Life

2018 Garden Update I

I have our first official garden update of the season! We planted on May 28th and I took some pictures on June 18th, exactly three weeks later.

Here’s what the garden looked like on the day we planted.

Vegetable garden with steel and wood fence and landscaping fabric

And here’s what it looks like three weeks later!

Just from looking at these pictures, I think the tomatoes (the plants closest to the bottom of the picture) have seen the most growth. The cucumber and zucchini plants are also taking off as well. They’re at the top of the picture, in the back of the garden.

We haven’t harvested anything yet, but are probably getting close to having a cucumber or zucchini will pop up seemingly overnight, as they tend to do!

Zucchini blossom in vegetable garden

As you can see above, the zucchini is starting to grow! The “stem” of the flower in the photo is actually the zucchini. All of the buds on the plant (the little oval green things near the blossom) will turn into flowers and grow into zucchini as well!

We also have some cherry tomatoes coming in and they are so fragrant. I love walking up to the garden and just sniffing the tomatoes. I’m sure our neighbors think I’m a little weird 😉

Cherry tomatoes on vine that are unripe and ripening in vegetable gardenSwiss chard growing in vegetable garden

The above photo is the swiss chard. It’s still a little small, and if I pick it, I’d consider it baby swiss chard. Baby swiss chard is sweeter and a lot less bitter than full-grown chard, so I just might have to harvest some this week!

We also have some mini peppers coming in. They’re the multicolored variety, so we’re just waiting for them to turn from green to either orange, red, purple, or yellow.

Mini bell pepper ripening in vegetable garden

Other notes

I think that’s everything for the first garden update of the season. We are so excited to start harvesting some vegetables soon!

Five Things

Hey hey! I feel so behind on all things blog-related. I’m here now, and ready to discuss some random things, as always.

1. A date! I think it was a weekend or two ago that Jimmy and I went to Trax Farms here in Pittsburgh for a little afternoon date and it was lovely. Yes, our idea of a date is going to a farm store 🙂

Girl looking at garden and farm store Trax Farms in Pittsburgh, PA

Speaking of Jimmy and I, our wedding anniversary is tomorrow! I can’t believe we’ve been married four years now. It feels like just yesterday we were walking down the aisle, taking pictures, dancing at our reception, going on our honeymoon, and settling into our new life together. Now we have a menagerie of animals and have been blessed with a sweet little girl on the way. I can’t say it enough: God. Is. Good. 

2. Speaking of our pets… Malcolm turned two in May, and Mavis and Lola each turn 12 this month: 12 months for Mavis and 12 years for Lola!

Black cat laying in windowsillCocker spaniel laying on black lab funny

Lola, Malcolm, and Mavis keep us busy and make our hearts full. We’re constantly laughing (and sometimes crying…) because of these three musketeers. Also of note, Mavis finally went into heat! I’ll probably post more about it in a 12 month update for her!

3. Swimming. Guys, I went swimming for the first time in like three years! Long-time readers will probably remember that I was a competitive swimmer growing up, and then swam for fun at the gym during college and for a year or two after. I finally got back in the pool last week and it felt amazing, aside from all the huffing and puffing I did 😉

Swimming kick board, pull buoy, paddles, and Thermos Intak waterbottle

4. Granola. I made some banana bread granola for our neighbors as a thank you for a baby outfit they gave us and I thought I’d share the recipe. It’s a keeper! When I first posted the recipe, I called it banana nut granola, but I think banana bread granola better suits it.

Banana bread granola in a mason jar

I also have a great chocolate granola recipe and peanut butter granola recipe. I thought I had a few more granola recipes here on the blog, but they’re currently living in my homemade cookbook. I’ll have to post about them soon! Some of the flavors are coconut almond, cranberry orange, and oatmeal raisin. Now I want a bowl of granola with milk.

5. A thank you. Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post! Everyone had such great input and I’m glad I decided to post about the tough stuff we had been going through. You guys rock 🙂