Bloom where you're planted

For all the tilling, watering, feeding, and fussing we do on the garden, let me show you where one of my best squash plants is growing:

Right behind my composter! Not planted, not watered, not even noticed until it got about a foot tall. Who wants to bet it's going to be my best producer of the summer?

Thanks to some good rain and mild temperatures, my garden has taken off this month.

I suspect we may be in a squash "situation" in a few weeks. So for any of my neighbor readers, don't worry if a basket of zucchini mysteriously appears on your doorstep.

I harvested all the onions, which were not very big, but plentiful.

Have you ever pulled potatoes out of the ground? It's good, nerdy gardener fun. You know there's something in there, but how big will it be? Just like opening a present!

Untitled from Susan Hobbs on Vimeo.

Video note: I took those ladybugs over to my tomato plants so they could get some aphid-eating business done over there.

I can't wait until our tomatoes are big enough to include in a fresh basil and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese. Delicious.

These are the cherry tomatoes. The two Celebrity tomato plants are doing great, too.

*********

This weekend Zach and I tackled the 12-mile mountain bike trail at Cedar Hill State Park. It was another great ride, and I'm pleased to say that I get a little better with each ride. "Better" means fewer dead stops at the giant roots on the path, better navigation on the switchbacks, and stronger/faster turns through the plains sections.

There is one section on the trail called "Poison Ivy Ally," and as I glanced at the sign I thought, "Sheesh. Don't fall down here!" What's that called...self-fulfilling prophecy or subliminal suggestion or something? Whatever it's called, not two minutes later I was bailing off my bike head first with my hands out like Superman into a giant patch of greenery. I hopped up like that stuff was on fire and continued along, wondering when the itching would start. Luckily, it never did. 

I was nervous about the 12-mile distance, but we finished in about an hour and 45 minutes with no problem. I even thought my legs were in pretty good shape after the ride...until I got off the bike and had to navigate over a rock protruding two-and-a-half inches off the ground and my knees buckled as I tripped over it. 

It was great fun, and we're hoping to hit a new trail up north of us in a few weeks.

**********

Workout of the Day

RevAbs: Fat Burning Abs (we're off our normal RevAbs schedule due to the bike ride.)