[ gardening ] :: this week's bounty

Every morning, and each evening, I walk out to my garden to see what goodies I can pick. I started growing vegetables this summer and started with just 4 tomato plants, 2 okra, and 12 pepper plants (banana, jalapeno, and bell pepper). I had some zucchini squash growing, but I am the only person in Georgia who cannot grow squash. It's mostly due to the fact that my dog, Norman, likes to eat squash, squash blossoms, and apparently squash leaves. (I came home one day and he had eaten an entire 4'x4' plot of plants).

Should I mention that he also likes to roll in the herbs around my veggie garden? Lemon thyme is his favorite. He says it has the good nose-flavor.

This sad, little thyme plant has grown to be quite "fluffy" looking and about 18" around. Maybe Norm has magical plant-growing powers?

The rain has finally let up this week, so the tomatoes are getting a chance to ripen. I'm hoping that the peppers grow a bit bigger too, since the rain seems to have stunted their development and they are not as spicy as they should be!

Not pictured: the 7 banana peppers, 14 cherry tomatoes, and 1 okra I picked this morning.

These tomatoes will be delicious in an Israeli couscous dish my mom shared with me, and the okra will be awesome with some stewed tomatoes over rice. Yum!