Also getting bigger every day

I took these photos and wrote this post two weeks ago. In that time the garden looks totally different, we’ve already made a batch of peppers and my butternut squash plants are so big they’re growing over the fence and into the neighbor’s yard. By now this is more of a look back than an update.

When I planted our garden this year, I knew I was being optimistic. Tom helps with the garden, but I do most of the day-to-day stuff. Since having a newborn  throws your days and nights in a blender and mixes them up until all you’re left with is some sort of grey by-product, I prepared myself for a failed gardening year.

But then Mary Virginia was born in the middle of a tropical storm; it rained every day we were in the hospital. In the two weeks since her arrival, we’ve had sunny days interspersed with soaking rains. Normally we have sprinklers set up to keep the garden watered, but this year I haven’t had to water the garden even once. Besides pinching tomato suckers, the garden hasn’t needed much daily care.

It’s like a baby gift to me. Friends are bringing dinners, family is helping with David, and Mother Nature is keeping my garden watered.

This is our first teeny tiny cherry tomato.

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Last year we dealt with mold and vine borers. This year we lost our first few squashes to blossom end rot (incidentally, probably because of the heavy rains). But things are looking up; I picked our first zucchini yesterday.

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And PEPPERS! We have green bell peppers, a million jalapenos growing, and our Hungarian wax peppers are almost ready.

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Our eggplants seem to be doing well, too. I think the blossoms are so pretty.

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I love how the early blossoms look like tiny eggplants.

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We’re probably most excited about these — our blackberries have shed their petals and the berries are maturing in the sun. Soon, soon, blackberry pie.

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Our Stargazer lilies have multiplied once more, and are blooming, too. (Thanks to Brigham.)

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And my Gerbera daisies, which usually only bloom at the end of summer, decided to get back on schedule and bloom in celebration of Mary Virginia’s arrival.

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If I didn’t have a blog, I would have never known how much I love taking pictures of flowers and vegetables. I actually get excited when I think about composition and framing shots of eggplant blossoms. I know, wild times over at the Krieger’s place.

That’s what happens when you have a baby. You spend all day looking forward to nap time so you can photograph your garden and then edit those photos in peace.

Mark my words, in a few months the only things Kanye will be rapping about are swaddling, sleep schedules, and mommy blogs.

4 Comments

  1. Christine July 11, 2013

    Love the Kanye shout out!
    Love your gerber daisies! Perfect!

    Reply
  2. Jenny Ramey July 11, 2013

    This post made me a little teary eyed. You remind me so much of my mom and she would have loved this post!!
    Me? I’m just plain old impressed! I can barely keep my kids alive, let alone plants. You’re awesome!

    Reply
  3. Rita@thissortaoldlife July 18, 2013

    Visiting from the William Morris project, and just have to say that I’m impressed you can get pictures taken! Your garden looks lovely. We planted vegetables for the first time this year, and now I know that excitement from seeing the first buds. It’s awesome!

    Reply
  4. Julie @ The Family CEO July 18, 2013

    Your pictures are stunning! Isn’t it amazing the things that blogging has to teach us? I also have my first teeny, tiny tomato on my vine, so I share your excitement. 🙂

    Reply

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