Success

I can now send Kaylen out to the pepper plants in the front yard and tell her to pick peppers, which she loves to do. We got five anaheim peppers this morning and there are about three times that still growing. Basically, we have peppers and basil with everything because those are our two successful crops. 

That, and flowers. Our zinnias are gorgeous and there are plenty to cut and bring inside to make a bouquet with our almost-flowering mint. And the sunflowers! We didn't plant them, but they are the saving grace of that flower bed that we didn't get around to finishing up yet. Did you know you can steam sunflower buds and eat them like artichokes? I haven't tried it, but i think the thistle-y backs of the sunflowers are almost as pretty as the fronts of them. 

So, I'm calling this year of gardening a solid success, even if it is a fraction of what i had planned. It's hard to be disappointed when you have sunflowers springing up to save your garden - like many small mercies every day.