Today's Harvest

I have never eaten so much salad in my life.

Garden Greens

I meant to take pictures of the delicious salad we had last night, but I ate it too fast! We have been eating greens from that garden nearly every day for the last couple of weeks. It is beet thinning time, so the greens are a mix of Bloomberg spinach, butter leaf lettuce, and golden, bull's blood, and early wonder beets. They are so much tastier than what you get from the store and once properly washed they are good in the fridge for more than a week. That is the longest they've gone without getting eaten, so I don't know if they keep longer.

Oklahoma Redbud & The Front Yard

In our front yard we have some nice little trees and a bush. There is also a couple of cacti, I planted some sunflowers and coneflowers under the window, and there are two window boxes with basil, feverfew, and echinacea. It is pretty nice, but much of it is mulched with walnut shells. I liked it that way, but now there are weeds everywhere. I also like having green around, so I haven't been completely pulling them. I guess I need to make a decision: green on the ground, or no. I guess I'll try pulling them and see how I like it. They are weeds after all; I'm sure they'll come back. Quick note on weeds -- I am okay with dandelions and crabgrass, but there is one particularly aggressive weed in our yard that I hate. I don't know what it is, but when it gets tall and you cut it, the stems are like knives.

Mystery Tree

I don't know what this is either, but it is doing good.

Mystery Bush

I don't know what this is, but it is a good desert substitute for forsythia.

My Gourds are Sprouting!

I planted pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and sunflowers a week and a half ago and they are coming up great. That is zucchini in the top image then squash, pumpkin, and a sunflower. I love growing these because they grow quickly and produce a lot. Since our yard is mostly dirt, the pumpkins spread out and make it look lush while protecting the soil and encouraging the grass to grow. The zucchini, courtesy of my cousin Stephanie, are sprouting even bigger than the pumpkins. I have never grown them before, but I'm really looking forward to it. The sunflowers I planted have a fighting chance this year, because the dogs have more room in the yard and don't feel the need to trample everything I plant outside of the garden bed. I can't believe it's still April and almost the whole garden is planted. I am liking this longer growing season.

Tomatoes and Peppers