Friday was my reward for a long week spent weeding and preparing the garden.  I finally put out the first of our tender vegetables, plants that can't bear the frost and that will be coming up around the time of our frost free date.  Reading straight off my spreadsheet, I ended up planting in alphabetical order --- basil, beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, garbanzos, okra, peppers, quinoa, summer squash, urd beans, and watermelon.  Even tenderer plants will be hitting the dirt in a couple of weeks.

Even though the 80 plus degree heat wore us out fast, my Mexican sombrero let me keep moving long enough to slip some summer flowers into gaps in the forest garden.  Last year, I finally threw flower seeds in the ground in June, and was stunned by how they brightened my day in October.  Mark points out that with bees in our lives, it only makes sense to take a few minutes and plant flowers, so I raked back the mulch in a few sunny gaps and dropped in seeds of Mexican sunflower, pink and white cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, fennel, sunflowers of two varieties, a bumblebee habitat mix (thanks, Jennifer!), and asters (thanks, Mom!)  Except for the last two, these are tried and true flowers that bear my neglect admirably and bloom with no care from me.

This is the first year we're growing garbanzos, and the seed packet confused me.  It told me that garbanzos are a cool season crop like peas, and then combined that with an admonition to plant them after the frost free date.  Um?  Has anyone grown them?  When did you plant them?