Gio's Green Thumb

I watch with amazement every weekend when Gio goes outside in the Texas heat and tackles his hobby -- the backyard. After the mundane chores of mowing and edging, he then works on his pet projects, and this year his efforts paid off in bumper crops.

His peach tree limbs are bowing over with the weight of all the fruit on each branch. His grapes, while not yet ready, are blooming all over the vines and starting to drape overhead as they take over the patio trellis. His basil is beautiful and the plants really seem to like having their own planter box this year, with huge leaves and lots of buds still waiting. We will soon bag and freeze most of the basil to use all year. His rosemary and oregano are battling each other for space. The limes and zuccini are just starting out, but should be available later this summer as well. For a suburban backyard, Gio created quite a crop.

No sooner did we go pick a bag of peaches, did the squirrels show up. Our dog, Kayce chased them out of the peach tree an into the oak. I managed to get a shot of one of the theives enjoying his reward for dangerous work.