Cell Snapshots: The Great Outdoors...Vegetation

It's no secret . . . I can't ever pass up an opportunity to photographically capture anything lush and green, especially on my own property.
In honor of it almost being planting time again in the Ballard Garden, here is some of what I found on my memory card from the last few seasons!

Pomegranate Tree beginning to bud. I love the phases of green and red the leaves and blossoms go through.

The pre-bud stage. Waxy, red leaves ring in the growing season.




The buds are so sturdy and shiney-looking. Not at all delicate.

Now for some foliage that is actually not on my property. . . these cutsie blossoms grow along my across-the-street neighbor's driveway. We love them almost as much as the bees do. During the spring, these bushes buzz and shake, they are so full of bees! So we keep our distance somewhat, but still visit! Usually on a bike ride around the cul-de-sac.

(The kids look so baby-like and fuzzy-headed in these pictures from early last year!)

The Plum Tree in blossom. Sweet and delicate.

The Plum from a short distance with the good old Peach Tree the foreground.
May he rest in peace.

I loved that tree.

A straight-down shot of the Tangelo's strong leaves. And... my foot.

Plums changing color.

And in all their purple glory.

Remember when we tried growing a sunflower house? But started way too late in the season as it turned out? At least we got this one. Not exactly a house but...the kids thought it was pretty cool.

Before we even got started on our garden this year, my parents had theirs in full swing. We spent lots of time visiting their produce.

Isn't it amazing?
They've kept it going strong all year! In fact, right now we have cucumbers in our fridge from their bounty!

We finally followed in their footsteps and got our very own garden going. I am sure you remember this. I made a ridiculously big deal out of it.
Here, a picture of our very first transplants. Lettuce! It all looks a little sad here...newly transplanted and wilting a bit...

But, eventually, things perked up and more was added! That whole center section was supposed to be carrots and radishes but we didn't have luck with those. Human error, pretty sure. Hopefully there will be less and less of that as we progress!

But, still, it was a happy little garden box.

You can see, as the season moved along, we got our tomatoes and cucumbers climbing those lines and...

...getting all nice and bushy!

And big!

Just north of the center of this cell-captured shot, we have a little baby cucumber! It was very exciting. Though . . . our cucumber plants all got some sort of fungus that I didn't know how to handle and died prematurely...we didn't get to partake this year.
Oh well, next time! It was still fun to watch this little guy grow for a while!

We had better luck with our tomatoes! They grew in bunches...

...and got to be ripe and tasty!
The kids ate every single one. We were lucky if they made it in the house to be washed. Most of the time, they were plucked and popped straight in their mouths! I loved it.

I find that my love for the outdoors, based more on landscape and vegetation than bugs and wild animals, increases with every season that passes. Even this scorching summer we are still in the middle of has brought a newfound appreciation for my desert home. That's certainly a first!
And with how gorgeous our autumns, winters, and springtimes are, it's only going to get better through the next few months.
So . . . stay tuned for another installment. :)
Particularly as we get tomato plants in this coming month! Time for harvest once more!!