Not much knitting, and some gardening.

It's a little sad that I last updated the blog back in April, so here goes. I haven't been getting a lot of knitting done as of late, as the kids have been crawling for a month or so. Most of my days are spent entertaining them, breaking up fights, or chasing after them. By the end of the day when they're in bed, I am completely wiped out. Ergo, not much knitting to show. But I have been working on a few things, off and on. The first is Evelyn Clark's Forget Me Not shawl:



That's about as far along as I am on that. It's a gift for someone with a January birthday, so my goal is to finish it by Christmas or the birthday. It's a fairly easy pattern, so it just requires some time to sit down and devote to it.

The second is a February Lady Sweater for me:



I've just finished the "eyelet increase row" on that one, though I've opted to use a knit front and back increase instead of the eyelets to avoid the holes. In a few more rows, I will separate the sleeves from the body. So far, I love knitting this one.

I have been doing a fair amount of gardening this summer, and this is the first year that I've tried growing tomatoes. In the spring, I bought four heirloom tomato seedlings from Mildred's Daughters Urban Farm in Stanton Heights. Here are two of the plants:



That's Paul Robeson on the left and Pruden's Purple on the right. Dog for scale. Please ignore the terrible grass, we have a dog. Paul was the first plant to bear fruit:



Paul is a "black" variety with a "distinctive smoky flavor". It also seems to be a very prolific producer, with it's many clusters of fruit. I'm excited to see how much it yields in the end.

Pruden's has no actual fruit yet, but we've got lots of flowers that are quite pretty:



Pruden's is a "pink" "potato leaf" variety, and supposedly does quite well in our growing region. All of my plants are organically grown, using natural fertilizers including bone meal and fish emulsion. The dog has an unfortunate habit of trying to eat the dirt after I feed them.

I planted the other two seedlings - Jubilee and Green Zebra - in upside-down planters and am having less luck with those. I thought I would give it a try, but am now convinced that plants need to grow right-side-up! Here's Jubilee:



And Green Zebra:



The plants get morning and evening sun, so I thought they would do great. Jubilee has been a good grower, but has very few flowers on it, so I don't think I'll get much fruit. As you can see, Green Zebra's been kind of a dud so far. Next year, I'll be planting everything the way nature intended!

In addition to the tomatoes, I'm growing my usual herbs:



Front to back, that's French tarragon, rosemary, thyme, oregano and flat-leaf parsley. I've also got two large pots of basil that are living next to the tomatoes. Also next to the tomatoes are peppers:



That's Jupiter on the left and Lady Bell on the right. Here's to a summer of good eating!