The sunflowers I planted and replanted and replanted again thanks to our chipmunk friends grew several feet. The 10 inch plants I thought I would never see blossom reached the top of our 4 foot fence.

The paths are no more. Everything that was growing up and supported fell down and kept growing. There must have been a storm while we were away because the tomato cages are diagonal and the pean boles are hidden from view. Both the tomato and bean plants are now shrubs. Before I left, I harvested everything that was ready or near ready. I came home to tubs of tomatoes that I literally had to crawl on my hands and knees to reach.

I was making tomato sauce at midnight and I still have more to put by. My herb garden, my sweet little herb garden, is a willful beast of flowering plants. The dill is prehistoric and the lemon verbena, that I wish I had planted more of, needs to be slashed. I can't even see the lavender. Next year forget about the dwarf lavandula and go big!

And the interplantings of herbs in the other two boxes? The mint has flowered. It shows every sign of being as invasive as everyone said it would. The interplantings of basil are lost in the tomatoes. I never knew nasturiums could grow that big and lush. And the corn! The corn has tassels.

Anything I had second thoughts about ("I planted too late", "it will never mature", "I should have started seedlings") is laughing at me right now. I ran to Farm and Fleet and bought a dehydrator and my first set of canning jars. The preservation strategies I was contemplating for the end of August have to start NOW! Ripening fruit waits for no one. I need to learn how to cook, not by recipe but by harvest. And next year, I need some serious structures. Upward, huge and sturdy. No matter how insignificant my seedlings look.

As for the Northwoods, they seriously beckon. If and when we do make the move, you can bet I'm taking my square foot methods with me. That and electric fencing for the bear. My favorite pasttime? Photographing plants.

Again prune or not prune. As I was cutting masses and masses of non producing branches (no sign of flowers or fruit) I wondered, how is the plant to photosynthesize? The persistence of suckers also seems to provide a really solid interlocking support structure. I need to read 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden by Carolyn J. Male for guidance. I'm not sure if the Black Cherry is an heirloom but I remember her descriptions of heirloom specific growth patterns, and prunning in general, to be very detailed.

I did find a new varmint. I know I should be horrified but it is quite beautiful. I'm not sure if this is the mouth or the business end. Its eye spots run the length of it so it's hard to know where it begins or ends. Didn't do much damage that I can tell. So soft to the touch. I dumped it with all the prunnings in the compost bin. I didn't have the heart to dissect it.

First tomatoes of the season came from Tiny Tim although the Black Cherry is very, very close.

Huddled alongside were nasturium blossoms. They're supposed to be tasty in salads but I haven't tried them yet.

Except of course the carrots. A week ago I bought some carrots at the farmers market only to toss them in the frig. They didn't look so good so I tossed them in the compost pile. The guilt was terrible. So I tried harvesting my own carrots. The leaves were tall, the carrots tiny, but the flavour was intense. We used them as toothpicks.

Eating this way really requires new habits, which I fully expected when I started this project. To get the full benefit of good fresh produce, you need to eat it, cook it, preserve it immediately. Not when you feel like it. It also requires that you actually cook, not nuke, the ingredients you have on hand. That really requires a repertoire of cooking techniques and recipes, which I'm learning. It also requires a whole new approach to time, which I'm also learning. I'm open to it because I suspect the time saving approach to food (procuring, preparation, consuming) is flawed. What I've been saving in food time I've been losing in family time. Jim and I really enjoyed yesterday's meal. He's a wonderful cook of course but coming together, in the preparation and then enjoyment of it, was really special.

All this in six inches of soil, no fertilizer and crammed with companion plants. There are other miracles of course. The onion turrets have blossomed.

This is one of those pictures that makes me really glad I'm new to all this. Had I grown up around vegetable gardens I might have taken blossoms like this for granted. Soon after a bumblebee sampled the flowers on this blossom. They smell like onions to me but maybe nectar is nectar. Although, the flowers bees visit do affect the flavor of the honey. There's lavender honey, clover, even woodsy honey. What flavor would fields of alliums impart? I thought the smell was supposed to deter insects. Maybe not all?

Which reminds me, I have varmints. Very few I must say. A couple of japanese beetles AND a mystery villain that has been eating my sunflower seeds as fast as I can plant them. I suspect two resident chipmunks. The amount of insects that visit the garden is overwhelming. I don't know what this is but the color is amazing.

