Woo Hoo!

We have okra!!!!!

Checking in on the Strawberries

                                                      

This is the bed on May 11th, 2012.

June 17th, 2012.

                                                                                                                

                                                           

 I let some of the plants go to runners, I started with 12 everbearing and 6 June bearing. These are an everbearing variety. I get 4 to 6 berries a day off of the everbearing plants and so far have only gotten 3 off the June bearing plants. I think I will let the June ones go to runners now. If these babies keep this up harvesting next year will lead to jam!



No runners on these everbearing.





June bearing.



The Borage is blooming!

This is the first time I have attempted to grow Borage. The leaves and flowers are edible and are said to taste like cucmber.  I haven't tried it yet.

At the other end of the yard... with the help of the girls across the street we got the other bed mulched. It took an hour and a half instead of all day like the east end .

 I think this will hold me for awhile in the front. I just have tomatoes to plant which I will be doing in self watering containers.

Thank goodness for cool weather

 This week has been wonderful! After several weeks of above "normal" temps for the last of April and the first of May, we have been blessed with below normal temps. I took this opportunity to get alot more work done in the new beds. I accomplished this yesterday.

I covered the dirt with 4 layers of newspaper and 2 inches of straw. It took 1 bale of straw for this bed.

These are the "Olla" water pots that I found on Pinterest from globalbuckets.org .  The directions from Global Buckets said they used Gorilla Glue and then silicone caulk. I opted for aquarium caulk only. Ten 6 inch pots and 1 tube of caulk cost just under $20. This photo is from the second trial for leaks. The caulk takes 2 days to set, so it was about a week from when I put them together to when I was able to put them in the ground.

Pots in the ground.  I filled the pots with just under 2 litres of water a piece. They are about 1/2 full this morning, so I figure they will need to be filled every other day while the weather is somewhat cooler. We are getting a very nice gentle rain right now so this schedule for filling is only speculation. I am going to cover the holes with rocks to cut down on evaporation and mosquito larve.

  This pot did not get into the ground till early evening. It was filled at the same time as the others. The water had leached 6 inches into the ground when I dug the hole, about the same amount as the water level inside the pot. If all goes well, when all the pots are in it should only take a little over 15 gallons of water a week for the 2 beds. We shall see.

Why I love Malvas

This is one flower stalk

 1 square foot.

This is what I started with 2 years ago.

  This is what I have now. Plus many more "babies".

Plant Angel

Look what I found on the front porch this morning! I think they are Day Lillies, but not sure. Now to find my angel. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Playing in the dirt

 I have put in 48 ft of new beds in the front yard. I am so grateful that I have taken many pictures of the yard to help keep track of what works and what doesn't. So this is before on the west corner...

This is the first year the Spanish Lavender was put in.

 And this is what the west corner looks like now...             
                                                                                  

     



The Pink Verbena is where the  first lavender plant was placed.

There is a dwarf Crepe Myrtle where the pot was sitting. Chamomille and last falls Pansies that are still blooming quite nicely. This shot further down the driveway...



The remaining lavender plants planted in 2010.

 I am amazed that these last 2 plants at the left of the photo are only 2 years old. The second from the right didn't fair to well in the heat of last summer, lost half of it but with the mild winter it is doing well. The far right was put in this last fall with the pansies.

  Speaking of Pansies... 


This is the front porch bed, with Pansies and Mums planted fall 2011. Photo shot from west to east.

And this is what it looks like now....


This shot form east to west. The Mum at the far end is blooming.

And last but not least, the Begonias...



Left bucket.

 And...                                                                           
                                                                            

Right bucket.

Too hot right now for playing in the dirt, on to housework.Yuck!

I have been busy!

 Have been sewing and playing in the dirt alot lately. Made 2 dresses and a pair of summer pjs for my granddaughter.

This is my favorite machine. I haven't sewn on an electric machine in years, and probably won't ever again. She is a 1915 Singer 115 tiffany decal. If you would like more information on the use and refurbishing of vintage and antique machines, all brands...treadleon.net is the best website.

 New flower beds are going in this evening! In the above photo you can see the markings for the edge of the path. Will post more photos later, this is a somewhat long process as I think through things very thoroughly.
Been thinking on this for a few years now, and now is the time to do it!

 The Malvas are beginning to bloom, I thought I had lost the few plants that tried to survive last summer. When the weather got cooler in September, I had hundreds of "baby" Malvas pop up. With the mild winter and all the rain from the severe weather last week, the plants grew at least 6 inches in 2 days and are ready to explode.

 Well that's about it for now. Have a good one!

New beds!

 In my quest for no grass I have put in these new beds. They will grow herbs, flowers and veggies. I also have the front flower boxes waiting for a second coat of paint and if it isn't raining they will be up this weekend. I am so jazzed!

Aren't they pretty!

Bluebonnet, Spanish Lavender,
Cosmos, and Pansy

From the garden this morning.

The Front Porch

 As I was surveying the front yard this morning I figured out I am about a month and half ahead on the planting for this year. With the mild winter we had everything I put in last fall is growing with avengence. I have added a few new perrenials and have plans for more flower beds and a fountain in the front yard. My aim is to have a cottage garden in the front and another larger garden in the back.  We have been in this house 8 years and I know the yards will always be a work in progress. So I thought I would post some photos of my plants.

Tuberous Begonia "Non-Stop Rose Pink"

 I have always loved Begonias, and this may be a begonia year.

Top - Tuberous Begonia
Lower - Tuberous Begonia " Elatior"





Center - Dragon Wing Begonia
Lower Right -  Dahlia,
Lower Left - Bluebonnets
Left Middle - Guara
On the Gargoyle - Fushcia

This is some of it so far, who knows what I will bring home next!

This is the iris I saved from the garbage man year before last. It now stand 36 inches. Beautiful!

OK, so I lied about getting started.

Life has been very busy around here. Seems it always is though. So I am jumping off the deep end and going to post at least once a week with something, could be just about anything.

See ya soon.

Gramma