Chime

 Loud, original and beautiful. 

"Patio Garden Lettuce & Cilanto"

I decided to pot my patio lettuce & cilantro together. The lettuces grow so fast, it's good to have it right outside the door to constantly use it. And with my new cilantro obsession, it's all good. 

Before the mighty willow grew 100 ft. tall, I used to have an herb garden right outside the door; chives, thyme, basil - everything. Now I'm thinking I want to put them all in terra cotta around the patio. But last year, the oregano did great in the ground.

Mary clearly had more than one little lamb... (Lol!)

It's a challenge making my entire yard look nice when so much of it is shaded by the willow. NOTHING grows under there; I can't tell you the amount of $$ & years we spent trying to grow grass. It's just too "rooty" with the trees, but I wouldn't give up their beauty & much-need shade for anything. If I ever live in another house, I would hope to have such shade. I'm in love with the willow. I try to pretty the yard up with shepherd hooks w/hanging plants; an old bedspread & fat pillows on the red swing. "D" says he likes it - it looks "rustic."

Heller! (Madea Style)

Welcome back! Looks like it's time to dig in the dirt again!! We literally had NO winter in NE Ohio. I was so happy, even though it was rather weird. Just light dustings here & there as opposed to a couple of feet of snow. Everything started budding & blooming in April! This caused huge problems for lots of plants. One day I took a picture of a beautiful Magnolia & 24 hrs. later, it was dead. Three major frosts before it was safe to leave anything out. Even though temps are hgh, I still don't plant the garden before May 10th. It's what the Amish say, too. And they should know.

I've been eating A TON of spinach. I have to have it in the house. I'll cook dinner, but I usually eat spinach salad instead. Mangoes & Kiwi are ranking pretty high on the addiction list, too. The bean sprouts & alfalfa sprouts are always on the spinach.

 I'm going to grow lettuce in a big pot on the patio. I don't want to put it in the garden. It's so delicate, I want it nearby.

Speaking of the garden, it's time to roto-till. Scream! The tiller we rented last year was a beast. WAY too large for my little space, but the nearby shop doesn't rent small. Yet just a pitchfork was major work. It has to be done.

Lastly, over the winter (or lack of it), I fell in love with fresh cilantro. During a veggie/fruit shopping craze, I added it to chicken soup in the crock pot. Addiction. It's great on the everything if you want a tart, lemony taste. When I use this, there's no need for salt in my book.

I'm not sure what I'm growing this year. Last year, my tomatoes didn't do so well, & neither did my green peppers. They took nearly all summer to finally grow anything & it grew was very small. I will try cabbage again & spinach for a first time. I have to work with the space I have.

Again, thanks for coming back if you're reading this right now. I hope you join me for another season of growing :-)

Late November

Hey friends! I know I haven't been here in a few, so I'm updating now.

We're still having great weather in the high 50's-low 60's, which is so awesome for November. I simply cannot believe we just celebrated Thanksgiving already!! Time is flying so.

The shot of the ducks is from yesterday afternoon. The trees are bare, but the weather is still very mellow. This could go either way - it could snow next week, or we could continue to dodge the bullet. I so pray for a mild winter this year. Last year's snow levels were brutal.

As you can see in the shot with the little pots, my outdoor ivy is still thriving. I love the color it turns in the Fall. I'll bring it in when it gets colder & put it in the basement, watering only very sparingly. Then when spring hits, it will turn awesome colors of green & continue it's life. This will be it's 2nd year of survival. And to think all the ivies in the past I've thrown away. Sigh...

However, the rosemary I brought inside is tanking - fast. I've been using it to cook with, but it's drying up. It, like me, does not care for indoor heat. It's been good while it lasted.

I haven't raked any leaves (which is obvious) - I don't officially rake until my Mighty Willow is bare of all leaves. Otherwise, it's a moot point. That is when I finally call it winter - when all the tiny, pain in the ass leaves have all fallen.

Secret: some years, i don't rake at all. It's good ground cover for the spring. The grass still comes back, the plants still come up when they're sposed to. It's the cycle of life - no matter if I rake or not.

So far, I'm choosing 'not.' :-)

Saturday randoms (edited)

The sharp red colors of Fall catch my eye immediately.
The color 'red' really lives up to its name this time of year.

