Fruits of Our Labor

I know my mother already has a ripe tomato sitting on her counter, but I'm still very excited for this little guy.

He is my first of the season to set. In fact, I was just going out to take a picture of the fact that one of my tomatoes was finally flowering, and instead found this little guy sunning himself in the early morning rays. While many of my tomatoes appear to finally be getting their growth spurts, a few seem to be destined for the green waste bin. This includes my German Lunchbox tomato which hasn't grown at all over the last month and is now turning yellow. It was our first year trying to experiment with doing all our tomatoes from seed. Honestly, I think I'd rather buy them at the nursery, but alas, this way was much cheaper. Perhaps next year we will be a bit more experienced and have more success and less heart break. Of all the tomatoes we are growing this year, only one was purchased at the store. Who can resist a giant Roma for only $1.99!? It will soon take the German Lunchboxes place. 

In the backyard even more good news awaited me, my Rattlesnake Pole Beans are going crazy! They are now almost six feet tall and we had to add a new level of fencing for them to grow up. In addition to their beautiful purple flowers, they now have many healthy bunches of beans. I will pick some for my favorite green bean recipe, but most will be allowed to get bigger for shelling and eating fresh. It's always fun when experimenting with new plants go so well.