I picked the first green beans out of the raised beds today.   Mountaineer Half Runner Green Beans….they are heirloom green beans.

Not one spec of dirt on the beans. No pesticides used. It’s a rewarding feeling to garden this way. If you lived in Mendota long ago, you might not have had to worry about the pests as much as we do today. It’s a daily fight, but one that is worth the trouble. In the morning when I walk through my green beans, my bees fly around me lighting on a leaf now and then. I pretend they are thankng me.   We need these bees.  

Can you find the cucumber in this picture? What is it with cucumbers that makes them so hard to find?   Hint:  it’s in the  bucket…I did a double take when I saw the “message” on the side. I thought…”what kind of bucket am I growing food in?” Well, actually it’s a food grade bucket because it’s warning that children can drown in sugar syrup. Whew!

Do you grow any of your own food? Have you ever tried? Why don’t you comment and tell me? I’m getting lonely here!

I grew this basil from seed, and I believe I’ll start some more. Basil and rosemary…  “go to” herbs. I can keep the basil until frost, but I can usually keep the rosemay throughout the year if I move it inside on extremely cold nights.  I had yellow jackets near where the basil sits last week.   I was stung several times  trying to water my plants.  I water in my pjs, and one of the yellow jackets stung me on my arm, another on my stomach, and another on my leg.     The nest had to be removed.    Did you know that yellow jackets are a gardener’s friend?    I knew this, but Mike said they were definitely not his friend.    One stung him, too.   They had to go as we could not get water to any of the five-gallon bucket plants because they felt their nest was threatened.  Sorry!

Oh no…before I posted this. I did one last “bug run” to pick off Japanese beetles and guess what was on one of my vines.  A June bug…it’s a giant beetle.   Will this ever let up?