It's a long story...

...Okay, well not really a long story.  But a dual-faceted story.  Trust me, it's much less interesting than it sounds.

So here's the scoop.  I was keeping Scruffy in a cloche of sorts, but he was getting too big to be all stifled up in there.  I really wanted to keep him out of the rain though.  It was really more of a sprinkle than a real rain storm, but it was steady and had been going on for several days (as it often does in the great state of WTF).  I decided to reassemble Scruffy's original canopy to protect his delicate leaves.

May I interject momentarily?  Thanks!  Man, for being a plant named Scruffy, he is an awfully fussy princess.  He does not live up to the name, I dare say.

As I was saying, I decided to erect his canopy once more.  But something was awry.  That something-was-awry was directly related to the fact that I had torn down the canopy in the first place.  The plastic roof, as it turned out, was no longer large enough to stretch from one end to the other.  Of course.  Why would it be?  You tore it apart getting it down, you nerd!  Anyway, The only way I could get it to work was by moving the grass-grounded stakes into the box to close the gap.  Naturally, this meant that the canopy was no longer sloped.  Also, it was really stupid looking:

Looks like the stakes are wearing an upside-down diaper.

So yeah.  Dumb looking.  And another thing--which I knew to begin with, because although I am a nerd, I am not an idiot--was that this version of a canopy would collect water.  And it did.  It eventually looked like a reverse pregnant belly.  Then I thought to myself, "Self, this is ridiculous."  So I went out and made this instead.  It worked much better:

Nothing like assembling a lean-to in the pouring rain.

In case you're wondering, I made a white wall to put behind Scruffy, because I heard a rumor that if you put a tomato next to a white or light colored wall, it will reflect heat toward the plant, thus encouraging good growth and ripened fruits.  Turns out this was supposed to be south facing, and also sunny in the first place.  This is east facing.  I've amended the location issue, but somewhat sadly, because now I can no longer see Scruffy from the window.  Ah well, such is life.

Since you've gotten this far, I'm going to reward you with more pictures of Scruffy.

Sunshine means Scruffy gets to come out and play!

Amazing how tall he's gotten since his "accident."  16 inches now!

Now, we must bid Burt a fond farewell.  I hacked him down to the stump because of a wicked aphid infestation, and he never even tried to grow back.  Poor Burt.  We will miss you!  And so will our spaghetti, which will be much less delicious without your yummitude.  Maybe I will find a new oregano plant sometime down the road.  But he will never replace Burt in my heart.

But check it out!  Squishy has grown a ton since I last showed him to you.  Something is nibbling teeny tiny holes in the leaves, but I can't figure out what.  He looks happy and healthy other than that.

I love Squishy 'cause he's so Delishy!

My Climbies are doing good.  The guys on the West side of the bed are very tall and mighty.  They've reached the top of the trellis, and now they're filling out a bit more.  Hope we get some sugar snaps soon!  They are my favorite of all the home growns.

Seems like yesterday you were just a tiny little sprout!

I neglected to mention that I pulled Burt out of the ground earlier today.  It took me about half an hour to work the roots enough for him to finally break free.  Now I'm sore all over and have a purple thumb from grasping the tool so tightly.  I moved the dresser drawer down to Burt's former home because it was warping and falling apart, so I figured the dirt was the best place for a planter that probably won't survive long enough to see 2014.  I'm still not sure I'll see any mint.  That box has been so inactive, and what little I saw in there turned out to be weeds.  So we'll see, but mostly I think it's a no-go.

My babygirl threw some flowers and a ruler into the drawer.  She leaves a trail wherever she goes!

On the East side, Climby is far less vigorous.  I attribute this either to the inferior quality of the soil, or the presence of wire worms (which are more plentiful on the East side than the West).  But they do continue to grow, even if they are a little drab.

Slightly less vigorous, but not too bad.

Very much less vigorous.  Keep tryin', little dudes!

I can't be sure, but I do believe I detect a tiny little bud!  I hope so, because this is about the time they should start producing.  A little late in the season, but I'm still hoping to get a few.  June is usually pretty mild here.  Crossing fingers.

Is that a bud?

I think so!

I set out new potato traps.  The old ones were getting pretty gross.  This time I buried them completely.  I knew I should have last time, but I was lazy.  So they got gross pretty fast.  Anyway, I didn't have any little stakes or popsicle sticks to mark their locations, so I mounded the soil and had my son, Miles, mark each one with a stone.

Yes, wormies... eat those delicious taters... muahahaha!

I honestly am not really sure what's going on with these bush beans.  They had really weird leaves, and almost looked like they had a virus of sorts.  I picked off the weird leaves, and I haven't seen any more weirdness.  But they aren't growing very quickly.  We have had a couple weeks of solid rain, so I'm sure that isn't helping.  We're supposed to have a good bit of sun this week, though, so hopefully we'll see a boost in growth.

So beanly!

"Oh hai, Mom!  How ya been?"

The end.