Giving Thanks In June

"Inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, . . . the fulness of the earth is yours, . . . Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards; Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment . . ." [Doctrine & Covenants 59:16-20]

Here are the latest photos of our garden and the ongoing harvest. We have already eaten & given away a prodigious harvest of peas and took out the plants to make room for the beans that we planted yesterday. Yesterday also saw the initiation of our third attempt of the season to grow carrots as well as of our pumpkin patch - consisting of one plant.

We also dug up some of our potato plants because they appeared to be dead. Instead, we found some nice spuds which will become a part of a father's day dinner after Church. On some of the plants we dug up we found more, smaller potatoes that appeared to still be growing. So does anyone out there have any advice on growing spuds? Is it time to get them out of the ground so they don't just sit down there and rot? Or do we need to leave the plants there so they can continue to produce? It is odd because some of the plants look really sick and dying, while others look very healthy.
In other garden news, our squash and zucchini plants (one apiece) are kicking into production - and how! The leaves on the zucchini plant are about 2 feet across! We have peppers coming on, lots of onions (so peppers & onions are also on the menu tonight), and corn coming on. The tomato plant is healthy, but devoid of fruit at this point. And we have eaten almost all of the lettuce we planted. It turned out very good.

And moving to the less edible portion of our garden, here are a couple of photos of the portion meant to please the eye. It never ceases to amaze me that for all the work I can do, things just don't seem to look very good without the good looking one of us shows up and puts her touch on things.