Evening walk to the garden

We took a walk down the bikepath to the community garden to visit the late-summer stages of Plot 55, our little piece of the pie...along the way we noticed some mushed pawpaws on the sidewalk, and some soon-to-be-ripe ones hanging overhead. I wish I liked how they tasted better - I love everything else about this plant!  

The girls had their own harvesting tasks tonight, in an attempt to keep the peace which had been fragile or absent all day.  Ani was our tomato girl tonight, keeping up a rambling narrative about how happy she was in the garden, how juicy the tomatoes were, and did anyone want to try one right now, or how about now?

Eliza was trimming the lemon balm, which I will dry tonight and store to add to our daily tea.

The real fun was in finding critters.  I have to say that I picked one (1) tomato while we were there and checked the squash, while they harvested, and Dan pulled out our ravaged kale plants.  I was too busy taking photos...

Took us a while to figure out what these were, but then the "aha" hit...mating grasshoppers! And big ones at that! (Dad, it looks like the big one's giving the little one a piggy back ride! Mmmmhmm...)

I know I shouldn't like these, because look what they were doing to my kale, but they were beautiful, and I've been enjoying that kale since May!  We found them in all life stages, which is always so interesting.

My continuing documentation of our enormous (and often-hacked-at) comfrey plant.  I can't resist including the following photo as well; Ani is checking her size against the height of the plant, but I think it looks like it just said something to her and she's turning about in surprise!  Maybe it burped...

And the walk home. Ani wanted me to photograph the patches of plantain on her newest mosquito bites...

*here is the bonus quote of the day, courtesy of Eliza.  While sitting at the dinner table, devouring summer squash soup, good market bread, raw green beans and humous, she exclaimed, "It is just fascinating that we put all this food in our bodies and we never see it again!!!"  Her sister was quick to remind her of course that we do kind of see it again...ah, the dinner table.