So Pleasant Valley

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 Wow! Our tomato plants are taking off. We've all of a sudden gotten many little green bulbs growing out there. It is amazing...

And just in case you were wondering about  tomatoes...

6 + 4 +3 equals a whole lot of cucumbers!

Just giving them a way. Good reports  back!

We finally have one tomato growing on the vine. Lets hope it makes it. Red will get the honor to eat the first tomato of the year - with cucumber.

The squash plants are taking a beating by bugs. The cucumber plant destroyed one of the strawberry plants but the other strawberry plant still lives.

We also have several chilies, which are guppie size right now. But let me tell you they are screaming hot.

 Yesterday, there were six more cucumbers out on the vine - enough to share with our neighbors as we could not keep any more for ourselves.

So far, we've had eight cucumbers. The first one was the one that seemed to appear out of thin air, and we ate it right away.

Then, Gary plucked another off the vine and I gave that away to Kelley at work. But that same day, I came home and Gary said he'd pulled off another six - two he used to make a salad and the other four we've still got.

Another five are about ready to be plucked off the vine in the next day or so. Plus, there are a bunch of small ones...

But still no tomatoes...

...Pictures coming soon...

The cucumber has been eaten and is yummy in my tummy, burp. -gp

As I was hooking up the soaker hose to spritz the veggie garden this evening, I saw our first cucumber. It's a biggie!

I can't understand how it's possible that neither of us noticed it before now - it obviously has been growing for a bit...

Still no tomatoes....
 

This year, Gary and I decided to build a raised bed for our vegetable garden. Gary's parents came up this spring to help us, and we planted four tomato plants. Other plants included a bell pepper, a hot pepper, a cucumber, squash and a zucchini. We moved the strawberry plant - and ended up dividing it into two plants. Gary was convinced that we'd killed his strawberry plants but they have produced quite a few little strawberries - quite tasty! We got one tomato and a pathetic little bell pepper right away, and we've gotten lots of flowers but they don't seem to be pollinating. We'll see...

In addition, we dug out the corner of the yard near the veggie garden and put a two-tiered flower garden with an Esperanza bush on the top tier and geraniums on the bottom.

The big project was definitely putting in the butterfly garden. Gary initially agreed to put it next to the shed, where we'd transplanted some bushes the year before. Neither of us really liked the bushes all that much, and I was in the market for some color. We planted all manner of plants - Mexican Sage, another Esperanza, Lantana, Verbena, Marigolds, Bluebonnets (they didn't last long but I am hoping they seeded), Egyptian Star and several other "experimental" plants. At first, I didn't think it was doing all that well but it has taken off the last few weeks. The Lantana plants, of course, are doing quite well and have added some very nice color to the backyard.