The rain brings more than just lush growth in the vegetable garden. Look what I found in a rain flooded ditch! The ditches on both sides of the road were full of rainwater. It was quite clear, and you easily could see the grass through the surface. As I rode my bike past, I noticed that the ditches were just boiling with something moving under the surface. My Mom taught me to get down and check out anything and everything in nature, so I parked my bike and got down to see what was in the ditches. It was tens of thousands of tadpoles! This photo is of a gang (pack? gaggle?) of tadpoles as they hunted along the grass below the rainwater's surface. Isn't that wonderful? Fungi also are popping up everywhere. I really love to examine them when I find them in the yard.
What about the garden? Well, as you see, the cabbages already are starting the first curled leaves inside the head, the freshly planted spinach leaves are peeking out, and the new kale has sprouted. I harvested over 7 pounds of green beans last week, and as I pulled up those plants I slipped them beneath the broccoli and cabbages, to serve as mulch. Those new spinach and kale sprouts are growing now where the beans were just a week before. Three types of lettuces have emerged as well. The fall garden is well underway.
