Question 2: What did you plant in your garden this summer and how did it do?

I am proud of my garden efforts this summer. TJ and the girls planted the garden, and TJ watered it with the sprinkler each morning. But I weeded like a madwoman for those crucial first couple of months after planting. I was so committed to weeding every two to three days, and it felt good to be faithful.

We have four garden boxes. One garden box was entirely zucchini plants (five of them). The second garden box was four yellow squash plants and one pattypan squash plant. The third box was cucumbers, a couple bell pepper plants, one kale plant, and nasturtium flowers. The fourth box was more cucumbers, one eggplant, one broccoli plant, a row of romaine lettuce, a row of Swiss chard, and a couple more nasturtiums. We also have a huge rosemary plant that has been in one corner of the fourth box for the past few years.

Because I like to keep track of things, I took a picture each time I picked produce from the garden and then made a list from the pictures of what I picked on what dates.

If you’re wondering what I’ve done with this much produce, let me tell you. I make a veggie tray for us every single night plus any time we have friends over for dinner, so that uses up a lot of cucumbers. Sailor eats cucumbers for snacks and we put cucumbers on salads. I have given away quite a few cucumbers, and I still have about 50 cucumbers in my fridge! I have loved, loved, loved not buying store-bought cucumbers for weeks on end.

As far as the squash, I roast a tray of assorted squash most nights that we eat at home. I eat an entire plate of roasted squash as a side to whatever meal we are having. Roasted squash is one of my top five favorite foods on the planet.

It is very cool to grow food you can eat, but as much as I have loved eating these veggies all summer, it has also been a treat just to see their beauty each time I picked them.

P.S. I also took care of three herbs in pots all summer (mint, sage, and basil). I watered them every single day except my birthday. I gave myself one day off!