Shifting Winds

 

We woke up this morning to the sound of the wind. Rain was in the forecast for today which pleased us. We haven't had rain in a week and the garden needed a drink. I stepped outside. The wind wasn't a hot, muggy July wind. It was more like end of summer, Autumn's calling kinda wind. I grabbed the camera right before the rain came and snapped a few photos to remember this end of July day.

1. Watching the rain fall from the back deck.
2. Crepe Myrtle in full bloom towering over the tomato plants in the garage garden.
3. The corn blowing in the wind.
4. Black Eyed Susans in full bloom behind the tomatillo bed.
5. New squash bed, freshly mulched with grass clippings.
6. Thai Basil in bloom. I'm letting one of the plants flower for the bees. I've never grown this variety of basil before.
7. And finally..........tomato harvest! We have to pick them a little sooner than we'd like because the mockingbirds like to 'taste' them.

It's going to be a busy week ahead.
Until next time.....

Strange Days Indeed

The weather continues to be all over the map. We're still getting rain, although it's more of a pop up shower in the afternoon and it's not enough to flood the gardens. I've done a plant body count and things aren't as bad as it looked at first (or so I keep telling myself).
We lost 21 out of the 29 pepper plants that we started. We were growing six varieties of hot and sweet peppers. Although this is a MAJOR loss for us, peppers are something that we can buy locally and won't cost a lot of money.
We lost 10 out of the 43 regular tomato plants and 4 of the 43 Roma tomato plants. At first more plants were shriveling up, but it looks like they're coming back. Fingers crossed.
This year, I decided to divide our tomato crop and plant it in different sections of the main garden. I also planted some in the bed behind the garage and in the bed next to the compost. I've never done this before and am so glad that I did.
The peppers are planted in a fairly new bed that obviously needs to be raised, since it's the one that flooded the worst. I'm in the process of building it up with compost and grass clippings. Lesson learned.

This week's round up:
1. Corn with Dixie Speckled Butter Peas in the foreground. Okra in between.
2. Vitex in bloom with happy bees and butterflies.
3. Tomatillo. Can you say Salsa Verde?
4. Cypress Vine and Morning Glory. Hummingbirds will be happy!
5. Cucumbers continue to shine.
6. Wave Petunias. I usually don't plant anything in pots in the summertime because it usually is too hot here. No matter how much I water, the plants rarely flourish. Not this year.
7. Corn tassels! Can't wait to eat my first ear of corn; fresh picked and raw.

Here's to a wonderful week all around.
Until next time.....

The Wa-a-ting Is The Hardest Part

After all was said and done, we had a total of 5 7/10" of rain fall in 5 days. The sun finally came out on Sunday and the temps returned to normal. The gardens don't look so good. I knew in the back of my mind that all this rain wasn't good for them and they were in danger of rotting. Right now our pepper bed is supersaturated and the plants are wilting. Half of the tomatoes are wilting too. So far everything else looks OK. This isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last, but it sure as hell doesn't get any easier. I'm going to pass on posting any garden pictures today. You really don't want to see what I see. Until next time.....

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Rain Day

It's a beautiful rainy morning here in Tennessee. After spending two days pruning trees and hauling brush, it's just the break I need.
Spring is officially here. The mockingbird is sitting atop the Foster Holly outside my window, singing her sweet song. They sing so quietly this time of year, after not singing all winter.
Our daffodils are beginning to bloom. I love being able to bring the sunshine indoors.
Althea is tucked away on the futon. She looks so comfy. I'd love to join her. But I really should head into the studio and get some work done. I have numerous pieces in the making and finished jewels that need to be photographed.
I think I'll have a cup of espresso first though and sit here listening to the sounds of spring.
Until next time.....

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 has been a grand one. We finally got rain! Days of soft, steady, soaking rain. I spent a lot of time listening to it. Smelling it. Walking around outside in it. I missed it so.

1. Standing on the back deck. Watching it rain.
2. I stared at a lot of raindrops.
3. And chased the elder blue tailed skink around.
4. To top things off, we made and ate lots of peach ice cream.

Rain is in our forecast for the next week. Needless to say, I am one happy camper.

'Round Here

 Our crazy weather continues. We're breaking temperature records left and right. The rain continues to come down. Yesterday, I was able to get a lot of work done before it began. When it finally did begin to fall, it brought with it pea sized hail. Today, the forecast is the same. It stopped long enough for me to head outside, get some fresh air and snap some photos.

That was what the sky looked like last night, at sunset, after the storm passed! Everything glowed orange.

I dug up some turnips in the turnip bed that we planted last fall. Normally, they would not have survived the winter. Since it was so mild here, they continued to grow. A nice surprise! I got a fabulous recipe from a woman I met on twitter for tofu turnip soup that I'll be making this weekend.

While I'm waiting for the ground to dry out, I decided to plant some onion sets in some of our large pots.

The bachelor buttons are beginning to bloom. I harvested these seeds years ago, down the road at the edge of a field. I like to think that they once grew in the cottage garden of one of the families that settled this area.

Last year, I moved our herbs closer to the house. It is so much easier to run outside to snip a piece or ten when we need fresh herbs. I dug up a few chunks of oregano. Looks to me like they love their new home.

The parsley plants are still alive and looking pretty good, although they'll soon be seeding out. They're usually dead, but the mild winter.....

I moved the lemon balm too. It's growing next to the rose trellis. I think she'll be happy there.

And our cilantro is also alive and kicking. It will soon be seeding out too.

Today is half over. Here's hoping that we don't get any of that golf ball size hail that I saw on TV last night.

After The Rain

Garlic bed

Daffodils

Snowdrops

Thyme

Chives Rosemary Parsley

Wordless Wednesday

Summer's Heat

Summer's heat is upon us, here in mid TN. Looks like much of the US is feeling it too. I set the sprinkler system up a couple of days ago because there wasn't any rain in the forecast. The peppers loved their time under the sprinkler. Look how brown the grass is.

Then we got lucky. Yesterday it rained 1"! Happy garden. Happy gardener. Stay cool~

Until next time.....

Tennessee Winters

Tennessee winters are very unpredictable. We go from warm to cold. From rain to snow. And back again. We even had fog the other morning. We finally got the snow that I've been waiting for. It's been snowing since Sunday. On and off. But because it's not all that cold, there really isn't much of an accumulation on the ground.

It's still pretty out here though. I really should go out with my camera and take a few photos. Yesterday I looked out the kitchen window and counted approximately 50 cardinals sitting in the maple tree and eating seed under the feeders. 50! An explosion of color in a black and white landscape. This picture was taken through the window screen, so it's not the best quality, but you get the idea.

Until next time.....