Beans, Cucumbers, Peppers, Tomatoes, Oh My!

This season, in addition to the flower beds we've put into the backyard, we've put in a two beds and about a dozen stand alone pots of various vegetables. We planted cucumbers, beans, peppers and tomatoes earlier in the season. The cucumber vines yielded at least three dozen cucumbers over about a month. That was fairly successful, the cucumbers were a common side dish for a little while. They were quite delicious too. The green beans yielded only two bowlfuls. That was enough for side dishes for two meals. That proved a little bit disappointing but it was enough for a start. Perhaps next time we will be little bit more successful with the green beans. The peppers are an ongoing story. We have both sweet and spicy ones. We've already included some peppers in salads and other dishes. Some of the spicy peppers proved a bit too much, the rest were just wonderful. Next year we'll most likely plant them in the garden beds rather than in stand alone pots. Last, but certainly not least, we planted several varieties of tomatoes both in beds and in pots. Those in pots did not do as well as those in the beds, probably because the beds require less watering and work on our part. The tomatoes started off slow but over the past two weeks we've had a veritable cornucopia of tomatoes. Yesterday I collected the third five-quart bowl of miniature tomatoes from the garden beds. For as many as I've collected, just as many I've had to let go because they either burst or were past their prime. Had I been more conscientious with the gardening we would have had even more. As it stands, everyone has had more than their fill of tomatoes, in salads, soups, and in hand snacks. We had so much we shared our tomato bounty with our neighbors and they enjoyed them too. Our food gardening efforts proved fairly successful, and we got far more edible food out of our two food garden beds and a dozen standalone pots than I would have imagined. The tomatoes and peppers are not done yet, and the bean an cucumber bed we replanted with radishes, broccoli, lettuce and cabbage. We are hoping for a late crop just before frost in mid to late October. Over all the food garden has been a success, both my wife Misce and I are pleased with our efforts and results.