The Bloomin' Desert

With our recently landscaped front yard and our brand new garden beds, not to mention our decaying pile of compost growing ever ready in the back yard, we decided it was time to get a little Nielsen gardening action going on.

We were doubtful of any success. It is really hot here. Like really. But, what the heck?

Our first season of plants included two cherry tomato plants, two pear tomato plants, & zucchini, corn, cantaloupe, and cilantro seeds. Our other bed was filled with strawberry plants and some basil.

My only true goal of the garden was that my children would be able to go outside, pick something straight off the branch and munch it down. It just seemed like something that would be more readily denied them in our inhospitable surroundings.

We were incredibly proud of our first little sproutlings.

And then we just kept watering it. We traveled here and there, watered some more, and before we knew it...
things actually grew! The above picture was taken a few weeks ago when we picked our first home grown produce.
So awesome.

And I am not even that big of a zucchini fan.

And then the tomato plants decided the cages we purchased for them were ridiculously too small.

We are right in the middle of some serious tomato love. The kids go out a pick a cereal bowl worth every day. We stick them in the fridge and enjoy them for a snack or a dinner once they are cool and crisp.

We have even enjoyed a handful or two from our strawberry plants.

At our last play date, one of our friends finally noticed the crop, dashed over to the strawberries, grabbed one and shoved it in his mouth. My children were horrified. His mom apologized profusely, assuming my kids were upset because he had taken something of theres. Luckily, turns out my kids aren't that selfish, they are just garden snobs.

"It was still pink mom!" they both wailed to me. "It wasn't even ready yet. He didn't even eat it when it was really good!"

The plants have been so overwhelmingly large, the cilantro had no chance of survival. It was overshadowed almost immediately so we only got about one good serving of that. Our corn is tall and has a few ears on it but we are all a little doubtful anything edible will come from it. But we have picked about 8 zucchinis and there is an acorn squash just about ready to go (didn't plant those by the way, that is a compost pop up). We also have a full grown tomato growing out of the strawberries randomly. It kind of looks like the peach from James and the Giant Peach. One big tomato on a plant that keeps tilting slowly over from the weight of the thing.

Maybe Las Vegas isn't THAT bad.