garden journal: 7/10/14

what do you think?  i spent a week in florida with the family and my hands got almost clean and mostly smooth once more.  i thought to myself that i might just leave them that way.  you know, be careful and all and wear gloves.  yes, well.  i had them in the dirt and pulling weeds the morning after we got home and now they are in bad shape.  my index finger is actually all raw and blistered and i'm hoping it doesn't get infected from all the imbedded dirt.  i did pour alcohol on it, but that hurt like the very devil.  the neosporin wasn't as bad. 

what can i say?  the garden sings a siren's song and once i'm in it, i'm consumed by it.  it rewards me tenfold.  we had fried green tomatoes with our scrambled eggs and bacon last night.  so delicious.  and i am content knowing that i am doing the right thing for myself, my child, and the earth.  and you know you all are contributing to my dirty hands and tan skin.  the more gardening blogs i read, the more i realize that the world needs more gardeners.  i am doing my part to spread the word and share the joy.

the nasturtiums are finally blooming.  i know what i said about the zinnias last week, but goodness these are stunning.  and edible!

surprise!  the clearance clematis is not a clematis at all.  what is this?  does anyone know?  it's pretty, but now i must scour the clearance racks again for a clematis.

 

the sunflowers are also blooming!  mammoth indeed!

 

they now measure 11'8"!  to think that these giants came from such tiny beginnings.  these are the boys who planted them, and i knew them when they were babies too.

the clearance raspberries continue to astound me.  g finds one or two ripe ones every day.

this is what has my hand in such a sorry state.  i am reclaiming the side flower bed.  this is about a fifth of the way done.  so four more days, right?  i must at least wear a couple band aids when next i weed it.

another gorgeous shade of vinca has bloomed.  i counted six different colors and two that i had never seen before.  i hope the high school ag department sells this color mix again next year.

my clearance blueberries.  these were causing me great stress.  i knew that if I planted them straight into my tennessee soil they would just die.  apparently they do not like our ph.  i have no tiller (yet, but it's on my wish list) and could just not get my mind wrapped around how to make them happy in the ground, so i finally ended up with these big pots and a 50/50 garden soil/peat moss mix.  fingers crossed that this works well for a year or two until i get my gardening act together at least.  ironically, i spent $11.25 (75% off) on the blueberries and then spent almost $75 potting them.  oops!

the extremely shocked strawberries are now putting out runners!!!  success!!!!

happy wildflower patch.

love this one.

and this one is a complete mystery.  last year i planted this seed mix in a smaller plot close to the house.  i guess there wasn't enough sun for everyone and so the zinnias and cosmos squeezed everyone else out of existence.  in the new location, the plants are getting sun from all sides and so they are all thriving.  this one is taking forever to bloom and i don't know what it is.  the suspense is killing me!  anyone know what my mystery flower will be?

i found this sweet thing growing wild in my lawn.  i have been mowing around it until i have the time to transplant it in hopes it will return next year.

our first little harvest.  g picked these to show his papa in florida.

and a bumper crop of raspberries this morning.  totally worth it, yes?

linking up with manneskjur and "how does your garden grow?"

one photo and twenty words

i flit about like a hummingbird, zooming from one bright patch of color to the next, busy in the sun.

linking up with abi at creating paper dreams.

masterful scrapbook design: product play

this month i'm over at masterful scrapbook design talking about "product play."   it's a great seminar/class/e-zine/podcast (it's so hard to describe its awesomeness in just one word!) that had me building my own kits (yay stashbusting!) and dipping into my beloved but long neglected vintage trim stash.  i highly recommend debbie's classes if you're looking for inspiration, motivation, and a great group to hang out with.  get it scrapped! is the best!  here are some peeks at my creations . . .

me on monday

happy monday to you!  sian has a new meme, "me on monday." that i thought i'd join in with as i'm in a bloggy mood today. 

chichi has that satisfied look on her face because her people are home.  i think she wants to remain in my lap all day.  not possible though as i have a few things to do.

i have that satisfied look on my face from waking up in my own bed.  that's always so nice after a vacation.  i am also still on summer break and didn't have to get up for work on this fine monday morning.  smiles for miles.

so far this morning i have made a mcd's run for hotcakes, taken g to the art mill with his cub scout pack, gone to the grocery in order to eliminate the need for any more mcd's runs in the near future, and blogged.

on tap for this afternoon will be cooking tortilla soup, taking the boys to the lake for a swim, pulling a few weeds, unpacking, and more blogging.  i find it is best to re-enter real life slowly after a beach vacation. :)

how is your monday progressing?

homer's farm: ode to zinnias

what follows is a completely gratuitous pretty flower post.  zinnias are awesome.  they are a simple country flower that always brings a simple fresh loveliness to the world.  i think if i could only have one flower, i'd choose the zinnia.  they are never boring as they come in so many colors, sizes, and degrees of puffiness.  the bees love them.  i love them.  they go on the list of happiness makers.

homer's farm: 6/27/14

these colors are so gorgeous to me.  the farm is pumping out the tomatoes right now.  all kinds and pounds and pounds of them.  (note: some of the tomatoes in the hoop houses have rot on the bottoms.  homer has determined that this is a calcium deficiency and has treated them for it).

the guys tying up the tomatoes yet again.  they are grow, grow, growing!

i love this shot.  three sets of hands working together.  and this was after carole had trimmed them and i had pulled all the pigweed.  happy hands making a happy garden.  :)

the beans.  is this not inspiring?  i have never grown beans myself, but i'm going to try next year if only to have a cool structure like this in my yard.  maybe a little teepee for starters?  fun times.

 bush bean blossoms and bokah.  beautiful.

g casually perusing his way down the zinnia patch.  he has devious plans to pillage the blackberry bushes hidden behind those sunflowers.  note the pretty row of herbs to the right.

hey, blondie!

here comes the sun!  little darling!  here comes the sun!  i said, it's all right!

look at all those ecstatic pollinators!

candy stripe zinnias!

these three were all in the same clump.

i'm curious to know if they had separate roots and were thus separate plants, or if it's genetics at play with a little cross pollination action.  things that make you go, "hmmm . . . "

dill

mystery flower.  I totally forgot to ask, but it's lovely.

this week's harvest.  WOWZA!!!!!!!

belatedly linking up with manneskjur and "how does your garden grow?"

happy (belated) fourth of july!

we're having a fine time celebrating our nation with the family.  if you're looking for ideas on documenting independence day, head on over to the jbs blog for more inspiration from the design team using the july papercrafting kits that are perfectly designed for the holiday.  there are, of course, lots and lots of other projects featuring more ways to use the red, white, and blue color scheme.

these photos are from our 2012 fourth of july.  they were taken with my crappy android cell phone and are really quite funny to me.  my brother (and son) kept complaining that they couldn't hold their eyes open with the flash bombing their eyes.  you can see on the right that I showed them how it is done, although i am way ghosty with the blowout.  ha.

i snagged just a few pics of this fourth with my new iphone.  unlike christmas, i always scrapbook this holiday.  i'll try to save these for next year since i've gotten my fourth of july scrapbooking fix for this year.

we went to lake alice instead of the beach this year.  we were hoping for funnel cakes, but the fire truck was blocking our route.  sigh.  at least the fireworks were stellar.

here is a photo of my baby and me.  goodness!  next year he may be my height!  woah!