Gardening

We have been very blessed 

in our area to still have enough

 rain to keep the gardens growing. 

 The squash and peppers are doing well 

and the beans are now blossoming.

I had to plant twice to get things going;

as we had a hard frost then extreme

heat during germination of the seeds.

The dill is way ahead of the cucumbers 

... oh well ...

we'll take what we can get! 

I can't wait until the cucumbers 

start to climb the trellis. 

Although they look healthy 

the cukes are still hidden 

under those beautiful squash. 

If I were a fairy 

I'd set up housekeeping 

under this squash plant! 

This is the geranium 

that I kept alive throughout 

the winter.  

I made a crystal fairy garden 
with baubles, glass chess pieces, 
little trinkets etc. 

then I went into my photo program

& made the sweetest fairies out of 

pictures of my grand-loves.

I laminated them and added little

sticks on the back to place them. 

In one of our rock gardens 

I added Grandma & Grandpa 

cuddling on a bench. 

So when the grand-loves came for 

the weekend they could play with

the figures, including going to 

visit Grandma and Grandpa

in their garden in a land 

far, far away 

just like in real life. 

Time and Patience

Some of you might remember when I posted with excitement when we completed our arbor back in July of 2009.  Well ... after several attempts to get grapes growing ~ it appears we are finally on our way. I type this with fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed!  

We even fenced the area to 

protect it from critters! 

They aren't tall by any means,

but any sign of life 

is welcome AND they're growing! 

And check this out ~~~ GRAPES!

the most itsy- bitsy plant with the

teeniest tiniest grapes

go ahead, enlarge the picture

just click on it

Okay, so maybe I won't be 

making wine just yet but still 

Woo Hoo!!! 

I've been busy but I'm back now.

The first thing I planted this spring 

was a small bunch of carrots.

The weather held up nicely so ...

I built a new rock garden around 

the old stump from our ugly tree. 

A little rhubarb custard pie was in order

and another one is in order today! 

along with a little bird watching. 

This yellow-rumped warbler 

really enjoyed his bath. 

Then I headed to the garden 

My love, built me some more 

raised boxes (makes a total of 8) 

and then we decided 

to extend the 

garden and add a trellis for

cucumbers and squash. 

I helped! 

Look close ~

 I transplanted those carrots! 

\

The poppies opened the past 

few days! Enjoy! 

Something to Ponder:

I came across this verse by Gertrude Jekyll as I was planning this years vegetable garden.  I found it to be so true, no matter what you choose; be it a container garden, a wall garden, a field garden or raised beds ~ which happens to be what we do for the most part because of our sandy soil conditions ~ I wish you all a season of happy gardening! 

I do not envy

the owners of

very large gardens.

The garden should fit

its master ... just

as his clothes do;

it should be neither

too large or too small,

but just comfortable. 

Gertrude Jekyll 

And in advance; 

Happy Harvesting! 

Don't you just love vintage seed packets? 

 

Fresh & Colorful

I love when fresh fruit

is in season

even if I have to buy it at a store

 hand picked garden fresh tomatoes

 and cucumber sandwiches

from a new picking

 vegetable palooza

 topped with fresh herbs

 and some chunked kielbasa

roasted on the grill

 and a little corn on the cob

to finish off our vegetable laden meal

Monarch Butterfly About to Emerge

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Our good friends have a monarch

butterfly about to emerge

 she called to see if I wanted to take

some pics and of course I did

 its hanging off their

topsy turvy planter

Note the changes in the

following two pictures

the colors in the wings are showing

the emerging seemed to slow down

so we wandered around the yard

 I'm still snapping pics of course

 I love the ducks on this fountain

and the old wagon wheel topped

with the vintage window box

 and as we strolled along ...

 she found a new chrysalis

hanging on the garage wall

 and the remains of last years

hanging on the house

 after an hour of waiting, I headed home

Enjoy the remainder of the summer

the bees sure are!

Tomorrow I will check the progress on the butterfly.