Harvest Time

I have been asked by  a couple of readers to post current pics of our tower. I've been slacking, though. I should have posted some on Saturday, but excuses, excuses, excuses. I took these yesterday.

 This is the tower in all it's glory. It stands a little over or right at 6' tall. I can't see the top of it, that's for sure. Hubby is right at 6' and he can barely see the top of it. It has really taken off. This picture just does not do it justice. You can see a couple of squash peeking out at you.
                                 
 This is that squash up close. It got picked and cooked last night. To put the size in perspective, it was a little longer than my hand from finger tip to wrist. I also had clipped some for our friend T. He had gone with the family when they bought the tower. Every few days, I pick a ton of stuff, mostly lettuce right now, and hubby takes it to T. Yesterday he got green and red leaf lettuce, romaine, bibb lettuce, kale, and squash. Gotta love a goodie bag.

This is our biggest pepper. Don't let the pic fool you. It isn't that big yet. But I couldn't hold back the foliage and take the picture and get my hand in there for a size check. It still has a way to go, but we are just excited to have peppers. I imagine stuffed bell peppers everytime I see these guys. I make the best stuffed peppers.

This is our small watermelon. How cute is that? We actually have four, but this was the easiest one to get to. They make the prettiest flowers. I think we are the most excited about watermelon. We all, except the baby because she's weird, can eat our weight in watermelon. I think there might be a fight when these are ripe.

Green beans!! This is the big one. These took a little while to finally start, but now that they have they are growing like gang busters. I like my green beans raw with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. I might just eat these right off the plant. As long as I don't get caught, it'll be OK. Better not let hubby read this one or he'll be on to me.

 Cucumbers. We all, even the baby, like cucumbers. We have them almost every night with dinner. But the cucumber we are most excited about is this one...

It's growing like a weed. I was going to do the hand thing so you can see how big it really is, but when a spider came running at me, it was all over after the screaming. I just nudged some leaves aside and this is what you get. It's almost as long as my hand. Just a few more days and this won't even be around. It'll just be a memory.

 Romaine lettuce right up front. I hadn't harvested that one yet. It's time, though. Makes a great salad or lovely on a sandwich, or wrapped around some chicken salad. I'm drooling.

Pretty green leaf. It's so curly and frilly. That's getting picked today. I see a big salad for lunch in the very near future.

The greenery is so thick, we have to go in and rearrange the stalks and leaves so everything can get some sun. We found a plant that was completely hidden at one point so we moved it. It's flourishing now. So beautiful to look at.

I would say the only down fall we have run into is that every four or five days, we have to add water to it. It's like a fountain and recycles the water you put in it, but it's been so blasted hot, we have to make sure it doesn't run dry. Other than that, we have been very happy with it. We had quarter size hail the other day and we stood inside, miserable, watching it hit the tower and the plants. It knocked the tomato plants over, but we tied them up the next morning and they seem fine. We're still waiting on tomatoes, but we do have flowers on the plants. Any day now, we should see the beginnings of a beautiful snack.

Have a great day.