A little bit bent due to the lack of rain, but rainy season is coming.
The ants are all over my zucchini flowers, but they still seem to be producing lots of zucchini.
My husband put up the netting for the mini pumpkins (Jack Be Little) in front of the classroom.
And kabocha female flowers are starting to bloom. They are also being eaten to bits by evil orange bugs. 
And, we all know how I like cosmos...
These are the Jack Be Little mini pumpkins in front of the classroom. 
And the big pumpkins, starting to become actual vines.
First cosmos!
My husband insists ALL clover is inherently evil, but I quite like these pink ones and usually leave them be.
Our yamaboshi (Japanese dogwood) is so healthy and in full flower, but never grows any taller. We meant it to help shade the living room, but at this point are wondering if it will ever top 3ft. I guess it is happy and has no competition, so no need to grow tall.
My husband got some waterlilies at Farmer's Market. Looking forward to seeing how they do. He and the girls caught medaka (little fish) from the river to help control the mosquitos.
The okra is reaching for the stars. It is getting to the point where it is very hard to harvest. Too bad we don't have any tall people in this family.
We get about 10 pods a day, which is really more than enough okra for a family of 4! Luckily, I had an okra-loving friend visit on Monday and gave her a whole big bag so we had two okra free days. It's good stuff, but I am starting to run out of fresh and exciting okra ideas. Simmered okra, okra gomae, curried okra, okra pesto spaghetti, help?
The baby trees on the embankment are coming along nicely despite the occasional pumpkin vine attack.
Tomatoes in planters survived, barely, but are sad and pathetic. We get maybe two cherry tomatoes a week. All the ones in the ground rotted in the July rains.
Even sadder and more pathetic, but trying!
We have baby kinkans on our kinkan tree. They look like marble sized oranges and are eaten whole (except the seeds). We hope to have kinkans to harvest this winter!
Edamame plants are doing well.
Fall cucumbers are planted. The second generation of cucumbers have more or less fizzled out and we are going through cucumber withdrawal with only 2 or 3 a week. Okra just isn't the same...
And finally, cosmos on the embankment! Finally, after sowing seeds seeds and more seeds three plants have come up and two are doing really well.
We have cosmos of many different colors going now. I have to start collecting the seeds and sowing them on the embankment.
The place where the turtle laid eggs on the path was all dug up by something. I guess we probably won't have any baby turtles. Here is the post where the turtle laid the eggs in case you missed it http://gardeningingifu.blogspot.com/2009/06/turtle-and-raspberries.html
It wasn't me! She may eat her roof and a few cosmos, but Jackie says she didn't eat the turtle eggs.
The cosmos are just starting, but I do love them. Especially this kind.
Cosmos and veggie patch. Lemon grass on the right, lettuce that is starting to bolt in the middle, tomatoes behind.
Cosmos and rose of sharon (mallow?) trees. We started the trees from 30cm (1ft) single branch clippings almost two years ago. They grow really fast!
I am not the only cosmos lover in the family. Apparently, they are quite tasty. Hopefully, not poisonous.
I thought cosmos were supposed to bloom in late summer/fall, but apparently this one is confused. I love cosmos, so would be happy if they bloom from now till fall.
Finally some of the flowers in the flower bed closest to the house (NE bed) have started to bloom. This is where the bulbs are, and time between irises and lilies is a bit barren.
More nasturtium.
The SE flower bed is doing pretty well, but I have a bit of a gaping hole in the center that I have to think about. I'm hoping it will look better when the balloon flowers and gladioli start blooming. One Turkish balloon flower (? Turuko kikyo) seems to have survived the winter, hurrah! I love them.
I am still hoping for id on this blue flower which I love.
Reisentraube cherry tomato has zillions of blossoms in each cluster. If these all turn into mini tomatoes we will be in tomato heaven. 
Strawberries are plugging along. Down to only 10 or so a day from a peak of 20. Not bad considering they are just in an out of the way corner, half under mud when it rains. They are to the right of the neighbor's garden tool shed in the photo below. Next year we should look into putting down some rice stalks or something for them to lie on.
An view from the girls' bedroom. The lawn has greened up, but the most trodden patches don't really get a chance to grow in .
