How Does My Garden Grow?

I met a man whose last name was Rains.  He said when he was in school the kids would sing "rain, rain, go away," and he asked me if I got that to.  Yes!  It's like having a theme song.  So many people I meet immediately serenade me with this song.  If I was a Mary instead of a Rain, would mother goose ask me about my garden instead?  

My garden got off to such a good start.  The early greens in the greenhouse were prolific.  The seeds I planted turned into little plants.  The garden layout was more carefully considered this year, and we hauled over loads of old hay for mulch.  We even built a new compost bin and made some beautiful black gold.  Plus, it rained so much I never had to water the plants with the garden hose.  

I'm not complaining about the tomatoes, yet, but after dedicating so much space to the plants I expected to have more fruits.  I expected to have bushels of tomatoes!  I'll be happy  with baskets of tomatoes.  The plant in the photo above has more green fruits than it does leaves.  I'm not sure my soil is as nutritious as it will someday be.  

Tucked in the back corner of the garden, behind the compost bin, is a small patch that was thickly mulched with old hay.  In this space I planted lettuce, brussel sprouts, zinias, marigolds, cucumbers, and green beans.  The lettuce never amounted to enough for a harvest.  The brussel sprouts died.  The flowers are doing well, but they are buried in the weeds.   They make a pretty background for the cucumber vines.  

The cucumbers are taking over!  They are bitter, but they make wonderful cucumber water when slices and added to ice water.

The beans are climbing their skimpy trellis and making pods.  These are some of those cool heirloom beans that my friend gave me years ago.  I'm allowing one of the plants in the greenhouse to mature so I can harvest seeds for next year.  I'm doing it - I'm keeping the bean lineage alive!  

I should have brought a bigger basket.