Thanks for the compliment about the garden. It's messy looking, but as long as everything grows well it's OK with me. <grin>
The potatos have hay around them. With all the rain, it was getting really messy bringing the tractor around with more soil to cover them so I kind of gave up (after being soaked and mud caked on more than one occasion) and put the timothy hay there. My husband forget to order straw from the hay man, so I used what I had handy. They got away from me anyway.
I'm curious about your potatos, you'll have to let us know which produced more, the straw ones or the soil ones.
Those smart pots look like a great idea. Maybe I'll give them a whirl next year for the herbs I like to keep closer to the house, like parsley, cilantro and basil. I use those to cook with everyday, so it's easier if they are close.
I am in zone 7 also. I put the tomatos and peppers in in May. With all the rain we've had, I actually only had to water the garden once so far.
I'm glad that your peas are doing great! Your garden was so orderly looking in the pictures compared to mine. I don't think mine will ever be as neat as yours. I'm jealous! If it's not raining tomorrow I'll be out there trying to win the perpetual battle with the weeds. We don't have enough grass clippings around here for me to use as a preventative. I'm thinking that I may try using wood shavings to keep them down. Those I have plenty of handy.
I made cheese again today. My first 'experiment' was last week. I made some mozzarella and it turned out great, except that it was more of a 'cooking' kind of mozzarella, more firm. Todays was perfect! I got exactly what I wanted, which was a 'fresh' cheese. It's softer than the other and more of what we use more often.
I usually cut it into small cubes and put it in a dish with tomatos, good olive oil, fresh basil and garlic. Delicious stuff! If you try it, make sure that the tomatos are room temperature so that the juice runs out and mixes with the oil and helps to flavor everything. I normally let it sit for about 20 minutes before we eat it.
I say experiment laughingly there. I know how to make cheese, but it's been a couple of years since the last time that I did it. Cheese making is kind of an art and not an exact science. Next week I'm hoping to begin the process of making some cheddar. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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