Accidental Gardener

There's the Accidental Tourist, Accidental Chef, Accidental Ranch Wife, and me - the Accidental Gardener.  I've been gardening for a long time but it's always hit and miss - I have no idea what I'm doing really...I plant stuff, water, weed and stake when I remember, then it either grows or it doesn't. Funny accidental gardener story - When I first started gardening I had a super tall plant that I thought was pretty and was quite proud of myself for growing, I'd weed around it and thought I was all that...Dave's mom was over one day and I showed her my accomplishment, told her I "didn't know what the plant was but look how good I was doing with it" and she basically rolled her eyes at me and said "yeah, that's a weed". I was crushed and a bit embarrassed haha! Anyway...this year my garden has been growing really good without much care, but it sort of got away from me and when I finally got around to weeding and sprucing things up I realized I've been pretty neglectful! Look at what a mess it was:

I can't tell what is wrong with the tomato leaves - insects or disease or if it's just been super hot lately and that's causing the leaves to turn brown. I got out a clean spray bottle, added a little dish soap and water, then sprayed everything in the garden - a natural insect repellant if that's what is causing the problem.

I started pulling out the pea plants because they're brown and appeared to be dying out, but then I see that there is new growth and even a couple peas (Lucy the bird was thrilled when I gave them to her!) so I trimmed lots of the dead parts off and left the rest to see if they'll continue growing. Peas are a cool weather plant and it's been so hot here that I assumed they were done for - glad I noticed the new growth before I ripped them all out!

Sarge helps me check the garden and look for "maters" - I'll usually roll one for him to chase, he grabs it and throws it up in the air before eating it...so cute. Of course he also did that with a toad he found in the grass yesterday so I guess that's his hunting technique - nice (not). Did you know when dogs bite toads something happens that makes the dog instantly have foam in their mouth? Sarge was running around shaking his head and spitting out nasty foam (and freaking me out), I'da worried more if this was the first time but it wasn't - you'd think he'd learn!

Lucy helped herself to fresh tomato,
I've never seen her do that! 

I had a big harvest yesterday of tomatoes, lettuce, and a couple sweet peppers - thankfully the garden is growing in spite of me.