July 2008: A limited harvest.

First of all, let's admire this cantaloupe:

Just waiting to be the subject of a still life portrait . . .

I cut it open . . .

And there it is . . . you have to admit, it's somewhat amazing that this was developed out of dirt, air, and water (each seemingly unremarkable materials by themselves) -- all catalyzed by an abundance of sadistic Texan sunshine.

While we're in the melon family . . . a watermelon plant and tiny fruit:

The remainder of the corn havest; it's hard to get a sense of scale here, but they're still fairly small. (If you look carefully, there's a small anaheim pepper sitting between two ears).

A handful of carrots -- I think these were the last. (I waited until July to harvest them b/c they were still so small, but watering at least kept them alive until then -- notice how long and skinny some of them had gotten in their effort to seek out moisture) . . .

My favorite of the lot:

And a bug.

Before you get too carried away with this next photo, let me preface with a disclaimer: hardly any of what you see, if any of it, was grown in my backyard. But just so you don't doubt my appreciation for specialization (given all this time I spend trying to grow food), I simply want to point out the elegance of the local farmers' market. The shrimp is from the Texas gulf, the ravioli is handmade in Austin (though it's ingredients are probably not local), and all the vegetables are from a narrow radius. It usually turns out pretty well.