Next are preserving strategies. I've started drying and freezing basil but my repertoire needs to expand fast because that's not the only thing that's ready.

For the first time I'm pruning my tomatoes severely. I'm trying to keep the gap between the soil and the square foot strips clear of vegetation so there's good air circulation around the base of the tomatoes. Everything is just so lush it seems I'm pruning my tomatoes at least twice a week.

Pruning is also supposed to promote more fruit. Right now my goal is to avoid fungal diseases, which my mature plants are prone to in the Fall. This is the first time though I've actually seen mushrooms, cup mushrooms to be exact, form under my tomatoes. Not all mind you. Just the Black Cherry tomatoes.

I need to identify them and research their effect, if any, on tomatoes. I'm also ambivalent about severe pruning on ALL of my tomato plants. I planted a variety so their growth habits are really different. I wonder if different varieities call for different approaches? The only exception is Tiny Tim which is so compact and well mannered, it doesn't appear to need anything at all from me. At the very least, the pruning helped the sun loving interplantings of basil. I've got four varieties so far. Pictures will follow along with an attempt at pesto.

Which reminds me, I need to find a really good way to start preserving my herbs. This weekend I made melt and pour glycerin soaps with spearmint. I just chopped some spearmint, freshly picked of course, and blended it in with the glycerin. The soap turned a lovely green, saponfies nicely and releases the mildest of scents. Next time I think I'll add some essential oil.

...and these!

So this view from my bedroom keeps me going out there. And since planting isn't a one shot deal, there's always something to check. Did the lavender seeds sprout? How is the second planting of peas coming along? Should I plant more corn or give the stragglers a bit time?

The learning is not just coming from the garden. We leased a small part of our back plot to a grower who is furnishing fresh herbs and veggies to a local organic restaurant. From her dad I learned how to pinch back basil and prune tomatoes. When I shared my crazy "no till" scheme to grow corn, he said, ah yes, that's called lasagna gardening. Lasagna what? Sure enough, there's a book out there called Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. I picked it up for my birthday. If I can ever let go of The Seasons on Henry's Farm by Terra Brockman, I'll consume it heartily as it looks like a great read.

Final note, on my birthday my 14th year old stepson Logan and I planted sunflowers against the garage wall using what I now know to be the lasagna method. That Logan took over the planting and then remarked "it was a fun way to spend the day", was birthday present enough for me. And look what Daddy brought home!

So what does gardening have to do with knitting? Not much, not yet. Although I do see a dye garden in my future. Like knitting and spinning, gardening is something I've always wanted to pour myself into. If homesteading had merit badges, gardening is yet another badge. Like knitting and spinning, it's a huge slippery slope of learning adventures. Which is why I find it so compelling. Whoever took up spinning and just stopped at one fiber, one technique, one wheel even? So here goes...

Although I've done square foot gardening before, this is the first time I've maintained this many boxes so close to my front door. After playing around with different organizing schemes I came up with box names and ABC 123 designations. The idea behind this is that I could add a record marked Tilly B3 – Lemon Verbena and write a journal entry that I could easily track back by box and location for the following season. In the case of Lemon Verbena, I want to grow tons more. Having kept records on its growth habit and what I can use it for, I have something to base next year's decisions on.

For example, let me introduce you to Tillie. Tillie is my herb garden, or rather my "introduction to herbs" garden. Besides the dried up herbs I buy at the supermarket I know very little about herbs. I planted Tillie on May 25th. I'd love to say I raised the seedlings myself but no. Not this time. I bought all my herbs at Countryside Nursery. I chose them based on how pretty they looked, how familiar their names sounded and their smell. Having bought plants instead of seeds enabled me to choose them based on my senses rather than a description in a seed catalog. Not a bad approach for a newbie.

It's hard to resist filling up the whole square. Gardens always look so wimpy when you first set them up. Just one month later...

This is what Tillie looked like this morning. The only plant that hasn't spread is the Dwarf Lavender. I want more Lavender, much more, so I planted a different variety, 'Lady' Lavender, next to the Dwarf. Seeds this time, not plants.

What is it now, a year later. No matter, finally said apron is done and and will be shipped off tomorrow. I used the same fabric plus a Lady Bug accent which I hope will reignite Joachim's Lady Bug craze.

I think it's cruel to deny your crafty sibling the opportunity to shower you with handmade lovelies. Unless of course he thinks my handmade lovelies are crummy....

Nah! He would have told me by now.