with silver bells and cockle shells...

... and three tomato buds, all in a row:

The tomato plants are growing like gangbusters, although they aren't flowering yet. Two of the red-to-green pepper plants have 'em beat:
The delicate little white flowers are really pretty, and I saw a delicate little white butterfly flittering around them, and the clouds parted, and delicate little angels sang hymns of praise to the delicious vegetables that are hopefully in their heavenly futures.

Hey, remember those wee little squash plants that were looking so wilted and sad just three short weeks ago, when each seedling only had two leaves apiece?
Not anymore! Go squash. I think they like all the rain we've been having. J. also helped me weed like crazy this weekend, and I'm not sure if that's directly connected to the exponential growth of some of this stuff, but it couldn't have hurt.

Behold, a whole lot of heavenly cilantro:
I tried to show you the spade as a gauge, which was sort of unsuccessful. Some of the plants are over a foot tall. I'm not totally sure what to do, here... I thinned it a little, but it still seems to be growing (just like its minty friends behind it) and it hasn't sprouted any flowers yet. Do I let it keep going? One of the people I work with said you can take fresh herbs, chop them and throw them in the freezer, and then take them out whenever you're ready to use them. True? False? Should I try putting some in our somewhat lacking freezer and see what happens?

Upon more advice, I tried thinning some of the out-of-control basil rows and replanting the seedlings:
The seedlings I pulled out didn't have nearly the same number of roots as any of the seedlings I bought and planted in the first place, and they were completely flopped over after their first hour in their new homes. I have so much basil (three quickly growing rows of probably 30 small plants each, plus the 12 older seedlings I planted when I foolishly thought the ones I started from seed weren't sprouting) that I figured I could experiment. Even if these guys don't make it, I needed to thin the rows, so all I will have wasted is time. Right? Right.

"If I was a flower growing wild and free..."
"... all I'd want is you to be my sweet honeybee..." (Will that song be featured in someone's wedding this weekend? Stay tuned!)

The big picture:
It's impossible to see in a photo this size (click to enlarge, but then you can't read the guided tour). Let's see... herbs started from seeds -- mint, cilantro, basil basil so much basil, oregano, chives -- in the far corner; tomato plants to their left (getting so big! the tallest ones are up to the second rung of the cages already); cherry and grape toward the middle of the plot, surrounded by cardboard; basil-from-seedlings smack in the middle; dill and parsley barely visible on its right; butternut squash on either side of the bright marigold in the middle. Not pictured: pepper plants, upper left corner; arugula, bottom right corner; yellow squash, next to the arugula.

And this is me trying to look fierce in the yellow hat:
I hope Tyra would approve.