Tomato

This first sunflower (about 6 feet tall) always seems the prettiest.  The brown center is 8 inches across. Add the yellow petals and it is 12 inches across. It came up by itself among the tomatoes and peas.  It attracts bees to pollinate these and other nearby crops. The yellow petals are edible, and when…

Saw our first green, round tomato.  It is only the size of a golf ball, but its the first I have seen.  There have been many, many blossoms, so the season looks good.  Saw two more random plants come up.  Don’t know what they are, but the neighbor hopes they are the small sweet minis…

Turnips have sprouted!  Probably a 90% germination rate.  It hurts my soul to have to thin them, but they grow larger with more space around them.

Picked the first of this year’s fruits.  Delicious!  Now every day I will pick, dehydrate for storage, sell to neighbors, or eat fresh.

Blossoms have appeared on the zucchini.  These are female…you can tell because there is a little bulge at the base of the flower where it attaches to the stem.  After pollination, this little bulge will grow into an edible squash.  I pick them at 8 – 10 inch size when they are tender.

Trying two new winter beans given to me by next door neighbor: Goose bean and Fortex bean.  Both good-eating heirloom types.  Goose is best eaten the day after you cook it.  Fortex pods grow 15 inches long!