Monkey business in the garden

I have had another couple of "down days" with a milk duct infection - so a garden update will be about all that I have time for today.  :)  Nothing big to say, just a few pictures.  I think that I spend more time in my parents' garden than in my own - and that's okay.  They do a better job than me, anyway.  :)  Boy, has it been hot out there.   The corn and beans just love the heat, though.

The picture above is from last year.  That's "business monkey."  (I have no idea why he is named that.  He just is.  And he likes to lie around in my tomatoes.  Oh wait!  It just came to me.  Maybe they were doing a play on words...."monkey business," to "business monkey."  Ha Ha!)

Sometimes, bad things happen to business monkey.  What can I say?  This is how I found him.

Here's a funny vine that is growing from my compost pile.  I have no idea what it is.  It's either a butternut OR a strange gourd.  Time will tell.

 
It's taking over my clothesline.

And Jeff's ladder, too.  :)

Here's a sample picture of my "urban gardening."  (I must note that my town is not big enough to call a city.  But still, I garden in small spaces.)  In this small plot I have broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, butternut squash, moon flowers, and four o'clocks.  The vining items are in the back, and I have rigged strings from the top of the fence downward.  The strings are held in the ground with stick pegs.  My vines are soooo happy to have something to help them climb up the fence.  The fence is also useful, because I can provide direct support to the tomato plants.  When one tomato branch gets "wild," or loaded with tomatoes, I gently tie it up to the fence.  It cuts down on the amount of tomato cages I need.

Yes, my veggies are crowded....I like to call my method "close companion gardening," but it works.  Maybe if I get them close enough, they'll go ahead and make themselves into salsa.  :)

Here's the other side of the fence.  First, there were peas planted here.  Now, there are tomatoes, Christmas pole beans, broccoli, and celery.  The poles are from my Dad.  He has a nice patch of bamboo at his farm.  He keeps me in sturdy garden poles.  This side of the garden only has about 12 inches of soil (width) for growing, so it is a skinny little patch.

So there you have it.  Gardening.  Not a scintillating nor controversial topic.  But you know, some of my favorite blogs to read are those that leave me with a sense of peacefulness. Wishing you God's peace....

This post is connected to Smockity Frock's weekly gardening post.