Here's a garden update! Things are growing like crazy out there now! I ate my first tomato today, a "Sweetie" cherry tomato that I grew from seed, starting in February.

I love the bright yellow cucumber blossoms. We should have our first edible cuke tomorrow! I'm not exactly sure how to tell when a cucumber is 'ripe' so I'll have to guess.

This picture is from June 25th. The basil and parsley (grown from seed) are starting to fill out!

Here's a photo from July 17th. Now we're talking! The tomato plants are up above the fence and the cuke vine is taking over!

Another shot for perspective of how lush this garden is.

Some baby tomatoes and blossoms. I think these are grape tomatoes, maybe?

Baby cucumber!

Cute little yard signs I got at JoAnn's. I need this mint to grow some more so I can make mojitos!

Sugar Snap peas grown from seed! These were never prolific enough to cook with, but I ate a handful as a snack everytime I checked on the garden.

Lush patch of Italian flat-leaf parsley.

Pea tendril with tiny spider on it.

Hope you enjoyed the garden tour... next time I'll have bushels of ripe tomatoes to show you (hopefully!).

xoxo

Once we got the frame for the raised vegetable bed built, it was time to fill it! We went to our local garden center/drive-thru beer distributor (yes, you read that right) and bought bags of soil, peat moss, and compost.

The dogs were in their regular supervisory role.

After a little bit of (back-breaking) work, we were left with a pile of empty bags and a full garden!

The girls were relieved.

On a beautiful day in early May, we set out to put our raised vegetable bed together. Following this tutorial from the Pioneer Woman, we got our materials and instructions put together.

The beagles gathered to supervise the process. They like to be the project managers.

Byron got to work making the boards square and even.

He hammered the stakes into the ground to stabilize the box and attach the upper level of boards.

Here's a peek into Byron's man purse, I mean tool bag.

Rosy continued supervising Byron. She takes this job very seriously.

A higher vantage point gives her a better place to view the process.

What a mischievous boy.

After all that hard work, we needed a treat.

Since I determined today that we actually still have a reader (Hi Suzanne!), I've decided to try to revive the blog!! We've been really busy here at Fruits/Roots. I've started working full-time in Oakland and that, coupled with my 45 minute commute each way (to go 8 miles!) has really wiped me out! I'm not ashamed to admit I have a 10pm bedtime. Every night. :)

Anyway, despite being busy we're still trying to get some projects done around the ol' casa!

Here is one of my favorite easy fixes!

The concrete pad outside our backdoor is old and beginning to crumble. We want to replace it eventually, but this summer was not the time. But, when the beagles came in and out the door multiple times, they were tracking concrete dust and gravel in and out with them.

Enter IKEA's Platta tiles. They're designed to be used on decks and patios and worked out perfectly for us! They just snap together and 3 packs at $35/pack fit our back patio perfectly. Not bad for less than $100 and a half-hour of our time!

Somewhere I have a picture of the completely finished product, but it's lost in computer-land somewhere! I'll have to find it and put it here too!

xoxo