Another day

Another dollar. Or so the saying goes. Here, it's another day, another injury and another screaming kid. But, enough about that. Thought I'd show my proof that the sun is finally shining around here, at least a little:

The portaluca is *finally* blooming. Here is what 2 weeks of straight rain and then me out of town for another week did to my garden:

Anyone ever have "white beauty" eggplant and more importantly, would anyone who I might see soon like one? I'm the only one here who eats eggplant but I thought it'd be fun to try to grow. Apparently these are ripe when they turn golden yellow so unless I get some comment or email that that's wrong info I'll be back out to pick them later today. I had to come back in to get some scissors and got waylaid by some kid needing something.

I'm also planning to pawn off some peppers on the girls when they come over tomorrow night. You know who you are so remind me when you're here. We have a few varieties, but I was pretty impressed with the production of the hot banana peppers.

And finally, the mystery plant of the day:
Sunshine is convinced it is a random veggie sprouted from last years seeds and won't let me pull it. However, I think he is wrong and it is ugly and needs to be pulled. What do you think?

Dy won last weeks contest with the answer of Beautyberry. I'm not 100 percent sure but I like the sound of her answer better than Delaine's answer of "weed." I resent the weed label on anything that grows in my yard and looks pretty with no effort at all. So, Dy is the lucky winner of a free evening at my house playing games. As the second runner-up, Delaine will also get a free evening at my house playing games. Candy gets an honorable mention for trying, but there were not any peppers so that can't be right. So Candy can come over too. haha.

I thought I had some photos of the kids on the camera, but apparently not. Maybe next time.

Tomato thief

I finally discovered what's been nibbling on my tomatoes. Squirrels! I finally got the netting up to protect them from the birds and now the squirrels have decided they like tomatoes better than acorns. I can't seem to get a photo, but I've seen them scampering toward the corner of the netting that keeps getting pulled back, then back across the yard. I guess if it ever stops raining I'll figure out something to do about it.

What doesn't make sense is that the pesky critters are only eating the tomatoes in the main part of the garden and ignoring the extras I planted in pots. No complaints, though. At least we're getting a few to eat! Luckily I haven't been watering this year with all the rain so I'm not as irritated as I might be - I haven't worked too hard for those tomatoes. Still, I'd like to eat a few and Mark's going to be disappointed if I can't make up extra spaghetti sauce this year.

Sadly, my cucumbers don't seem to be producing much, so all I've really got to show for all my springtime gardening is a peck of peppers and several almost-ripe eggplants. Oh well. Better luck next year. I'll try to post some pics of my overgrown veggie garden later.

June showers bring...

All the rain in late June and early July brought strange, out of control plants to my backyard. If this plant was in my yard 2 weeks ago, it was just barely starting to grow. The kid next door verified that it was *definitely* not here two weeks ago. Here it is now, along w/ the rest of the overgrown stuff in the back corner of my yard:

That spike at the top above the other plants but not quite as tall as the neighbor's tree is part of this same plant. I know what most of that stuff is - it's all the plants that Mark chopped "too far" back in the early Spring. They are now taking over our yard. Here are a couple of closeups of the mystery plant:

It has white flowers:

And dark pink flowers:

Which turn into green, then dark purple berries:

The berries kind of look like blueberries but don't really have any flavor. (shhhh. Do NOT tell you-know-who I tasted strange plants growing in our yard or he'll have me at the ER before you can say "yuck"!)

It's a really pretty plant and I'd love to know what it is. Anyone know? I'll likely have to cut it down or at least chop it back. And if the berries are edible..... hmmmm.. Strange berry pie anyone?

We also have a few other "not planted" but at least recognized plants out there. Looks like I have my weekend plans set for the next month or two.