September

The summer garden is slowly coming to an end. We're still getting plenty of peppers and eggplants and dried shelling beans. The fall garden is planted and growing with the help of sprinklers. It's been dry here lately. You'd never know it by looking at the flowering vines that grow up the trellises that surround the main garden. They make a beautiful wall that is loved by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. And me. Now that's a wall that I can stand behind!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

This Week

This week just flew by! And most of it flew by with my camera far from reach. There were several times when I thought "Oh, I wish I had the camera to take some pictures of this". But alas, I didn't run back to the house to get it. It's hard for me to stop doing something outside, especially when I'm covered in dirt and sweat, and run inside to grab the camera.
I spent the early part of the mornings outside, working in the gardens. I'm getting some beds ready for the fall garden and have been hauling compost and tilling. The afternoons were spent making jewelry, photographing it and playing with photo props.

1. Cactus blossoms. The hummingbirds love them!
2. Fall beads are starting to make their way into the shop.
3. White eggplants. I love this variety. I see Eggplant Parmesan in the future.
4. I got into my treasure chest of trade beads and decided to part with some.

That's it for now. Here's to a fabulous weekend.

This Week

This has been an excellent week. After the rain that we had, the gardens came alive once again. And I was able to get a lot of work done, that I couldn't do because of the drought. Last night it rained again. 1 1/10" to be exact. There's nothing like sleeping with the sound of thunder and rain in the background.

1. The sage is bushing out like mad.
2. The morning glories are scrambling up the shepherd's hook. I'm considering running them up the siding of the house. Not sure though, but I'll have to do something with the vines. They'll grow into a tangled mess if I don't.
3. The purple fountain grass is kicking in. I love any kind of ornamental grass. They all remind me of sea oats.
4. The ground was finally soft enough to pound the tomato stakes in. The plants might not be as big as they usually are for this time of year, but they're alive. I know a lot of folks that lost much of their crop due to sun scald. I feel very fortunate that our tomatoes were late and not staked.
5. Happy tomatoes. Tonight we're having fried green tomatoes with dinner. I need to make the horseradish sauce as soon as I'm finished here.
6. The second planting of summer squash is coming in. 'Round here, we just pull the plants when the squash bugs get so bad and replant squash seeds in a new bed. I've tried every remedy under the sun (organic, that is) and they simply don't work. At least not in TN.

Well, there's a wee bit of what I've been up to this past week. Here's looking forward to another busy one.

This Week

This week I complained a lot about the heat and the drought. Looking back, I think I probably complained too much. We spent the 4th of July at home and for the first time ever, didn't fire up the grill. We had a laid back holiday sipping Gin and tonics, eating BLT's and homemade peach ice cream. It was a nice change actually, especially since it was 100+ degrees outside.

1. I bought a new pair of much needed Converse. It's been years since I owned a pair of low tops.
2. Our sunflowers that are planted on the south side of the house are in full bloom. The bees and goldfinches love them. We do too. We get a bird's eye view of all the action right outside the window.

3. I laid the soaker hoses that I bought. And mulched the gardens. We're still watering with a sprinkler twice a week. The gardens are suffering, but hanging in there. You can see how dry it is by looking at the color of the grass in the yard.

4. The Rose of Sharon is blooming like crazy. She doesn't care that it's hot or that she's not getting watered. Maybe I should be more like her.

5. The chocolate morning glories are blooming. I love them. And I love the variegated leaves.

6. Our basil is big enough to start harvesting. Note to self: buy pine nuts.

Well, this coming week looks like we'll have some changes in the weather. Rain chances increase and temperatures decrease. Fingers and paws crossed.....

This Week

This week, I:
1. Dug carrots.
2. Tied our garlic and got it ready to go to the basement.
3. Dug potatoes. They will accompany the garlic.
4. Harvested coriander seed, making sure I left plenty behind to reseed.
5. Put up a bushel of peaches. Ate a cobbler and will be eating peach ice cream!

It is 3:30 PM and 110 degrees in the shade. 110 degrees! Still no rain. The garden is mulched and we water, but that ain't cuttin' it. The ground is so hard that I can't stake the tomatoes. I haven't seen weather this brutal this early in the season ever.
Have a fun, safe 4th of July weekend~

This Week

It's been a busy week indeed. Summer is officially here!
1. The first blossoms from our morning glories welcomed us this morning.
2. Althea thinks that if she sits still long enough, birds will land to get a drink. City cats!
3. I cut lavender. Some of it will go into vials and make their way into my shop.
4. I made and listed some new jewelry. I love these giant sea urchins.
5. Some veggies from the spring garden, lined up and ready to make an appearance at the dinner table.
The heat is on. Now please, bring us some rain.

'Round Here

1. Blue Hydrangea. Sweet Blue Hydrangea. How I love thee!
2. Sugar snap peas are in! They have to be my favorite spring vegetable. My favorite 'while gardening' snack. I eat them by the handful when I'm out working in the garden. We've been eating a lot of stir fries with peas, green onions, carrots and garlic from the garden. This weekend I'll freeze some, so we can have them this winter.
3. Lavender. I wish I had scratch 'n sniff, so you could smell these blossoms. Some of the dried flowers will be making their way into my Etsy shop in the form of jewelry in the near future.
4. Garlic circle. I harvested our garlic yesterday. It's early this year, but so if everything else. They spent the day outside, in the shade of the umbrella.
5. The Jackmanii Clematis is in full bloom. I love, love, love this plant.

We haven't had much rain lately, although it's supposed to rain this afternoon and evening. Hopefully we won't get the high winds and hail that they mentioned. Fingers crossed. As soon as we do get the rain, I'll be tilling and planting the rest of the summer garden. And I'll be munching on sugar snaps as I do it.

'Round Here

This week in the gardens:
1. Lettuce. Broccoli. Lemon Balm. And a white rose peaking through the trellis.
2. Clematis in full bloom. I love this variety.
3. Chamomile and Oregano.
4. Solomon Seal.
5. Variegated Ivy.
6. Columbine.

'Round Here

1. Columbine
2. Blue Rose
3. Clematis
4. Another variety of clematis
5. Spiderwort, solomon seal and columbine
6. Rose and chamomile

'Round Here

The weather is finally more like Spring than summer. Temps have dropped down to the 60's during the day and 30's at night. We did have a couple of nights with a frost and one with a freeze. Some perennials got bit, but they should be OK. I carried seedlings and houseplants, that were moved outdoors for the season , in and out of the garage.
I put transplanting and seeding on hold for now. There will be plenty time for that as soon as this cold spell passes.

1. Lily of the Valley. Such a wonderful scent!
2. Basil seedlings.
3. Columbine.