Weeding and Whacking

There is just something so...I don't know...satisfying about weeding the garden.

Especially when your garden is a sticker patch and you use a weed whacker to do it.

Seriously though. I spent a good two hours out in my garden today and it felt so good to stand up, stretch and see my whole four rows of potatoes, six tomato plants, and four pepper plants are now the only things standing tall in my huge (and hugely empty this year thanks to the late spring) garden. The weeds are chopped or pulled, the stickers are cut back and it looks like it should. Weeded.

Now to wait for my apparently prolific tomato plants to start showing some red amongst the green...I'm drooling over the thought of a fresh picked tomato...

And wishing I hadn't chosen one of the HOTTEST days of the year to go work outside. Whew...

What better to do on a hot sunny day?

 V and A enjoying their 'swimming pool'

Ever seen a black turtle?

Bean, that is.

Last year, we experimented with growing edible black turtle beans and the results were decent enough to convince the guys we should do it again this year.  Since we had a dearth of black beans on hand, I managed to get a few gallon bags of dried beans for our own personal use.

And never seemed to get around to using them.

So now I am.

In an effort to better our eating habits, use what foods we have readily available (and conversely lower the grocery bill), and free up the counter space that currently houses a large tupperware container of black beans, I'm cooking black beans.

On the menu thus far are black bean burgers, baked black beans with ham, black bean chili, and black bean burritos.  I've even peeked at a few black bean brownie and cake recipes.  I have a feeling we will be eating ALOT of black beans in the near future.  We'll be a rootin', tootin' black bean-eating bunch.

And if not, then at least I'll have liberated another chunk of countertop...