Tomatoes! Tomatoes! Tomatoes!

Above: German Queen, Genovese, Green Zebra, Sunsugar, Brad's Atomic, Cucumbers.

Tomato season is finally upon us at the Cox Compound. I really thought that we would never see ripe tomatoes as they took soooooo long to finally get here and also because every time we try to make an improvement of our processes, something breaks and we are back to square 1. To see this harvest (ugly as some may be) I have hope that things will work out, even if the road we chose was a bit more difficult than expected. In fact, these problems are the reason I have been missing weeks to write on the blog. Here is what happened.

We had all of our buckets lined up fairly close to each other and Bryan decided to get them spaced out so they could no longer constrict their growth. Then we installed a soaker hose system (my irrigation system was bullshit and broke already), which worked well for about a week or so on a timer before the hoses split open and no longer were carrying water to the plants, but instead creating a pond in our front yard. Now we are back to hand watering again... FUN :( I also have been dealing with some health issues, as are many of our family members. Retirement is not what we expected, but I think our military background has allowed for us to roll with the punches a little easier, and to just keep swimming.

I was able to harvest our first Cheyenne Pepper and I promptly put it in the dehydrator to make out own powder.

I am considering doing the same with some of these Habanero's that are READY to be picked.

The Bell's are doing well aside from getting sunburned. We have even more in the front!

Peyton got to try our first spoon tomato! I started this from seed and this variety has been the one I was so excited about this year! Look how cute and tiny!

Apparently it needed a little more time, as it was a cute little ball of tart.

The Melons keep surprising us. We have 3 of these Musk Melons at various sizes, just growing, thriving and vibing.

The lower garden is super happy.

My cabbages are flourishing, looking like giant purple roses.

And mom's corn is SUPER HAPPY!

I finally have a gallon of tomatoes put up for canning this fall!

and we had this tiny watermelon that had it's vine turn brown, so Peyton is enjoying this as a snack.

and as usual, Missouri is stunning.

until next time!