First off, I always find it hard to rejoice while others are in mourning/shock/etc. My heart goes out to the MN folks and all that transpired there. While it is real knowing we have family and friends there, reading this friend of a friend's blog made it even more real to me, here. Again, our prayers go out to all those affected by this... just as all the other pains across the world, the South Korean captives, bomb attacks in Thailand and Pakistan, not to mention all the others atrocities... *sigh* Come, Lord Jesus, come.

With that, here is our garden these days...

My has it come a long way...

The amazing thing here too, is Jeremiah's tomato plant, in bottom right of the photo, is doing leaps and bounds better than any of our other tomato plants. I don't know if it was the cedar vs. straw or just being more separate from the rest, made it less susceptible to disease and bugs, but whatever the case, it has stayed green the whole time and not one tomato has been stolen from it. Amazing.

We got out to the garden with much trepidation, but not from what you'd think. It was the mosquitoes that put the fear into us. Everytime we have gone as of late, we have come home with some of the most painful bites ever. They were on our faces and legs and they were bad. Friday was not the case, not one mosquito in sight. I don't know where they went, but they weren't there. The weeds at the garden have taken full advantage of the mosquito factor and are a tad out of control. I will try for our next visit to take a crack at them for now, I just wanted to give the plants a good watering.

Jeremiah and Miriam were having fun looking at all the tennis ball sized eggplants growing. They also liked watching the daddy long legs climb effortlessly over the leaves. He tried to snap a photo but the spider would not smile.

Our edamame are in! Well, almost. The estimated date I wrote on their marker is Aug 15th. I wrote the date a week early of actual times. I am excited to see how they taste and if I can make them as yummy as Jade Sisters.

Ezekiel's carrot patch has not been found by the rabbits who have snuck into our garden somehow. They found my tomatoes, but not this patch. Ezekiel is protective of this patch like his toys. He kindly let his brother and sister pick a carrot of their own, but no more. He likes just picking one a visit for some reason.

The carrots are definitely ready to pick though. Ezekiel picked out seeds that make carrots only this big, so they won't get much bigger than this. All the kids love eating them fresh from the garden, even Miriam, who generally does not eat whole carrots.