I'm BACK!

Hellloooo internets! I am sorry I have been away so long. Lots of things have been happening so let me update you.

First things first, I am sure you are all just dying to know what happened to the little garden that could.

Well, the cucumber plant produced some interesting looking cukes. They didn't turn the dark green color that we see in the grocery store and their texture was different than what I expected. They weren't as crunchy but the skin was so thin that you didn't have to peel them you could just chop them up and eat them so that was cool. Check out the bounty that was the cucumbers.

Do you think these weird shapes are a result of project artificial insemination?

Then there are the tomatoes. The desert reds didn't come in very well. I think it may have had something to do with the great caterpillar infestation of June 2011. I have no idea where those little suckers came from but there were tons of them and they were very well camouflaged.

I e mailed the long suffering Ben from Harvest to Home and he sent me some stuff to put in the water and that seemed to do the trick. Alas I believe it was too late because we mostly got tomatoes that looked like these

But we did get a few of these

Unfortunately I can't find any of the pictures of the yellow pears except for the two nestled next to the cucumbers in the prior picture. They turned out well. The flavor was good. They were sweet and perfect for dipping in hummus or adding to pasta or salads or just eating them straight off the vine. I didn't have many to share because they were small and they went quick. Maybe two of those next year and skip the desert reds.

The guys from Harvest to Home felt bad about how the thing with the cucumbers went down so they offered me a Fall garden box. I am very excited about that. They have broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, spinach, herbs. Lots of stuff. I am not sure what I am going to try out this season so stay tuned for that. If you want to grow your own garden give Dave or Ben an e mail and they can set you up. infoAZ@harvesttohome.com

Now, harvesting the garden wasn't the only thing I have been doing these many weeks that I have been away not blogging.

We have been up in the mountains.

Look at these pups after a long day running around the watering hole

 Then Mike found a crawfish spot and we had a nice crawfish boil.

Yumm!

And then we found an Arizona Black rattlesnake in our bunkhouse. He probably wouldn't have come inside but someone left the door open all night and I am sure the snake thought it was a great idea to curl up in the shelter of our bunkhouse all camouflaged looking just like a rope on the ground.

Here he is giving us a last look before heading in to the woods

Also I got a new helmet! So now Mike will let me ride the 4 wheeler. I know, it is quite the fashion statement. And, bonus!  I can go a lot faster now that I have some goggles to keep the bugs from smacking me in the face.

We rode the bikes to the top of Diamond Point to watch the sunset. My guy's idea. He is such a romantic.

So, that was pretty much our Summer. Now that we are heading in to Fall, I can't wait to post about some of the cool events that will be happening. Fall is my favorite time of year! The cooler weather we have been panting and waiting for is on the way.

Some events I will post here but check out my other blog Cheap Thrills in AZ. This is a collaborative effort with my friend Beth. We are going to find and review some cheap things to do in the Valley.