So I took that random 6′ privacy fence panel we’d had replaced and cut it up a few weeks back, with the help of some power tools we found at a thrift store (total cost under $25 including new blades)…

Then I made a couple of small raised beds for next year out of the pieces:

Last week I lined them with cardboard, and added several layers of newspaper, then last year’s barrel of compost to the bigger one. It didn’t really fill it, so I just dumped this year’s bin in as well.

Then, when Joy’s mom was here yesterday and we were showing her the garden, we found a bit of a ‘surprise’. I have no idea what they are. We had a cantaloupe a few weeks ago, some watermelon before that. I think I tossed some okra that was too woody to eat recently, so there were lots of seeds in that mess. There are several dozen of these buggers. Guess we wait and see what they turn into.

In other garden news, the squash and okra are flourishing, as well as the tomatoes, peppers, and the elephant ear:

This was supposed to be a pie pumpkin? there were several seedlings – some are making pumpkins, and then there’s this. Can we eat it? How do we tell when it’s ready? Are we going to step outside one day and hear a voice boom “Feed me, Seymore!”?

The Mr. Stripey (hybrids) have crested the 8′ stakes and are making a break for the porch.

This is a Cherokee purple monster. That mass in the middle that looks like two tomatoes is one big ugly goon. It must weigh at least two pounds and it hasn’t turned.

pruning the brandywine bush…

… which is also making monsters.

What Mr. Stripey lacked in size (it was supposed to be a beefsteak variety) it makes up for in volume, and they are tasty little devils!

A big weed we pulled out of the garden