoes off that plant, and there are about 5-6 others ripening on the vine! It'll be a happy day once those Peacevine cherry tomatoes are ripe -- I easily have 30 tomatoes on that plant, and it's flowering like nobody's business!

Life is good. I'm happy, healthy, and busy. Just the way I like to be.

And my strawberries? I didn't need to test their resilience this summer. The alpine variety is growing quite nicely in my garden. And I did not need to learn any lessons of resilience from them either. This gal's feet have been dancing through these pretty July days, and conquering any challenge that comes her way! Quite a 180 from the dark days of February and March. A few weeks ago, I finally started to feel like I was back to my old plucky self again. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I could not have gotten through those dark days without you. Come visit me during tomato season and I'll cook you up something real nice!