Still growing…

3 weeks + 3 days post planting…

My zucchini/squash are fruiting like crazy!

I’m still a little leery about a few of my tomatoes, but this husky cherry and 2 romas are strong!

I already have 3 bell peppers ready to harvest— that’s 2 more than I had all year last year!

I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of green beans soon.  I have planted a second crop to keep us supplied…

My Cousin Jimmy gave me these banana trees.  I think the grandkids will love them, though I have no idea (yet) where I’m going to plant them..

I finished up this morning, planting some containers, a Black-eyed Susan vine, Lavender, and the green beans.  I trimmed the basil and now have a lovely lot of fresh pesto to smear on my toast.

I hate to tell you, but my roses look like crap.  I failed to have Michael water them while we were gone and they’ve been suffering ever since.  I have fed and watered them, talked sweetly, and I have hope.  A gardener has to have a Lot of Hope.

Now it’s time to sit on the porch swing and relax…

Peace

Garden Photos

2 weeks old…

The Edible Garden is In!

It’s all in…mulched and ready to grow…

I’m trying square-foot-type gardening, partly because I don’t have much faith in some of the peppers I started—not much root to them–and went out and bought some bigger ones, meaning I ended up with 12 bell peppers of assorted types, and 4 sweet banana peppers.  Same with the tomatoes:  I planted 3 better boys before the monsoons hit and they looked pretty bedraggled when it was all over, so I bought 3 bigger ones.  There are also 1 sweet cherry 100, 2 romas, and one husky.  There’s a lot of basil, some sage, rosemary, parsley, and oregano, as well as the broccoli and onions I planted in March.  I put down some carrot and beet seeds around the blueberry bushes…and don’t forget the bush beans and pole beans.   If it all grows, I’ll have plenty to eat and give away!

We’ve mulched around the entire house and it looks great…

I planted some wave petunias in an old stump (ala Pinterest), and surrounded geraniums with marigolds in the old wash tubs…

This lovely Sweet William is peeping out from under the daylilies..

When the rain finally returned, we brought out the houseplants and porch furniture…

 

Now, it’s just maintenance…and a fair bit of luck…

Peace

We are all dust and shadows…

photographed at New Harmony Labyrinth 12/25/15

“All Shadows whisper of the Sun” ….   (Emanuel Carnevali)

Different year, different garden

We have pulled out several of our garden beds to make room for a 14×14 pool for the grandkids.  I’ve left perimeter beds for vegetables, but I moved my herbs to the front porch and the blueberry bushes to another garden area.  I failed to get a good before picture, as usual, so I looked back at pictures taken a year ago…

        This picture was taken 4/4/14

4/1/15

4/5/14

4/18/14

Today, it doesn’t look much different, except you can see the circle Casey has drawn to show where the pool will go:

What a different Spring we had in 2014—I had vegetable plants put in before 4/25 and never had to cover them.  In contrast, the last 2 nights our lows have been down in the 30’s, so this year it will probably be Mother’s Day before the ground warms up sufficiently.

Don’t worry about the herbs, though.  They’ve been safe from the cold out on the front porch.  This is the first Spring with the screened porch, and it is lovely.

There’s plenty of spring cleaning to do, but I’d rather be outside, so it’s hard to be patient while the wiley weather warms, as it eventually will.   In the meantime, that’s arugula in that pot up there, ready to spice up a beet salad.

2014 in the Sonnystone Gardens

Just a picture post…  I thought that would be easier, but I find I’m unable to edit what pictures I add to such a large gallery…  I’ve tried 3 times to no avail.  So there’s another lesson:  sometimes you don’t get a do-over.

But sometimes, you do…  I’ve got plans for 2015…

Tyrone, Jerome, and Ramon Gnome

before

before

after

better boy tomatoes

nasturtium

4/20/14

5/16/14

5/27/14

6/3/14

6/4/14

7/31/14

after

after

The Garden of your Mind…

Even when your garden beds are covered with snow, you can still grow…

Thank-you, Mr. Rogers….and TGIF, dear neighbors!

P.S. (thanks, also, to K. Renae P.)