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.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We finally got a REAL rain! Two hours worth. That makes for one happy garden and gardener.

I hope you're getting the weather that your garden needs. Now to lay some mulch down.

Pictured from top to bottom are:

1. Garlic blossoms with bumble bee

2. Fried green tomatoes anyone?

3. Clematis

4. Tomatillo starting to climb

5. Lavender, astillbe and hydrangea

Until next time.....

How Does Your Garden Grow?

These pictures were from this past week. The gardens are growing like crazy, despite the fact that we've had zero rain. I've been watering and mulching like a mad woman. I think we're in for a long, hot summer. Again.

From top to bottom we have:

Lavender

Parsley seedling with oyster shell marking. I use oyster shells to mark all of our plants in the garden.

Squash hill.

Dill and green onions.

Garlic blossom opening up.

Here's to a fantabulous week, hopefully with a splash of rain.

Until next time.....

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I harvested our garlic yesterday. After the spring flood, we weren't sure if the garlic would survive. I'm happy to say that most of it did.

The lavender will be ready to cut by the end of this week. I love this time of year. The smell of lavender hangs in the air. Dried bunches will be stored with our wool sweaters to repel moths.

This morning, I have to get our tomato stakes down from the garage rafters and begin staking them. When that's finished, it'll be time to mulch them with the bags of leaves that we hauled last fall.

So, how does your garden grow?

Until next time.....

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The memory of the Spring garden, or lack there of, is behind me now. All that rain, which still continues, is making for a beautimous Summer garden. Here's a peak around the place~
Yellow squash:

Yellow squash and zucchin row:

Pole Lima beans (protected from the rabbits):

Lavender:

How does your garden grow?

Until next time.....

Lavender Finds on Etsy

Lavender is one of my favorite plants for many reasons. It seems that I'm not alone. Yesterday I was compiling a treasury and could not believe how many beautiful 'lavender' items there are on Etsy. That site never ceases to amaze me. Here's a few of the things that I came across.

These glass beads took my breath away when I saw them. They are gorgeous! From LavenderBeads ! Please check out her shop full of lavender glass beads.

I came across these. Honey Lavender shortbread cookies from whimsyandspice . Need I say more?

This beautiful pendant is from RikiCraft's shop; a PMC work of art:

There's pages more, but I'll let you run your own lavender search.

Until next time.....

Lavender

I was working in the garden the other day, cleaning out around one of my lavender plants, dreaming of Spring. Even though we are in the middle of Winter, there was a scent of lavender in the air. Where was it coming from you ask? From my sweater.

I store our wool sweaters, gloves, scarves and hats with bouquets of dried lavender tucked between the layers. Lavender repels moths and keeps our woolens smelling fresh. And it sure beats storing them in moth balls! Do they even sell those anymore?

Until next time.....