Why I Oughta...

I spent some time this past week digging around online and physically in ONE pet store looking at fish tanks and equipment.  I had a tank when I was younger (junior high-ish) that was 30 gallons and I had a lot of fun with it.  The Elmhurst Library has a tank and every time I take the Babe there, it is our first stop in the children's section and she goes nuts.  I figure that this might be a fun family activity: keeping a tank.  Nat thinks this is a VERY bad idea for a variety of reasons including the work involved, the upkeep, my track record on things, etc. She's likely correct, but that doesn't mean I won't keep looking and perhaps even pull the trigger. Do you guys have tanks at home with your kids?  Tell me I'm nuts - that this will end up being too much work.  Or...do you and your kids love it?  I think big, so 10 gallons is too small potatoes for me.  I was thinking of 30 gallons as a nice middle ground starter tank.  Freshwater, too.  I'd loooove

As you can see, there are a lot of little green plum tomatoes on our San Marzano plants .   They were slow starters, but have come on fast in the recent days.  Also, on the right you can see a few of the yellow flowers that will (hopefully) turn into even more fruits.  Ideally the plants come in at the same time so I can make a BIG batch of canned tomatoes and not a few different little ones.  Guess I should get out and buy a new case of jars to get the canning process lined up. 

  I planted this little strawberry plant last spring and it really didn't produce anything last year.  But this year?  We have actual berries.  I *think* they're a bit late (Michigan strawberries came in June) but we have one big red berry and a few emerging white-ish ones.   The plant itself is starting to spread out and establish itself, so next year we should see even more.  I'll pull the one berry off soon and the Babe will have a special little treat!

In just a matter of weeks, the little seeds that I planted in the ground have sprung up to cover a lot of the trellis that I installed.  Here's what they looked like three weeks ago right when I put up the trellis . I think I likely planted a few too many seeds, but that's a problem we can fix next year.  They're growing on top of each other, but I'm still hopeful that they'll throw off a lot of beans.  The snap peas, on the other hand, are already flowering and in great shape.  The peas are on the left.  The beans are on the right.  And Maisy snuck in there on the bottom left.

10 steaming yards of it delivered on the driveway.   Our beds are going to be soooo happy.

Yes.  Today is *both* my wife Natalie and my mother Dorothy birthday.  Crazy, eh? As we've done in year's past, we went up to Ravinia to celebrate.  Just like last year, they both are holding cupcakes in the photo , but because we went to see the CSO, they're 'shhhhsh-ing' us like the folks sitting around our group were doing all night.  Here's two incredible special women that I wouldn't be the same without in my life.  Happy Birthday, Nat.  You too, Ma!

Just like last year , a few *surprises* have lept up in the middle of our garden where I poured out our compost bin.  First, I should say that I am SO pleased with the compost this year.  The tumbler really worked it's magic and I (apparently) had the right mix of greens and browns.  I composted ALL of our fall leaves along with a bunch of grass clippings and kitchen scraps.  The result was the pure 'Black Gold' that gardeners dream about.  But, the temp wasn't quite hot enough in the tumbler or the gourds that I threw in there from last year were resistant to heat.  I saw some of the seeds in the mix when I was dumping it out but figured they *couldn't* germinate again like last year.  I pegged it as a fluke last year when something of a hybrid emerged in the form of a (home-named) watermelon gourd .