Re: the garden. Wow/Ouch!!

I just went out to the garden to pick some swiss chard to go with dinner. I decided to check out the squash bed before I went in to take a peek at my watermelon. I have one big one that's probably baseball sized. There are at least 4 or 5 others that are closer to grape or ping pong ball size. That bed is totally nuts as one of the plants (or some combination of all of them except the pumpkin) have suddenly become incredibly massive and sprawling. I can't tell what's what anymore because all the plants have twisted together. Only the watermelon has very unique leaves, so I can tell that one apart.
Anyway, I was navigating the bed, trying not to step on anything or stir up the mosquitoes too much. I got to the back of the bed and look what I found:
It's probably a good 12 inches long. I was getting too hot in my mosquito gear (AND getting too many bug bites despite my mosquito gear....), so I picked it and came inside, curious to know what else lies hiding in that bed.

The "ouch" pertains to the itchy bug bitey rash on my arms now. I wouldn't have huge veggies hiding in my garden if there weren't so many stinking mosquitoes out there. I think I'll try doning my super mosquito outfit to go out with Josh later and check for more veggies (not sure yet what the "super mosquito outfit" is, but it will involve gloves and my mosquito net hat). Seriously, why do bugs love me so much??

I also have 3 reddish tomatoes. Once we get home from BC, I think I'm going to be busy canning tomatoes for the foreseeable future.

I made a trek to the Silver Spring farmer's market this morning to check it out again. The first time I went was either opening week or the second week and pickings were very slim. This second trip wasn't much more impressive. There were a lot of different veggies and fruits there, but the pricing blew me away! I'm accustomed to and mostly ok with the higher prices for organic produce (I'm talking small farm organics, not industrial organics from most grocery stores) because I know I'm getting a tastier product and I like giving my money directly to the farmer who grew it. The prices at this market were just over the top though! I probably could have gotten cheaper produce if I'd walked over to the nearby Whole Foods and that's saying a lot!! I'll stick to my new favorite local little organic grocery store! One day I'll get this gardening thing down and not have to worry about buying veggies. I really can't wait til I can raise my own animals!!