Walking around the garden today, I realized that if the winter garden is all about short and bushy, the summer garden is all about tall. Corn, tomatoes, pole beans, potatoes, flowers - everything is reaching for the sun.

And if they're not tall, they're sprawling.

sweet potatoes mixed in with winter squashes

In other news, I discovered a neighbor had some comfrey. I read that you can dig down, cut out a part of the root of the existing plant, then transplant it to your own yard with absolutely no fuss. I thought long and hard about adding comfrey to the yard, because once it's established, it's hard to get rid of. I decided the benefits outweighed the risks. I got permission from the neighbor to dig up a root, then I planted it beneath our fig tree. It looked dead for a week, but now it's coming alive.

That will provide more forage for bees, plus the long tap root will bring up nutrients for the fig. And, it's right next to the compost, so I can chop the leaves if it gets too big and toss 'em in.

This morning, I realized that it's all happening now. All the preparation has lead us to this moment: the moment right before harvest. It's starting with little bits of things, one tomato here, a pepper there... pretty soon it won't be one at a time anymore. We'll have our second pesto tonight. We've had our first picking of green beans. Our first beefsteak tomatoes have been enjoyed. Any minute now, we'll be inundated and it'll be time to start canning and preserving.