Deer me!

Well, the deer have really been at it, even biting off limbs of my Green Zebra Tomato plant, which was doing pretty well. Now it is pruned quite significantly. Since it is nearly the end of July, perhaps it won't matter. We don't have that much more tomato growing season here in the PNW.

The garden was beautiful yesterday evening, and I have many finger-sized zucchini on the vine. The lettuce and spinach and chard doing well. I planted the broccoli-raab and some parsley. I weeded a bit and finally found my trowel. Another gardener said, nothing gets stolen here, just ends up in someone else's garden. So there is was, just a bit of the blade picking up the evening light. I'd just hung up a sign for whomever had it to return it. How it got back in my garden, mostly buried, I don't know.

One thing I noticed yesterday that I hadn't before, is the abundance of plums on the plum trees edging the garden. There will be a good crop, perhaps enough to dry some. I have a dryer, a five-stacked layers of black plastic trays with a little heater fan at the bottom. I've dried a lot of cherries and tomatoes and pears and peaches on the thing. The house always smells so sweet and fruity when I prepare the crop this way. It's been years since I did it, so it will be interesting to have a go at it.

Today the grandbaby comes. He has a little cold so we may not get to the garden. We're still going for our morning walk, and perhaps we'll see the train. He has a love/hate relationship with it, as I do. It wakes me several times every night. For him, it's how loud the whistle is. It passes while we're on the board walk that meanders over Bellingham Bay. We're quite lucky here in Bellingham to have so many trails. I'll be going to one this Saturday with a kind man I've met. He isn't a love interest, as my heart isn't ready for that, but he's made a good companion the few times I've spent with him.

All for now. Happy Gardening,

Flower