Watching the garden grow, and harvesting weeds, err spinach. Two gallon freezer bags of spinach. Lots of spinach salads were in our immediate past. We still have a small amount left and tomorrow I’m going to pick some peas and make a stir fry. We’re really learning a lot about what works with the garden this year, and what doesn’t. Next year will be even more fun.
![mid-july-garden](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mid-july-garden.jpg)
At least you can see plants growing in the beds, from up the hill by the house, instead of empty beds. It's a very sunny spot.
The largest mass of green on the right side of the rose arbor is pea plants, two ages of plants, edible pea pods. The first batch is ready to start picking and eating them, and that’s on the menu for tomorrow.
![peas](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/peas.jpg)
The peas are barely starting to form inside the pods, and that's when the book says to start picking them. The longest pods are a good three inches in length.
![tomato](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/tomato.jpg)
Our first tomato, and I haven't a clue what variety it is because it is growing on the one plant that didn't have a lable on it by the time we got the plants home. This huge tomato is roughly a half-inch in diameter (almost).
I like the shades of green on the tomato plants, from the bright sunkissed golden green of the baby tomato to the deep green of the shadows in the middle of the plants.
![chinese-cabbage](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/chinese-cabbage.jpg)
Four Chinese Cabbage plants. They live next to the lettuce plants. The radishes that lived next to them have been harvested, and the next plantings are just babies.
![lettuce-july16](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/lettuce-july16.jpg)
Various types of lettuce, which will be ready to start harvesting in another week or so. Need to do some weeding around them, again. The rains make the weeds grow very quickly.
![veggies-july16](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/veggies-july16.jpg)
Carrots putting on some nicely developed tops. Beets, Parsnips, Swiss Chard. And one Cabbage which doesn't seem very interested in growing at this point.
![climbingroses-july16](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/climbingroses-july16.jpg)
One of the climbing roses with lots of flowers. They need to grow quite a bit before they'll be tall enough to reach the arbor and start climbing. Maybe by fall time we'll be able to tie them up.
They sure change color as they go through their blooming cycle. We planted four of them, and each is a different color and slightly different fragrance.
![shade-july16](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/shade-july16.jpg)
The Clematis has a lot of work to do before it is thick enough to provide much shade. We were very happy to see leaves on the grape plant that we thought was dead. Next year we will plant four more grapes, two on each side and with the Clematis in the middle.
We are probably looking at years before the plants are large enough to shade the chairs. Something to look forward to.
![currants](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/currants.jpg)
One of several clusters of Red Currants. The plants have more than doubled in size this year, and next year they should produce a good crop of fruit.
![gooseberry](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/gooseberry.jpg)
Both Gooseberry plants have also put on tremendous growth this year. These berries are almost as big at the tomato, but they won't grow more and hopefully the tomato does!
![waxwing-july16](http://redmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/waxwing-july16.jpg)
Perched in some dead branches in an Aspen tree overlooking the garden, this Cedar Waxwing is keeping a beady eye on the garden. These guys love fruit..
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