Batman: Protector of Tomatoes and Snapdragons Everywhere

I've managed to let almost two months pass without even a hint of bloggy garden goodness. Sorry folks! I hope this'll make up for it...

At the risk of sounding all "my petunia is prettier than your petunia," our garden is looking really *really* good right now. Our tomato plants are knee high and flowering. (One particularly ambitious specimen, clearly headed for mutant proportions, has already sprouted a near full-sized green tomato. I know! Like, WTF? But also: cool!) The potato plants rival the tomatoes in height and have also started to flower. The sweet peas, which outgrew their trellis a few weeks back, are now threatening to take it down. Oh, and, as evidenced by the second last photo in this post (sorry peeps, you're gonna have to scroll), our roses are in full bloom and daisies about to pop. Last but not least, our blueberries started turning blue... just today! Whoohooooo!

So, yes, our plants are coming along nicely, doing just what you'd expect of the second coolest kingdom (sorry plants, as much as I love y'all, you're just not quite up there with the protozoans): lounging in the sun, soaking up the rays, and courtesy of the very important, but grossly underappreciated xylem and phloem, water and sugars are being dispatched to their appropriate places.

We're also harvesting up a storm! And as of yesterday, are picking several pints of strawberries (slightly under ripe, so as to outsmart the little critters) daily. Also currently on the straight-from-the-garden menu: green onions, broccoli, leafy greens, sugar snap peas and herbs aplenty. Plus my current preferred garden delicacy... artichokes:

These, btw, are an awesome multipurpose plant. We've settled into the habit of eating only half of the flowers each year, allowing the others to open and do their thang.

Ooh and looky here at this lovely homegrown bouquet picked and arranged by one multi-talented Larkinator (quite an accomplished artiste, she is-- seriously check out her mad beading skillZ):



It's funny, one of my favorite things about growing flowers is the continuous influx of bouquets (for our home and friends). Yet this year, I've totally neglected my flower picking duties. Yep, it took a 4.5 year old to remind me of this simple joy. Thanks Larkin!

I'll leave you with a few more photos. Because every garden needs it's very own super hero (to, you know, protect it from *EVIL*.. and stuff):


Fighting crime and picking strawberries go hand in hand:


Roses, daisies, snapdragons, etc:


Okay, that's all I've got for ya, except this, which is totally unrelated, but look how cute: