It's a jungle out there (or, a garden update)

Is it really an update when I didn't tell you about it in the first place?  I dunno.  Whatever.  I'm too tired to think about that right now.

Anyway, it's a jungle out there.  According to the square foot garden people, tomato plants can be spaced one per square foot, so last year, that's what I did.  And those plants got huge!  And crowded out everything else in that bed, including the poor zucchini plants.  So this year, I decided to give the tomatoes a little more space.  This year, I planted 8 tomatoes in 16 square feet.  And just look what happened.

 It's so thick in there, you can't see through.  I'm loving it, because I'm thinking this much tomato vegetation means lots and lots of tomatoes for me.  But once again, I have to say I am thankful that tomatoes turn a color other than green when they are ripe.

Here's the first tomato to set (that I'm aware of).  I'm watching it to give me an indication of when the first harvest will be ready.

 Tomatoes are not the only thing I planted this year.  I also planted zucchini.  They're doing amazingly, out from under the tyranny of the tomato plants.  I think they're taller than Bubby.

And this is what happens when you go away for 3 days, in July, leaving your zucchini plants unattended.  I guess I should have included something in there for size comparison, but suffice it to say--those things are huge.  If you've never grown zucchini, you might not know this, but those suckers can go from non-existent to baseball bat in a matter of days.

 

I was talking to AKD this morning about the salsa (yes, I broke down and bought tomatoes, and I was making sure that he was still willing to help), and I said we could put zucchini in it.  AKD insisted that we needed to save all of the zucchini for zucchini muffins.  Um.  I'm harvesting a zucchini a day.  Each zucchini makes two dozen muffins.  That's a lot of muffins.  I don't think even AKD can keep up with that kind of production.  For the first time ever, I will have zucchini to celebrate national sneak zucchini onto your neighbor's porch day.  Yes. It's an actual thing.  Don't say I didn't warn you, neighbors.

I also planted strawberries this year.  And I've gotten to eat one.  Some creature keeps sneaking in and eating them as soon as they're ripe.

And that's it.  Tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries.  But really, what else does a person need?  Oh. radishes.  Apparently, Hubby needs radishes.  Unfortunately, he didn't tell me he needed radishes until a couple of weeks ago, and now it's too hot for the poor little things.  They're going into the zucchini/strawberry bed at the beginning of September.

I'm already planning for next year.  They boys said they would build another 4 x 4 foot garden bed for me, so next year it'll be strawberries (with better protection) in one, tomatoes in another, and zucchini, corn, and pumpkins, as well as any other random veggies or fruits the fam wants in the third.  I'm also thinking of planting asparagus in another, already existing bed, but we'll see.

And that's what's happening in the jungle garden.  I'll leave you with this picture of the jungle canopy.