A batch of zucchini is nearly finished in the dehydrator, a load of laundry is finished drying on the line, and another has finished and will go in the dryer (clothes for work). A stack of vintage clothes (by Marsh Landing, from the old Foley's department store) I was considering selling on eBay are in the Goodwill bin because so few of them turn up as actually sold that the odds are against having successful sales.

My next door neighbor brought her garden cart over and between the two of us we made several trips from the back yard to the curb to leave large chunks of the limb that was on the power lines last month. This week is when that stuff is picked up on our street. There are still lots of branches, but I plan to run many of them through my chipper and I'll put the rest at the curb in tidy stacks each week. And as a thank you for her help, I handed a pint of pickled okra across the back fence later when she was trimming the web worms out of a tree near the fence. "Pickled okra? You're giving me this? I LOVE pickled okra!" Well, yes, I knew that - she's the one who has introduced me to okra to begin with. I have four plants in the garden and she'll probably be the recipient of a fair amount of it (though I have developed a taste for fried okra and I do like making the pickled variety).

There are ways to stay on excellent terms with neighbors, and knowing about their favorite foods and growing them is one method. I only put okra in because this neighbor was having trouble getting it to grow at her house and I wanted to see how difficult it is to grow. I told her she could have most of it but I'd like to learn how to cook it (anything except boiled). This morning I gave two large zucchini to the woman who lives across the street, and several family members live with her since her husband died. She is from Guatemala and still doesn't speak much English, but we both understand food and she loves zucchini and later in the season I'll take her eggplant.

Good gardens make good neighbors.