The Fruits of My Labor: Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Strawberries

All is not lost in my garden. I tend to focus on a lot of problems in my journey toward being a gardener, including the persistent flea beetles and my struggling bell peppers, but I am having some wins.

For example, my Christmas Grape tomatoes are doing as well already as they did last year, in the same location in the garden. Here's the first ripening tomato! I plan to eat it soon!

And my beefsteak tomato is doing better than last year's attempt.


Already there is a fruit growing - see the middle of the pic below. And many other flowers. I've done very little additional feeding this year. Tomatoes don't like too much nitrogen.

And a welcome surprise when I returned from vacation: The strawberries in my hanging planter are starting to form! The plant seems to be doing well. I should be able to eat the first fruit in the next few days.

Finally, I came home to my cucumbers settling in nicely on the new leaning trellis I bought this year. The cucumbers are already healthier and larger than last year's plants! Probably because I've given them more than enough space this year. Last year's they were a little crowded.