When Life Gives You Lemons...

So...the garden...

The help I was promised has never materialized and nothing has been watered so that there's anything still growing in this heat is amazing.  There are lots of melons (really no surprise there given all that we planted) and tomatoes.  The melons aren't quite ready to harvest yet, but the tomatoes are!

I love tomatoes.  They're one of the top ten best things about summer.  (In case you're wondering, #1 best thing about summer is round hay bales, and the #2 best thing is the 4th of July.)

Since I had fresh produce it was pretty much mandatory that I make something with it for lunch.  I just happened to notice there was fresh basil in the window sill and then I found part of a fresh mozzarella ball in the fridge.  Kismet?  Add a little butter and some heat and you get a very yummy. summery sandwich.

**full disclosure**  I burned one side of the sandwich so I scraped off the black and photographed the opposing side.

This is definitely going to be a summer lunch staple.  I don't think it would work as well with store bought tomatoes, aka red cardboard.

Martha Knows Al

I went home yesterday after work to finish up the planting of hilled fruits.  Kristen came with, both for moral support and because gardening is fun!  Plus Tuesday nights are our get together nights.

We planted 5 hills of pumpkins and 14 hills of various kinds of squash (butternut, patty pan, spaghetti, zucchini, etc.).  All told, including the watermelon I planted on Saturday, we have 24 hills planted.  If you figure 4 plants per hill and two fruits per plant we're talking a hundred melons.  Even if you cut it down to two plants per hill...sheesh...  Dad said, "Well that's not even enough for sharing."

Kristen was a big help though.  I was in charge of the cutting of the carpet (don't ask...) because it's a horrible job and because Kristen can't be trusted with sharp objects.  She bleeds and I laugh -- it's a bad combo.  Anyway, on Saturday I was cutting circles in the carpet.  Dad suggested yesterday that it might be easier to cut squares, until Kristen said, "Just cut an X -- then you're only making two cuts."  GENIUS!

Even with that it took us 2+ hours.  We were finishing by the light of the moon (through the clouds).  It's a good thing the seeds were white otherwise we'd never have been able to see them.

I still have to plant corn and beans this weekend.  Anybody want to sign up now for a share of the crop?

In other news, I made a delicious dinner tonight:

It's "Greek Chicken".  Basically chicken, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, mint, and feta cheese -- YUM!  I got the recipe from here.  Martha knows al.  Heh, I'm leaving that typo.  But seriously, Martha really does know all.  She even knows what you did last summer.

And yes, I use paper plates and plastic forks.  Don't judge me.  When you come over I'll get out the real dishes.

Weekend!

Headed home tomorrow to work in the garden with my Dad.  We've got onions, peas, potatoes, and tomatoes planted.  We've got more tomatoes, corn, green beans, watermelon, and pumpkins still to plant.  There may also be assorted other thing -- when I go home I never know what I'm going to find...or get roped into...

Peas are my favorite, but I've never grown them before.  That's probably my favorite part so far.

So here's to hoping that a.) the rain stops, b.) the cows haven't escaped and trampled the garden, and c.) I wake up early enough in the morning.

So on that note, I retire.