Bring it on...

Every summer my dad and I have a “friendly” little contest to see who gets (grows) the first tomato of the year. If my memory serves me correctly, I think I’ve won every year. Well, we’ve only done it 2 years, this is the third. It’s always an interesting race, though, as both me and my dad have our different advantages/setbacks.

Dad’s advantages:
-More time to take care of the garden as he's home a lot more
-Has 3 times as many plants, thus 3 times the chance that he’ll have the first tomato

My advantage:
- Much better soil. Dad lives in Sandy so his plants need a lot more watering

Unfortunately, that’s the only advantage I’ve got, but it’s a big one! And after getting off to a slow start early on, I’m not ready to concede yet!

This is Cherry…
She’s, of course, a cherry tomato plant. She struggled a bit but is now starting to catch up with some of the others.

This is Shirley..
Shirley is an early girl tomato plant. (Get it, Shirley… Early… they rhyme!) Shirley’s doing splendid. She’s growing fast and strong. She’s definitely the one I’ve pinned all my hopes and dreams on for winning this contest as she’s supposed to produce the earliest tomatoes. Come on Shirley, you can do it! Let’s see a few blossoms, eh? Dad claims he’s already got a few!

This is Dean…
Dean is a celebrity tomato plant. He’s named after Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a recent crush of mine. (Come on, that Irish accent in PS I Love You?!? Who can resist!)

This is Roger…
Roger is a golden boy. Now, typically you think someone who’s called a golden boy would have an easy life but Roger’s struggling a bit. He’s only grown a tiny bit since I got him and I’m really worried about him. Perhaps he’s anorexic. Roger, I know it’s hard living in Dean’s shadow but I love you just as much as I love Dean! (Well, almost as much, that Irish accent just slays me, but don’t tell Roger that!)

This is Tank…
I know what you’re thinking… his name must be an oxymoron. Well, tank is a beefmaster tomato but he’s sure having a hard time understanding the meaning of “Beefy”. He kind of reminds me of one of the trees from Lord of the Rings. You know, the moving, talking kind. He has a bushy head and then scraggly, droopy arms. Tank, what’s wrong? Don’t look so sad! Is your name too much to live up to?

And now for my non-tomato plants…

That’s Yuki (pron. "you-key"), the zucchini plant. He’s doing well and performing as expected.

This is Herbert Jr….
Herbie’s father, Herbert Sr., had an untimely death a few weeks ago and thus Herbie has taken his place. I have high hopes for Herbie and hope that he doesn’t suffer the same fate as his father.

And this is Rocky (named after the squirrel)…
He’s an acorn squash plant. He’s finally hit a growing spurt so I expect a lot out of him. With the one zucchini and the one acorn plant, I’m a little worried I might wind up having more squash than I’d like. Anyone want some?

And now, I’d like to request a moment of silence.
Our dear friend Seedy, the watermelon plant, has left us. She’s gone on to bigger and better things. I fear it was an unknown disease that got her (as watermelon plants have poor immune systems, apparently). We had a good run, Seedy. Please don’t be offended if I replace you. I might go for a Seedy, Jr. *tears*

And on a happier note, last but not least, I’d like you to meet Pump & Kin.
They’re like 2 peas in a pod. Pump (left) may look bigger now but he’ll only produce 7-10 pound pumpkins, while Kin (right) hopes to meet expectations and produce 10-20 pound pumpkins. I tried growing pumpkins for the first time last year and was met with great success. This year I should have many more and much bigger pumpkins.

Now, if I could just do something about those weeds (the bane of my gardening existence)!

Congratulations to those of you who made it through this post! You may be a little concerned about my mental health, but don't worry, I know I'm crazy! It's all good!

And now I wanna know... What are you growing?