I saw a hawk pin down then carry off a pigeon in the garden today. A few days ago I saw a hawk (probably the same one?) on a power line overlooking our yard but all the birds were wisely hidden or gone. Today he must have gotten the drop on them.

Dahlia with bees plus Pete, one of the neighborhood cats who sometimes stops by to look over our doings.

Showy sunflowers

Hanging cayennes are so pretty. And that’s red switchgrass to the left.

That’s some big tomatoes! They’re an heirloom variety; unfortunately the person we got them from couldn’t remember the name. My tomato-loving wife likes them, though, so that’s all that matters.

Entrance to the back yard. Watch out for hanging cucumbers!

Over the weekend, Rachel harvested 3.5 pounds of Concord grapes and made jelly! I’m having some on biscuits now. So cool!

Sometimes I go looking for Rachel in the backyard and can’t find her because of the density of the vegetation.

In other gardening news–to balance things out–the squirrels have absolutely demolished our sunflowers. They haul their fat asses up the stalks (bless ‘em), bite the heads off and bring the whole thing down. Or they reach out from the privacy fence and eat like they’re in a Golden Corral. Ah, well.

Check out these Concord grapes! They’re still a touch sour but they’re almost ready.