Peas, Beans, Peppers, and Squash Unite to Save My Summer

I have to say, when I first started the gigantic garden project with people from work, I thought there was no way we were getting anything from it. It would be a nice way to spend some time outdoors, but we were starting everything from seed, most of which we planted in the days just before the summer solstice. I was not optimistic.

My lack of optimism was also partially based on this:That is what is left of the garden plot that Kimberly and I started before she left for Mexico. If you remember, it was under some water as part of the Great Iowa Floods of 2008. It looks even more depressing in real life. Obviously, people in other parts of the State have had it much worse than we have, but it's still sad.

I did go down there and deconstruct the fence and posts, which have been moved to the new plot - the lack of fence actually makes it less depressing, as the fence ended up being in pretty rough shape.
But I should have held out hope, because this was still in the plot:

That right there is a pepper. Still growing. After it has been submerged under 8 feet of water for at least a week. And on top of that, we have a patch of chives growing as well (at some point I want to go down to the plot and remove them from the ground and grow them in containers, but I'm going to let them rest for a little while - they've had a stressful summer). (Also, notice the dry, cracking soil, and remember, this was submerged under 8 feet of water, and has been inundated with rain for weeks - yet, it's already dry enough to crack. That's some hearty Midwest soil)

So anyways, back to my new, giant garden plot. Things are happening. And fast. As I said, we planted just before the summer solstice, which was less than 2 weeks ago. Within a few days, we had sprouts: mostly radishes and lettuce, but that was fine. But now, we have these things:

That's four rows of peas and beans, with their accompanying homemade climbing lattices. Can't see them that well, well check these out:

Those are purple peas - their stems are actually purple, which probably won't last, but is ridiculously cool. (I should have mentioned this earlier, but I didn't think of it: Almost all of the seeds in this garden (but not the starts) are from this place in Decorah, Iowa called Seed Savers - they are a seed-swapping and preservation collaborative, working to save and pass on heirloom seeds. They're pretty awesome. The Retro Librarian knew about them and bought a bunch of stuff. Anyways, if you're looking for cool heirloom tomatoes in the future, keep them in mind)

Those are beans of some variety, also with climbing lattice.


Those are bush beans. Kimberly asked for lots of beans for pickling purposes; I provided.

Lastly, there are these:
Those are Provence Squash. We have over 50 mounds designated solely for various squash, including watermelon, eggplant, cucumber, winter squash, zucchini, and 100-lb pumpkins. And all of them are now sticking out of the ground, with many of them having started with their secondary growth leaves (which you can see on some of the leaves above).

So in all, the garden is working out well. It's still ridiculously huge, and needs to be weeded on a daily basis (which is terrible, terrible work), but all of us are now optimistic that we might actually get some produce to eat from all the work we've put into this thing.