Mitch has been harvesting away this past week from his little garden on our balcony. We received 3 puny plants from our ward out here in Milwaukee one of our first weeks to church and I thought there was no hope for the little guys. Mitch thought better and has shown me that it's not always the sturdy plant that reaps the rewards. Our little cucumber plant has really produced, Mitch has picked 5 cucumbers off it's vines so far and the plant barely takes up the space of its small planter box. Here you see him proudly displaying the first cucumber that it produced. You can see Mitch definately has a green thumb. I think he inherited it From Grandpa and Grandma Oliver.
He's also got two tomato plants that are starting to ripen now. The little cherry tomatoes are turning red and he was able to pick some and put them in our salad last night, I'm not a tomato fan at all but I drenched one in ranch and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Mitch was just glad that I ate one at all. He also has some larger tomatoes but they are not turning red yet. We have big plans for our little garden next year. We'd like to plant some peas, pole beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Our first attempt at a garden last year ended miserably with one or two bell peppers and some late tomatoes, but this year Mitch has made unprecedented strides in his garden abilities and hopes to bring more yummy food into the home next summer.

Mitch and I are firm believers in self reliance thanks to all the teachings of our parents and the church, hopefully we'll be able to be more self reliant in the years to come. If you're interested in some good articles and information on self reliance or food storage try these links.