tomato cycles

Yesterday, I picked the last tomatoes off of last year's vines--scrawny, little, yellow tomatoes.

I also started seeds for this year's tomato crop.  I love tomatoes.

My little neighbor and garden club member, R, was walking home from school while I was out in the yard, so I got to share with her the first harvest of this year's strawberries.  (Strawberries are her favorite.)  She stayed to help me plant some new seeds--she got the job of writing on the little sticks.  She was amused that most of the tomato varieties we planted were named after other fruits.  (Tomatoes are after all, she noted, having studied such things in school this year, fruits themselves.)

So, we planted our pineapple tomatoes, grape tomatoes, strawberry tomatoes, brown berry tomatoes, garden peach tomatoes, and a few less fruity ones too.

Here's hoping they grow!

We've been working on our house like crazy lately, trying to get everything Matt wants to be involved with done before he leaves.  It also means that we get to help employ some neighbors who've been having a hard time, lately, getting work.  We talked to our painter today--he said it's been a month since he had a job.   He gave us a spectacular price on our paint job last year, and a great deal again, so he's not getting rich off of us, but it does feel good to be able to hire people who are wanting to work and having trouble finding it.  I also really like the neighbor who has been working on our roof--he used to live next door, and now his eldest son does.  He has a new daughter--7 days old--who came for a visit yesterday.  She's beautiful.

I'm starting to think it's gonna feel crazy lonely and quiet here when Matt goes...