Today was a fun morning in the garden. we had a nice start on bean harvesting, the kids helped but let me have the quiet and we had a guest… 

 I harvested a basket full of bean with my sweet 7 year old.

I found some more pickling cucumbers growing. I have quite a few zucchini on their way and my tomato plants are bursting with green tomatoes.

When we first moved here in February the garden spot was overrun with weeds and grass. My weeding method was to take a big shovel, dig up everything and save as much soil as possible.  The picture below shows it after cleaning two beds and removing the big,tall brown dead plants.

Before picture with a couple beds cleaned and all the large dead plants removed.

Now it is beautiful. I have been surprised to find it has become a place I love to be and doesn’t feel like a burden to care for.

My garden today

As I have shared before, I am pretty new at gardening and this year my green beans are pretty random. I am calling it an experiment. 🙂

Due to the large volume of cleanup, by the time I was planting I was ready for a break. But time doesn’t stand still so on to planting I went. When I went to plant I started with Blue Lake seeds and quickly ran out. I didn’t remember where I purchased them so I went to the store nearest to get more. They did not have that variety so I got Kentucky Wonders.  After planting those I still needed more, so I went to yet another store and no Kentucky Wonders or Blue Lakes, so I got some McCaslan. I know, quite random and not my usual way of doing things but honestly I just wanted it done. I figured it would be a great way to see what kind I liked the best.

Now that they are all starting to produce, I took one of each and the kids and I did a taste test. Everyone agreed, all were good but we liked the flavor of the Blue Lake variety the best. I think next year I will try to find some heirlooms of that variety and see if I can grow my own and save some pods for replanting the year after. Don’t know how to do that yet… so if you have some great advice I would love to hear it.

After the kids had gone off to play on the swings and I was finishing up my watering I found this little guy

He looks a bit irritated by my presence. So, I am sure he was thrilled when the kids came to say hi. I spared him their handling and told them eyes only.  He is about the size of a quarter. God creates some amazing, wonderful creatures.

Happy Gardening,

The Frabjus Lady