I really get a thrill out of our garden. Now that I sized it down I wonder if I made the right choice. Our pumpkins are insane! They grew and spread all over last year, but the leaves were not nearly as big as our are now- they couldn't have been. I've had to lower one side of our garden fencing to accommodate the suckers. I'm scared to think how much of our yard will have been taken over by the beasty plant by October. Seriously. The cucumbers aren't too far behind either.
My poor green onions, carrots and watermelon are just being dwarfed by the pumpkin and cucumber leaves. The corn is holding its own for now. I've had to redirect some of the cucumber vines but they seem to be growing strong. The green beans are also flourishing. They keep climbing and winding around every pole in sight. Oh and the tomatoes! Those appear to be taking over the other fence. They are HUGE. We have already spotted many little green tomatoes too- so I reckon in another month we'll be eating a lot of salsa.
My bib lettuce was doing great for a while- then a few slugs started having their way with it so I'm letting it be and using it mainly to keep found caterpillars alive. We just released one as a moth today! We have one green inchworm in a cocoon, a black caterpillar with bright green racing strips eating lettuce by the ounce and growing at a phenomenal rate. I rescued a teeny tiny green inch worm on the last bit of lettuce that we will likely consume from our garden yesterday. If I can get those pesky slugs gone we'll get to eat more on future taco nights! We have one more caterpillar that will hopefully do it's thing and turn into a moth like the one that we freed today.
I also have 6 romaine lettuce heads that seem to be doing well despite the pumpkin vine that has slithered past it and now stealing sunlight. I planted morning glory around my compost and that too has taken off. The pile is just slightly visible. My mint, basil and cilantro are also just growing like mad. I have one pot of strawberries that seem to still be alive, and a flat of strawberry plants that need to be potted.
We have regular bird friends daily- lots of them. We've even got a green parakeet that must have either escaped or been set free. Owen and I named her (we assume "her" based on nothing at all). Her name is LeeLee. Soon as I can get a picture of her I'll share it. Now we just need to sod the rest of the yard (old garden area) and get a climbing/swing set thing for the kids and our yard will be totally complete. As it is I feel like it is darn near perfect and it all brings me so much peace and joy.