This is the Community Garden. A couple of years ago, I considered joining; $15/plot for a year. Very secure with a combination for gardeners only. When it just started out a few years ago, they didn't have water aside from a nearby house willing to share their hose. I'm glad to see today they have several hoses for the sharing.

I love the whole community 'thing.'

The garden is also bigger. There is plenty of room to expand from houses that have been torn down.

 There was word in the beginning of theft - stealing others' veggies. Can you stand it? C'mon folks. Hopefully that's over. But while I looked around, I missed being able to grow my own space. Maybe one day later on...

Pictures by me.

Since the garden failed epically with dry, hot, unforgiving ground, I did herbs in pots. I don't know if I mentioned before, but here's progress:

I have huge bush of Basil. It smells so good - every time I water or rotate the pot, the smell knocks me out. Now it's going crazy - I'm going to harvest & freeze in a Ziploc. I was going to do the whole ice tray thing, but our freezer is small. My Italian bella BFF, Lisa, has promised me seeds of Italian Basil from the old country. Bring. It. On. :-)

I have Sage & Chives in a pot, too. The sage is getting really hardy. The chives are still under control. Since this was all a last minute thing, next year, I'll use much larger pots.

And lo and behold, the red and sweet banana peppers I saved & threw into a pot are sprouting. The pot isn't that big so the peppers will be small. I'm just thrilled to have 'em. The tomatoes, spinach and cukes died an early death. It got so hot so fast this year.

This is all I have to share 'garden' wise. My lettuce was okay, but it bolted early. I ate as much as I could. The cilantro didn't go well, either. It got really huge, but got bare & sprouted pretty little flowers. Hmmm... NOT how it looks in the store.

Live and learn, huh? I think next year I will get those pre-potted tomato plants that come all potted & staked for you. My sun is so limited with the huge trees. It's a blessing and a curse.:-)

Pictures by me.

Good fresh, cool, cloudless sky, Sunday morning to you all. Thanks for coming back to see what's happening.

Well, Fall is setting in slowly which means the garden has been dismantled :-( It gave all it had to give for this season, so I took in the last of it all & broke it down, with a heavy heart, of course :-)

This is the last of the bounty - as you can see - I DID get a few bell peppers, even though if the weather wasn't changing, I would've gotten more, I know.

If you've been to this spot ever, you KNOW that's not my watermelon (LOL!) I could've lied & said it was, but you know... with it being Sunday and all. But there's no way my melon could've grown to this size - maybe next year when I start super early. This little beauty came from the Farmer's Market, but I thought it made a good 'fill in.' :-)

It's hard to start any earlier than Mother Nature will allow here in the big OH - you may think it's okay, then it may snow overnight while you sleep! It's dicey.

Oh, finally - the cabbages. I got four small heads & 2 freezer bags of leaves. You cannot freeze cabbage (learned that the hard way some years ago), so we will be eating it very soon.

I thought I'd spare you pictures of the grueling process of prepping the cabbage. Umm... who knew there would be so much dirt (duh) leaves, bugs, SLUGS!.... I had to scrub each leaf with a soft toothbrush & wash each batch at least four times each.

Now when I go into the grocery or farmer's markets & see the cabbages 'buy ready' form, I will bow down in respect for whoever prepped them to that point. Well... I guess that's the life of a gardener :-)

Finally, with all of my fresh veggies (and my always present bag of spinach - a mainstay in my diet), I will grace my blessings with this new salad dressing. Doesn't it sound delish? Marc's has a huge selection of all types of dressings - I try to experience them all.

"D" rolls his eyes @ the flavors I bring home. All he wants is Italian and/or "ranch sauce" (Ranch). Sigh... how boring. Those flavors are SO 1970... (LOL!)

Thank you guys for spending the summer in the garden with me. I don't wanna stop posting here, so I think I'll come back & post the Fall leaves' change, if you don't mind. I can't just leave you guys hanging!

Until next time - see you soon. Please come back & check for Fall photos - I'll have more of 'em than you can shake a stick at!

Oh - and a special shout-out to my new reader, Gail - thank you for squeaking in here @ the end of the season - it was good having you and I'm so glad you enjoyed this spot. Please come back & check for Fall photos so we can stay in touch :-)