Quick! Before They're Gone

The Sungold tomatoes are especially good this year. This summer, we'll take the sun wherever we can get it.
Above, the Ildi are being harvested now. If the rest of the green ones make it to yellow, we have plenty more to eat. Thanks, Matron!
This tomato came from our Port Orchard Farmer's market outing (& geocaching flash mob experience). They are firm, mid-size tomatoes. I cannot remember which variety. At first, before they turned red, I thought they were mutant sungolds and was quite puzzled. Eventually, I had a fuzzy memory of buying a seedling somewhere!

Golden Wings in the Garden

These guys and a bunch of their friends have been enjoying the last of the lavender. Any idea what type they are? I hope they weren't big garden munchers in their earlier stage.

Race 4 Ty

This post is in support of Jennifer and her inspiration, Ty, as she prepares for the Ironman triathlon competition in Hawaii in October (above, Jennifer, Ty & his mom, Karen). Ty is 11 years old and lives every moment to the fullest! He also has Niemann-Pick Disease, a rare neurological disease.

Please visit Race 4 Ty to read more. Whether it is visits to the site, awareness of the disease, or fund donations, your support will make a difference to Ty and other young people living with this rare disease. Jennifer explains more about NPD here in her post Niemann-Pick Disease Awareness Month.

Her goal is to create an awareness of this disease by raising $10,000 for the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation to put toward funding a post-doctoral fellowship researching Niemann-Pick type C disease.

When I first moved to the northwest, I received a call from my dear great-aunt. She wanted me to contact her granddaughter who also lived in the area. That's when I first met Karen, Gene and their young son (at that time) Tim. Before long, Ty joined the family, too. Ahhh, the plays and quiddich games we've attended with this family! (I'll look for pictures to post from the one quiddich game we survived.)

Adventures and movie making where right up young Ty's alley. As a grade-schooler, though, a series of health issues eventually lead to the NPD diagnosis. The family adventures continue, but also a tireless quest for NPD research, supportive resources for families and doctors and a cure. And thus, an inspiration to be found in Ty, his family and the supporting community far and near.

Thank you, Jennifer, and all who read this, for furthering Ty's education and research mission.

Paula

Sunflowers & Pumpkins

Spiky sunflower on a stormy day, though this photo didn't capture much of the dark sky rolling in. The green beans have reached the top of the climber (in the background). We had the first tasty harvest for dinner last night. I vow to keep them picked this year (although planting only half as many as last year many help).
And the pumpkins have grown since the Aug. 4th post. There are four plants here, though it looks like two.

Signs of Summer

Echinacea / purple coneflower. This was the first bloom, and now they are going strong... Let's hope we'll have more summer to go along with them.

Garden Residents

Yes! We've seen Petunia and Herbert this year! Sorry, no new photos (they are fast!). I found one sleeping, as I scooped up (by hand) some compost to mulch the tomatoes.

The vegetables may not be so robust this year, but the (good) critters are going full force. Lots of bees and birds. Even three hummingbirds at once (not unusual for some of you). The Cascara trees are in fruit so the waxwings are here. Something about the tree is attracting the hummers, too. Perhaps some residual blossoms (the last photo on this posting).
The bees really like the blooming broccoli. And so do the hummers! Who knew. I was ready to pull them out as there are many other bee food sources. Guess they'll stay awhile.
Cascara tree fruit, below.
The other hummingbird attraction is the runner bean blossoms, below. They don't hesitate to complain if I'm in their way.

Petals of Sunshine

Anita's Calandula (all self-seeded from last year) - Thanks for a second year, Anita!

It's August?

August 2nd in the garden, a cloudy day good for some time in the garden. That lavender spiky stuff in the back, right hand side is Emily's catnip! It has to be 6 feet tall. See this link to her gardening start. Guess the secret to catnip is protecting it from too much love in its first season.

The peas are the clump in front of the climber in the far back of the garden. I didn't try to keep them climbing up the climber, as I thought they were done, but I still have blossoms. They are Sugar Snap peas. They grow much taller than the peas I've grown in the past. They took longer to start producing, but have lasted longer also.

You cannot really see the beans growing up the back part of the climber. Several vines are close to the top and they've now starting blooming (but have lots of filling out to do still, see here).

The only encouragement in the pumpkin patch is that I can see growth from this photo on Saturday to today! But see this link for Aug. 2, 2007! Pumpkins are only second to Sunflowers in my book. Will they make it to orange?