Growing Green Things

Our small garden is growing up so quickly, much more so then I had expected or even hoped for! We decided to keep things more or less simple this year, due to budget and a lack of experience, and opted to grow salad veggies and things we may like to pickle, sauce or salsa and can.

So far, the cucumbers, cabbage, zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes are all growing up beautifully. The lettuce and spinach are growing more slowly, as are the broccoli and peas. In fact, the peas have decided to lay down on the ground after a bit of a heavy rain the other day rather then continue to climb the trellis I made them. Anyone with experience with peas know if this is normal? They're still fairly tiny buggers, only maybe 4" tall but they have quite a few tendrils shooting off. Should I just lean them back on the trellis and let them go?

The peppers are growing up the slowest of all, for a while there I was actually worried the seeds weren't going to sprout at all. But now that they're up and out of the dirt, they're growing a bit more rapidly.

Baby Zucchini, looking all cute.

The green beans and broccoli and were doing well, until a rabbit chewed a hole in the mesh fencing we put up and nibbled off many of their wee heads. Again, due to the budget constraints of just purchasing a home, we used found and leftover materials including thick old tree branches, some chicken wire and some plastic mesh fencing. The entire thing cost us $20, which to me anyway, is pretty darn impressive for over 100 feet of fencing.

I'm all for sharing my some of my food with the wild critters, I never shoo them out of the herb garden though the teeny baby bunnies come to nibble my plants pretty regularly and the not-so-sneaky squirrels steal my unripened strawberries. But gods dammit, I'd like some beans and broccoli for myself, please. We've got to patch the hole in the fence, but since they seem to enjoy chewing through it, anyone have any good ways to deter the buggers that won't hurt them?

P.S. As a bunny related aside, the furry critters have been popping up all over the place for me lately. Aside from the one I held as she passed, I've found and buried two babies that we believe were the victims of an owl. They come onto the patio most mornings to nod a hello before running off so I can't take their picture and have been frequently in my dreams of late, including a series of dreams a few nights ago where rabbit was a constant companion through the night but was joined off and on by cat and ferret. They're hopping about all through my life these days, I tell you.