Our raised bed is booming at both ends, and we're working on getting the middle filled in.

At one end, we've got a spicy salad mix that includes mustard greens, frisee, and a few other things that we're not exactly sure what they are (if you recognize any of it, definitely let me know!).



As you can see, just a few hot and sunny days in Seattle, combined with the fact that we weren't quite sure when/how to harvest these greens, means they got a little bit TOO big, and the frisee totally bolted. However, this weekend we finally got around to plucking the biggest of the greens. Our first harvest of the year! Sadly, the bolted frisee was pretty much a loss, though I did enjoy its pretty yellow flowers. On the other hand, those big fat mustard green leaves cooked up beautifully in a simple fritatta that included bok choy purchased from one of our nearby farmers markets, a little onion and garlic, and some grape tomatoes. Topped with salsa verde and sour cream, it made a scrumptious dinner, much of which even our 8-month-old could eat.

Also down at that end of the bed, the peas are already fattening up, and some of them were ready to harvest this morning. We haven't eaten what we picked yet, but I did taste one while still out in the garden, and it was sweet and juicy. The flavor of summer. Here, have a look:




I think, as a newbie gardener, peas are my favorite. So easy to make them grow and they aren't fussy if you plant them a smidgen too early in the season. Plus, it gives you an excuse to build some kind of lattice/climbing contraption. We made do with some pieces of wood and string we had around the house, and I think it actually looks pretty good! Also, they have really taught me that the notion that plants are immobile is a fallacy. These little guys can move, reaching their tendrils across wide spaces and winding themselves around anything that they can find. Finally, what's not to love about their sweet and dainty flowers?

Down at the other end of our veggie bed, the squash plants pretty much doubled in size during last week's heat wave. We have two varieties: black beauty zucchini and butternut squash. I'm thinking it's a good thing we heeded the spacing directions on the seed packet, since these bad boys are growing as if they are on steroids.



So that's what's going on in the veggie bed. All this lush greenery got us excited to plant a few more things this weekend. We now have leeks, onions, chard, beets, cucumbers, pole beans, and a couple of kinds of peppers in the ground. We just went for it and planted from seeds, so I'm pretty nervous that they won't actually grow, but we figured it was worth a try.

I'll end with a final shot. This is my husband's project more than it is my own. He is trying the whole upside-down-tomato thing and has started two plants growing down out of the bottom of some buckets. They're doing great so far, about 2 weeks after transplanting into their new gravity-defying position.