And boy, was it delicious. I sliced it thin, dipped them in egg, and battered them with flour. I don't use cornmeal because it seems heavy to me. The flour allows the squash to fry quickly and 'crisp' just the way I like it. The way momma makes it.

Next year, I'm going to be mixing more veggies in the perennial bed. My small potager in the back yard is overflowing with plants right now. I didn't realize just how big a butternut plant could get. I planted 4 hills. They'll be knocking on Nell's door sometime next week. I hate to cut it back. And I have a lot of empty space in the perennial bed where those big yellow flowers would look great, not to mention the squash themselves.

My cherry tomato patch has red salvia splendens, castor beans, plains coreopsis, bee balm, and a few other red/orange/yellow flowers. I want this bed to reseed itself and not have to worry about cherry tomatoes next year. Sweet 100s are already coming on the vine.

My okra is doing well out by the street. It's growing between a butterfly bush and a hardy hibiscus. A stray tomato seed has found a home in the new bed by the mailbox. I planted my wintersown daylily seedlings here and a couple of geraniums (Pelargonium) that I rescued from the clearance rack at the store. I didn't count on all the rain runoff coming down the slope behind this bed drowning them. I'll probably plant more veggies here next year too.

I could still get a crop of beans in the ground and harvest them in late summer. Farmer's almanac recommends June 23-25 for planting them. I've got more than a week to make up my mind.

I know some of you plant veggies in your flower beds. What are some good combinations, not just companion plantings, but colors and textures? Any ideas?