Would You Say You Have a Plethora?

Hey guys!  So I took this picture about a week ago.  It represented probably about a week's harvest, plus two nice zucchini and a whole bunch of mint that I had used in a couscous the day before. As it turned out, the bumpy yellow squash weren't good: they were too seedy--Granny said they would be, and, of course, she was right.  Otherwise, though, everything was tasty, and I considered this a pretty good haul for one week.

But since then, our tomato plants have shifted into high gear.

"Ta da!"  Noah and Jane are showing you our four ridiculous tomato plants.  Despite the fact that they look terrible, and also despite the fact that we are competing with caterpillars, stink bugs, birds, and squirrels, our tomato plants have reached a point where they are producing a ton.  And they are really large--as I mentioned before, on three of these four plants, the vines fold over the tops of the cages and reach the ground again.  They're also all intermingled.  It's like a tomato jungle inside there.

And this is the result.  This is two days' worth of picking, and right now I'm getting about a pint a day.  Talk about prolific!  Talk about fun!

In case you're wondering, I do pick them while they're a little underripe, because if I wait, the birds start to nip at them.  Check out all those wonderful colors, though!

My five other tomato plants, the ones I started from seed, are just starting to get blooms and little tomatoes.  I think I set them back with the ridiculous soap bath I gave them a few weeks ago, but they have recovered nicely.  I've more or less forgotten which variety I planted where, and it has become part of the fun for me to wonder which plant will produce what color. 

As for the other plants in the garden, well, most of them are doing fine.  The peppers sure are growing slowly, and I was really hoping to have some cayennes for my tomato salads this summer.  Any tips on growing peppers?  And I think the yellow squash is dying, probably because I planted it too close to the zucchini, which is growing huge and may be crowding the yellow squash plant out.  As for the cucumbers, we've gotten two off our plant so far, and they've been nice and sweet and good.  It's an heirloom variety called a "bush cucumber," but I have to tell you that there is nothing bushy about that sucker.  It vines and spreads like crazy.  It has just reached the wall of the house and is beginning to creep upwards, attaching itself to the vines for support.

Anybody else gardening this summer?