if bob plants it, it will grow

I'll be the first to admit that I did not have high hopes when Bob told me he wanted to have a garden in our backyard.

Last year, he started with seeds in a few pots. This little monster took care of anything that tried to grow.

This year, Bob wanted to build a raised bed garden to keep the little monster out. Hmmm. Ok. We looked at them pre-made. Can we say, expensive? So in true Bob form, he decided he would just build one. Let me stop right here and say that this was still more expensive than I think it should be. But I can tell it will last and my dear husband assures me that he made it in such a way that it can be expanded and move with us when the time comes. Okay, okay.

My brother came to visit, and he and Bob tackled the bed together on a Sunday afternoon. It was built.

We ventured to Lowe's one day and remembered to buy seeds and potting soil. The bed was filled with soil.

The little seeds started out in a small container in our house. I should have took a picture, but my hopes still weren't high. Bob planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, green onions, bell peppers and cucumbers. A little ambitious, yes.

But what to my wondering eyes...they started to sprout!

The little seedlings were slowly transplanted to the outside garden bed.

They eventually started to get bigger...and bigger...until we had this! 

The squash took off first.

Somebody, and I won't name names (but it starts with a b and ends with a b!) planted more squash than he was supposed to and suddenly we had more squash than we could ever need!

Then, our lone zucchini plant bloomed. Although not as fruitful as the squash, we've seen quite a few zucchinis come out of Bob's garden. 

We used the fresh squash and zucchini to make my version of Ravioli Primavera...which is basically throw a bunch of vegetables in to saute in a pan full of butter and garlic and toss with pasta. Voila.

Since we had so much squash, and a few too many zucchinis, I decided to give the homemade baby food a try.

Steam. Puree with my nifty-difty hand blender, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Easy!

And Claire loved it all!

Yesterday, our first cucumber came into the house. We're still waiting on a few green tomatoes to turn red, bell peppers to grow some more and aren't sure if we'll ever know when our onions are ready or not!

So, here it comes. One time and one time only. I was wrong. Bob's garden was a success. I'm sure it will be even more successful in years to come. Especially when we figure out how to plan so that all of the plants don't bloom at once!