Corny Experiment

I experimented with corn this year.

Daphne husking... And the final outcome... wait for it...wait for it...

Weirdness. Not sure why my corn looks like a hillbilly's toothless smile, but that's what we got this year. Not enough sun, not enough corn planted? Not sure, but I probably won't do it again next year. Too much work and space for what you get. It was a fun little experiment though.

New Formations

Our sunflowers are huge. Tim is 6 feet tall and they tower over him.

There are several flower heads on each stalk, and have just begun to open up.

Jalapenos are my new must have in the garden. I've never grown them before, but we're enjoying them on sandwiches, steaks, omelets and everything else you could imagine.

The pumpkin plant is well on it's way.

And so is my corn. Daphne calls it the corn maze. I'm surprised that they're doing so well despite the patchy sun... I guess we'll see how much they actually produce in this spot.

A tinny watermelon starting to form.

And a spaghetti squash that will be ripe in the fall.

Something else I've been growing... apparently she's sick of saying cheese.

The Minami garden has now been renamed to The Jungle.

Produce Prep

Daphne likes washing the garden veggies. This is her new thing.

Some yellow tomatoes are finally ripening. And a new variety of yellow squash today. The bumpy ones.

Camping @ 38 wks Pregnant

Two more weeks until I have this baby. Oh baby. Camping at Oak Bottom and catching some fish while I wait.

Cousins Lily and Daphne fishing too!

My hubs, being manly and starting a fire.

Mindy cooked some amaaaaazing food and she has 3 kiddos. Amazing woman!

Beach time was fun! Whiskeytown Lake.

Phil caught some.

Phil and Carter tubing. Thanks Kevin for the boat rides!

More beach time.

Family camping trips are THE best!

Kevin taking a break from driving us all around in the boat.

Craig got some too!!

And that's a wrap. Goodbye and goodnight.

Yellow Squash

Harvested today.

More of the same as last time, but added yellow squash!

My helper.

Plums are in abundance right now. They are all over the side yard. Luckily, Daphne eats like 5 a day.

Bigger and Better

Everything is getting bigger! Here are some different angles to show the garden. Yellow squash and corn. Sunflowers in the back. Some of my tomato plants in the front and back. Two of my zucchini plants in the middle. And my ongoing garden mural. A job never done.

One Super Fresh Meal

Cilantro, carrots, edible purple plant, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, beats, jalapeno, strawberries, chard and green peppers harvested today. Nothing like fresh food. Tim caught and fried the fish, I grew and harvested the veggies. Minami's are tearing it up in the kitchen tonight Caught at Brandy Creek, which runs into Whiskeytown Lake.

Flower Power

I've never been one to put a lot of work into a flower garden. I've always thought, "if you can't eat it, what's the point?" But I'm starting to change my mind. First of all, flowers actually help your veggies. They bring butterflies and bees and all those helpful little pollinators that you need to produce anything. But I'm also able to sit outside now and enjoy them more. And I gotta say- looking at those beauties each day makes me feel all happy, warm and squishy inside. The top three were planted from seed. The pansies below were given to us from a friend. I think I'll do more flowers from seed next year. But my favorite flowers are always the veggie blossoms. It means that yummy vegetables are on their way. So far, several of my squash have flowered (along with a bunch of marigolds that I have bordering the raised beds). All of my tomato plants, which were started as indoor seedlings have flowered. A few of them are even starting to grow tomatoes! I always feel super accomplished when seedlings actually turn out. Jalapenos are flowering and starting to produce. I bought these as starters- the seedlings that I tried needed way more time and heat than I anticipated. My cantaloupe are starting to flower as well. Hopefully these work better than last year. I produced one sad little excuse of a melon last time, but I still ate all 6 tinny bites of it with pride. A watermelon plant is on the left. And here's an overview of the general progress of the rest of the Minami garden. Corn... Yellow squash. Beds one and two...the back one looking a little sparse since I just pulled out most of the leafy greens and planted new warm-weather crops from seed. Beds three and four. And finally my peppers and a pumpkin that's starting it's four month journey to becoming a jack o' lantern.