Christmas Day 2012

Christmas Day. The garden has a blanket of leaves to keep it warm and composted through the winter. Clematis is dried and brown.  I should of cut it off this fall but I like the look of it.  Garlic Chives in a bed of leaves.  Little boogers pop up everywhere.

Now is the waiting game for spring.  Seed catalogs already have a bunch of circled choices.  I love seed catalogs.

On another note: My Desert Rose produced 176 seeds and the first ten I planted, have 9 little sprouts. I believe that all 10 will make it. I will take pictures soon.

Merry Christmas.

Sorry about the horrible pictures. I wanted to paste a few shots of Dublin Ireland in the blog.  I just returned from a 3 night work trip. It is a wonderful city.  The Irish people I met along the way were funny, kind, sincere, generous, etc...  I want to return and see the countryside next time.

Schweinheim

Schweinheim Germany. Incredible stretch of path that leads to the Obernau chapel.

Desert Rose Seeds

The pods are just starting to sprout seeds.  Soon.

Jacob Michael

My New Nephew - Jacob Michael. Incredibly sweet! 

Thanksgiving

I know it's been a while since I've posted. This has been a hard summer.  With Bobby recovering, I haven't had a thought on what to post.

This picture is the pod from the Desert Rose.  Well... It's now starting to split and the seeds are showing.  Not sure how many it will create but I am looking forward to 100's.

Happy Thanksgiving and I will start posting again.

Crab Apples Start to Finish

Crab Apple Jelly. From flower to Jelly. That large container of apples made two pints. The color is so beautiful. Sorry the pictures of the cooked crab apples looks so yellow. The camera doesn't work well indoors.

Garden in August

Crab apples - Jelly to be made soon

Desert Rose Seed Pod

Desert Rose Trunk

Seed Saving

Some snap shots around the garden and on the balcony.
It was a beautiful day so I picked a large bucket of crab apples. They are so pretty.  The Jelly they create is a pretty pink/orange. Only down fall in crab apples is quite a few of them have little worms or holes.  It's a tedious job of cutting and sorting but the jelly is well worth it.

The Desert Rose seed pod is rare.  I have two plants grown from seed.  One is over 7 years old and the one shooting out the pod is only 3 years old.  I am very excited as it will produce 100's of seeds.  Some might even have a different color than the mother plant.

Last, I have a sunflower field with all different colors. I saved a few heads that are now drying.

Again, it was one beautiful day and I wanted to share.

Thanks for visiting.

Garden in July

Some pictures of the garden. The flowers are so beautiful.  I don't even want to grow anything else. They never fail to amaze me with there beauty. The little pink snapdragons just showed up between the lettuce one day. Incredible.

Hard Summer

We have had our share of hard times this summer.  Bobby had triple by-pass surgery a couple of weeks ago that turned our lives up-side-down.  He's healing now and summer goes on. Searching more than ever for a house with a yard.

I've kept up with the watering of the garden and a friend stopped by one day while I was at the Hospital and watered and weeded - an angel!

Some photos above.

Dahlia's - The Yellow, daisy looking Honka and the 12" White Iceberg. Planted the tubers - now just waiting.

Red Lettuce and Oak Leaf. Tasty and oh so fresh.

Zucchini - it's getting pretty big.

Spent last week working in Chicago and couldn't believe how much everything has grown in 5 days. Incredible.  It's not nice being away from home but oh the joy of seeing everything after a good rain and sun.

Garden is Growing

Growing. Peas with Hollyhocks, Red Onions, Spinach and Zucchini just sprouting out of the ground. Spent a few hours this morning weeding and watering. The spinach was harvested on Thursday for a delicious baby leaf salad.  I ate them raw and unwashed right out of the garden and you can taste the freshness.  Nothing compares. The store bought is stale in comparison.

Ocean Reef Key Largo

I am working a conference in Key Largo at a resort called Ocean Reef.  It's north of the highway that leads you to Key West and very private.  The conference ends on Friday night and I am staying on until Sunday - then flying to Boston for another one but I have two whole days to play in the sun.  Hope the rain holds out until I leave as it is in the forcast.  Right now it's beautiful out.

This island has a cat sancuary and yesterday I had the pleasure of walking into a room with over 100 of the most friendly cats you ever want to meet.  They were all attention hogs and preforming tricks to get a pet. Oh My - they make the stresses of the day just wash a way.  I didn't want to leave them. AND I'm sure they were wondering if they could of come with us.  It was almost like an orphanage where the Children behave in the best manner to be chosen.  If I didn't live so far away, I would of taken three of them home. Bonnie, Harry and Nicole. Cute cats.

Well... Off to work again - my lunch break is over.  I'll post some pics when I can.

Indoor Seedlings

 Bachelor Buttons above - just spouting out.

Beautiful Pink Petunias - their color is so vibrant.  This was a seed from last years White petunias - I'm assuming it was a hybrid plant and some how the pink hues dominated and came thru.

Below is a Big Boy Tomato plant. Ready to go into the garden. I will plant it next weekend.

Worked on the garden for hours yesterday. Planted just about everything except the tomatoes and peppers.  Still need to put in some basil and pole beans.

Once it's ready - pictures to follow.

Garden Fever

It looks like teeth, doesn't it? It's a mini Zinnia. When in full bloom, it's smaller than a dime. White - they look like mini daisies. It's a trailing plant and I use them on the balcony. I've collected the seeds each year as I've never been able to find them again at this size.

Well... fresh dirt has been delivered and Al the Rotor Tiller guy came out the same day and tilled it up beautifully - right before the rains.  Now I'm waiting for a dry spell to plant the cold things.  I bought some onion starts - couldn't get my own starts from my seeds.  I think they were too old or I stored them incorrectly. So hopefully this weekend I can get the onions, peas, various lettuce and spinach in the ground. I'm leaving for two weeks on a work double conference trip.  I don't like being gone so long but Key Largo is the first and then on to Boston - coming home May 4th. I love to travel but not during planting season. Can't be helped. Need to earn my Garden money. HA

Zinnia Progression

Zinnia's from seed - not sure how many days to bloom but I took a snap shot every other so probably 7 days. They are so vibrant.

Garden fever - waiting for dirt delivery.

Spring 2012

Spring! Oh yes. It has been one beautiful spring. Warm weather - rain when we need it. Just fabulous.

I've expanded the garden again. I'd like to do a field of Sunflowers. The short kind - not the giant tall ones. I have packets of seeds for multi-colored sunflowers of every size so I thought I would do a couple of rows.

My garlic is popping through. I planted 21 cloves last fall and some made it. Check back for progress. Thanks