How the garden grows

A potpourri of a day. Although it rained off and on, I managed to get in 45 minutes of tennis ball smacking at the St Clair courts before the rain began. My old racket is still holding up. I was able to buy a new one of similar vintage on eBay this week, but it's still en route. We mostly just hit the ball back and forth and played a few simulated singles points to practice serve and volley technique. But the rain curtailed the action.

The garden, mostly just tomatoes, appreciates the rain and the heir loom cherry tomato plants look like they'll be producing a lot of fruit in the next few weeks. You can see below that the plants have rallied and are taking up quite a bit of space in the back yard. My old Wilson Hyper Pro Staff 6.1 tennis racket for scale.




PP's corn and beans in a pot seem to be doing well, too, although plants in a pot seem to need quite a bit more water to keep them green and growing. We have taken a few bean pods from the plant and PP pronounces them edible. The same Wilson racket for scale.



There is a farmer's market at Lexington and Summit every Friday. I went up there between showers and was able find some good looking ears of corn and locally grown tomatoes, in lieu of my own production. The quality of the veggies at the market seems pretty good, so I almost always overbuy cukes and corn when they're available. I'm looking forward to home cooked corn on the cob for dinner.

The Anderson cousins family reunion is tomorrow at Fort Folle Avoine between Webster and Danbury, Wisconsin, the previous homestead of Grandpa Richard Anderson. My brother, Tommy, who meant to attend, and who was on his way from Pensacola, Florida, had an unfortunate mishap with his prescription meds and was forced to turn back after making it as far as Kentucky. We'll miss his presence and hope for better luck next year. I'm bringing the several bean salad that was inspired by my sister, Santini, to the gathering as my entry ticket. There will be some new books available, too, that describe the coming to America in 1903 of my great grandfather, Nils Olai Hansen, and his 8 year old daughter, my own grandma, Hansine. Terje Nordberg, the author of A Giant Step: Nils Olai Hansen goes to America, will be there. Terje is married to my cousin, Nancy.

And Tommy, we'll miss you.