From mid July until the present date, we have been picking, eating and sharing tomatoes with friends, family and neighbors. Recently, one evening we seemed to have synchronized our evening meal planning with a neighboring family. They called to rave about their BLT’s just as we were finishing up our BLT meal and enjoying the luscious vine ripened Big Boy Tomatoes.

These sweet juicy tasting melons can mature to the size of 1 lb. Each of the fruits and vines have been supported by the wood trellis structure. There is a tendency of the melon’s vines to trail toward the ground. Whenever, a vine was found to be heading towards the ground, I would wrap the vine to a part of the trellis form and would give extra attention by supporting and stablizing the fruit with gardening twine or soft fabric strips.

The wigwam, or as some have called it the pyramid trellis, has created a safe and secure structure for the 5 bean plants. They formed a tent of bean stalks. Actually offering ease of finding and picking the mature bounty of Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake beans.

Three cucumber plants found plenty of space for their vines to spread. The trellis netting supported plants and the cucumbers to their optimum harvesting size. Deb’s sister enjoys a snack of spreading soft swiss cheese on a generous slice of cucumber. Yum!

The August Summer brings a harvest from ample sunshine and rain fall, ripening vegetables to a peak of perfection. The mature plants are laden with vegetables and held firm by the wooden trellis. I have been very pleased with the steadfast pyramid wooden trellises that I built, they have created cages to sustain new growth and the ripening mature fruit. The trellises provided ample support for the foliage and maturing fruit and allowed plants to grow into maturity in small spaces.

Birds, Butterflys, Bugs and Bumble Bees are the garden’s constant companions.

All perform their definite roles in creating the beauty of a garden. Some of the birds were seen to be assisting in pollinating blossoms and keeping check on the insects. I have noticed a rust capped sparrow floating from a branch of the Sun Burst Locust, in pursuit of a white moth. Wrens and Pine Siskin investigate the raisied bed gardens space for insects, grubs and slugs. There are four bird feeding stations and a water bird bath which we keep supplied with food and drinkable water throughtout the four seasons. I think that bird families with this year’s hatch of babies, will return next year and with each year more and more will be visiting the yard and neighborhood.