I’m finally catching up from being out for a couple-plus weeks. First-time vegetable growers: feel free to email me a couple of sized-down photos of your garden’s progress to wcary@lohud.com; just make sure they’re not too big.

An update while I was away in late May from Beth Grafman and Ryan Grafman:

“Looks like the seeds he planted were still good…and are going to sprout.”

A link to Mitch Bernstein’s blog, with updates and photos.

An update from Alison Lazarus of Harrison, with her photos (her garden looks great!):

“I’ve been busy, but thought I’d send you a garden update.

“The garden is coming along well.  We’ve been enjoying home grown lettuce, “easter egg” radishes, herbs and broccoli rabe. Several
weeks back the workers who installed my shed did not secure the back
gate properly and the next day my broccoli and beans were decimated.
I replanted and things are thriving once again.  It was something
small—not a deer, but it did a lot of damage.  We are now vigilant
about closing the gate and using multiple bungee cords.

“I’m learning as I go and continuing to read books and think about
what I might do differently next year.  Item number one: get help!
Although my son is mowing the lawn in this picture when it comes to
weeding I seem to be the only one showing up to the party.  I’m
hoping to get a student or two to lend a hand during the summer.

The broccoli rabe is growing faster than we can eat it, bolting
overnight and the stalks are tough.   Any advice would be helpful.
I’ve made a great pesto with cilantro that is really light and
delicious.  Also made a chimichurri sauce with my parsley which is
great on beef and chicken.

We hung bird netting today over the berries as they are starting to
ripen.  When the days are sunny you can almost see the plants growing
before your eyes—the tomatoes and squash appear to grow inches
overnight.  We could use some more sunny days.

“I always thought I had a brown thumb but that no longer seems to be
the case.

Alison Lazarus