back, and at it.

First off, just *one* little picture from Italy...

 

....... yup, that's right, the leaning tower of Piza!!!!!

Italy was super awesome. We visited Rome, Florence, Venice, the Cinque Terre, & Pompei, all in two short weeks.

Now I'm back at the farm, and I have more pictures to share with you, as I try to chronicle (somewhat frantically) all of the different crops that we're producing right now. 

To begin, it's finally:

    tomato season! 

We're growing a number of different heirloom varieties, such as brandywine, german johnson, evergreen, kellog's breakfast, a "heart-shaped" variety, a "peach" tomato variety, and little baby sungolds.

And of course, not to neglect the ever-fabulous....

cherokee purple tomato, which is the most tender, non-acidic, yet uber flavorful tomato you'll ever eat. Hands down.

We've also been harvesting:

cucumbers,

squash,

heirloom green and "burgundy" okra

eggplant, that have been growing quite voraciously, and that I am most incredibly proud of (yes, those orange balls are also a type of heirloom eggplant)!

and, also:

zinnias, sunflowers, and cosmos (of which there's only one - the white flower in the background).

Last but not least, here's a few other pictures I took today:

Huckie and I, working/loving away, right before I ran to get ready for market.

A slightly larger view of the lower garden (and look how big that corn is behind all the flower and herb rows!).

And finally, a view of the house and lower garden from the "middle field" (the one  that you walk through to get up to the shop and other garden).

I have about 3480723047.97 zillion other things to say tonight, but I'm also very tired and ready for bed (nice and clean, and fresh out of the shower <3). As such, let me just say this: Kate, Eliza, & the boys did such a good job tending to things in the garden while I was away. Last week was a whirlwind of activity, but this week I'm focusing on addressing the blight and disease problems that have unfortunately  seem to have arisen in my absence. Luckily, our extension agent, Mark, is coming out at 8:30AM tomorrow to take some samples of the "problem" sections in for diagnosis at a lab in Raleigh.

As usual: regardless of all outside worries or day to day difficulties, as the sun goes down on Cane Creek farm, I am endlessly grateful for the richness of my life here.

G'night!