My peas are drying up and the lettuces have reached their teenage years — tall and gangly. We’ve reached the summer gardening season just in time for the July heat to kick in.

Other people have the ability to have space in between their plants and to separate, weed, and clear things out with ruthless efficiency. I like my violets too much, so I tug their leaves when they get too tall, which just means they send up new ones the following month. Things grow, and because I don’t know for sure if they’re weeds or cultivated plants, I just leave them. All this is to say that my garden inevitably looks highly messy, but it’s just jammed full of goodness.

I mean, look at all these greens!

The cucumbers, peppers, and squash are growing (Mum, the cucumber is the one I bought before I came north, not the ones we split).

My next round of flowers are getting ready to blossom:

I’m harvesting the celery I planted back in the spring, and I brought home two of the everbearing strawberries for Rudi. (I ate the other one — so sweet!) The lemon balm has gotten out of control. Anyone have any recommendations for things to do with it?

And my bronze fennel will be attracting lots of pollinators:

It’s good to be a gardener!