Gifts from Planet Earth

Voyager 2 was launched 33 years ago, today. It's out there, it's still functioning, and it's still sending back data. Search for Voyager and check out NASA's page on it if you think that's just the coolest thing.

Down here on Earth, I've been eating things that just mysteriously grow out of the ground, like magic. Things like cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, more tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, squash, watermelon and even some more tomatoes!

I didn't like tomatoes before my wife planted a garden. They were OK on sandwiches, but then I never had a tomato that I picked myself. I've been eating a lot of them lately.

But first, there were cucumbers.

Lots and lots of cucumbers. We have had so many cucumbers, we've been giving them away, and some have ended up in the new composter we just got. These are pretty good cucumbers, and are perfect for making pickles, although we haven't made any pickles out of them. Maybe next time.

This picture is of one of the early cucumbers - beautiful and perfect. They're getting kind of odd now (oddly shaped, often bloated), but there's still an occasional nice one, like the one below.

I haven't picked it, yet. Probably tomorrow. We've still got so many in the house. Usually, there's always one on the counter, and my wife and I just cut pieces off of it throughout the day and eat it. But I had been picking and eating these for quite some time until I discovered there were TWO kinds of cucumbers growing!

These have pretty much run their course, it seems, but there's still some stubby ones popping up. I haven't eaten much of these, as I don't like them as well.

I didn't get any pictures worth showing of the lettuce, broccoli, green beans, grapes, onions, squash, jalapenos or watermelon (the grapes are not well, and the lettuce and broccoli are rather unrecognizable - I think they're really winter crops - and we finished off the snow peas - or were they snap peas? - early in the season, as those were among my favorite - RIGHT OFF THE VINE!).

But the one crop that surprised me the most were the tomatoes. OMG, the tomatoes!

It is difficult to get perspective here, but the tomatoes are growing wild, and there are way more tomatoes hidden in here than you can see (the cherry ones are hiding in the back). Well, kind of everything is growing wild in this garden, as we don't know the first thing about pruning...yet. There are other things in this shot - the tomatoes have overgrown the green beans on the left, and the jalapenos standing up in the back, and are encroaching on the squash on the right. I have been eating tomatoes (the small cherry ones) fresh off the plant every day now for a month. And there's a whole lot more to come than I have eaten thus far! The big ones are starting to ripen.

I don't like the big ones as much as the little ones, but the little ones are just ... candy. They're candy. I swear, some of them taste like grapes. I started eating salads rather frequently (almost daily) JUST as an excuse to eat the tomatoes. And if you know anything about me, your jaw would drop to the floor in disbelief. Why?

Because I don't like to eat.

Amazing, but true. But I'm finding it is so much fun to go out and check the garden every day. There's a huge family of quail that I find in there every so often - they dig around in the dirt, and probably eat bugs. There's also a lot of tiny little frogs that live in the garden, which is probably why nothing has been decimated by aphids or tomato worms this year (today was the first time I saw any bad bugs, and they're attacking a single green bean plant). And I've even named some of the lizards I see frequently running around (Norna, Gureld, Dinka and Slunk).

Just kidding. I've only named one. That way, whenever I see a lizard I can say, "there's Norna!"

Fortunately, the deer have not gotten in, although they have eaten some things that have managed to grow out through the fence. And it appears that the rabbits found a way in just yesterday for the first time, as is evident in this picture:

How dare they eat our tomatoes!!! But then, just look at them. How could they resist?

The gate into the garden is the vulnerable point. We have to add some screen or chicken wire or something to keep out the smaller animals. Including our cat, who likes to do its business in there sometimes.

Anyway, it's quite an experience to see things just grow out of the ground, and then to pick them off and eat them. Just like that! It kind of brings you back to nature. I never thought I would enjoy a garden. Well, it's a whole lot more enjoyable this year now that everything is on an automatic drip irrigation system!

Tomatoes anyone?