"The woods are full of fairies; the sea is full of fish; the trees are full of golden leaves; let's make an autumn wish."~ anonymous

This is called throwing together chicken breast, green beans, corn, noodles, onions, Lipton onion soup, chicken broth, a sprig of Rosemary & calling it dinner. It was awesome with sourdough bread on the side. I found I ate most of it - awesome for lunch at work. After it was gone, Son confessed that he really didn't like it. He like's salt-ladden, Campbells CNS instead. Good - more for me. :-)

I pulled the Rosemary out of the garden & repotted it & brought it in the kitchen. It looks big inside. The smell is/was amazing like a fresh Christmas tree. I hope it survives, then I'll put it back out in the spring. If this works out, I'll always have some in the kitchen from now on. I should take a pic, but I'm lazy now. :-)

That's all for now. See ya next time!

Okay, I felt guilty. :-) Here's the rosemary I brought in. I am going to get wire & train it so it won't look so unruly. This is one of my very old "TC" pots. I love when they get the white patina on them.

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. ~ Albert Camus

Hey there, all! Welcome back.

Just a few shots of the slight change in the weather. As you can see, the bees are still busy with the what still holds color (& pollen) for them. I have such a great respect for bees since watching them up close. They're all about their jobs till they drop. Now that's dedication...

In the meantime, the leaves are changing slowly. Sometimes, I'll see a bright red or yellow leaf that catches my breath. It's a promise of what's to come :0)

New "Old" Colors

t


Here are a few treasures from last year. I call this time of year "God's Coloring Book!." The second picture is one I used last year to make Fall postcards. They came out so nice.

I find it very hard to stay inside at when the colors come out. They're amazing :-) I grab my camera, Son & we hit the ground. Son doesn't get quite as excited as I do (in fact... not at all), but he's a good 'assistant.'

Until next time!

Pictures by: me :-)

"Small"

"Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures."

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Life's Little Instruction Book

Picture by Me: "pot snobbery at its smallest :o). And for the record, I own a copy of Life's Little Instruction Book & it is truly adorable. The simplest, smallest things..."

Do you see what I see??? :-)

Welcome back, friends!! :-) As promised, here is progress of the garden. This was early this morning around 6:30 a.m.

I nearly passed out when I noticed so much growth, even though I just watered last nite. Notice how the sweet peppers grow in an upward direction? Hmmm.... The cucumbers; should I stake them? They're spreading out & going wild!

Also, the tomatoes have outgrown the cute little stakes as I knew they would. they're getting heavy & making the plants lean. On to bigger stakes.

Even tho planted in the rocky part of the garden, the watermelon is thriving. This is my 1st attempt ever at this - from seed - so i'm very happy.

Notice how huge the cabbage plants are? Hmm... I'm documenting all of this for next year - they should've been planted further apart. Always remember to leave room. Even though the plants are little & oh, so cute when you buy them - they will not stay that way. And that's a good thing! :-)

More tiny white flowers on the sweet pepper mean more tiny peppers on the way. The bell peppers haven't done anything yet, but get tall. It should be soon!

Notice how the cucumbers are crowing out the rosemary??? Scream! LOL! Also, lookat those 'feelers' on the cukes - dying to wrap around something. I discovered in the garage, I have left over trellis (from the trellis project in previous post). I am going to rig that up tonite, so they can do their thing.

This is all so trial & error, but to me everything looks great.

For some color, I picked up two packs of Zinnias. I love these things. I tried planting some by seed & they epically failed. So to fill in the space where they didn't produce, I bought some.

This is a good time to get some extra flowers for next to nothing if you need some. Places are trying to get rid of them, so now's the time. Most folks think 'it's too late', but not me. Lower prices mean I can go crazy & experiment with everything.

Do you not love the little tin man @ the beginning. I do, too. I found him on a walk last week.

Thanks for coming by. Check back soon - I'll have more updates. I also have some fabulous pictures of flowers I captured on a photo walk last Sunday. See you soon! :-)

"berry berry bo-berry!!!"

Welcome back!!

Things are really popping in the garden. The cukes are considerably taller than the last post, with long vines reaching out to wrap around something! Everything is a lot taller; the melons are getting bushier, tomatoes have nearly outgrown the stakes (that I knew wouldn't last), both types of pepper plants are nearly to my knees & the cabbage leaves are like wide, outstretched arms!

The rosemary is superb. I picked off several leaves & put them in the steak strips w/gravy last nite. The smell was amazing; the taste - even better.

I don't have any pix to support these revelations as I've been busy shooting other things, but I promise I will update this evening.

Over the weekend, I took a leisure moment & browsed thru issues of Garden Gate. I got hooked on these years ago when my sis-n-law, the fabulous April, turned me on to them. They're 3-holed punched for keeping. Believe me, this mag is filled w/so many tips & answers that you will want to keep them. Besides, they're so beautiful, I can't imagine trashing them. And.... I'm so stingy, I can't imagine sharing them... (LOL!!!)

In the meanwhile - not only do wild red & blue berries taste out of this world, they also make pretty nice pictures :-)