Simple Pleasures

Knit Picture Washcloth

2012-02-01T07:35:00.000-08:00

I have been practicing my knitting skills lately. Still working on that pair of socks I posted earlier, but I got bored. So I started a knit washcloth for Valentine's Day. It is the "X and O" pattern from :
http://rachelsknittingcorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-do-you-block-your-patterns.html

I am definitly NOT going to try out for any speed records in knitting. I spent 3 evenings on this cloth. It did turn out very nice tho. I have some simple ones I made about 5 yrs ago, and they still look good other than a slight fading. I cant say my store bought washcloths last as long. Hand Knit cloths for dishes or washing hold up very well, they are great to try out new stitches, and are great quick, portable projects. They are also very soft, but have a slight scrubby, exfoliating action going on. What more could you want for a cloth. Mine is made from 100% cotton Peaches N Cream yarn.

See the cute "X"'s and "O",s along the borders? I love this pattern.

Doggy Diaper for Small Females

2012-01-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

My adult kids have two Yorkies and two Maltese that have all but one,come into heat at the same time. They were out of disposable diapers to cut to fit. I think they really wanted to just save the expense. So they asked me if I could make them diapers like I made my DGD's for their dolls. So I got busy and drafted a simple pattern. So far I have made 3 of them, and they fit the dogs from 4 lb thru 7 lb. Be sure to check the measurements it prints out against the ones I noted on pattern to be sure it prints the same size.

Doggy Diaper Pattern

First time knitting socks

2012-01-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

I am currently working on a pair of socks. I have knitted off and on for many years, but nothing too complicated. So far these are working out pretty easy. I hope I can say the same when I get to the heel.

My First Burlap Stocking

2011-11-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

I just completed my first burlap Christmas stocking. I have never sewed with burlap before, but it was surprisingly easy. I created this one from some ideas I compiled off the web, and a little of my own. This is a little more taylored. The other two I have plans to add some ruffles to them. I also plan on making a tree skirt. I cant remember ever having one before. I am going to model my skirt after the gorgeous one created on u-createcrafts.com Their skirt has to be the prettiest I have ever seen. Below is my new stocking:

Lysol Clean Flip Washable Covers

2011-11-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

I hate to buy things and throw them away. It seems such a waste of money and precious resources to buy the disposable cloths for those little mops. I had a coupon for $1 off the Lysol Clean Flip mop. I decided to purchase one because my Swiffer mop had a broken handle. I decided very quickly I was going to make over some towels into washable pads for it. I thought at first it might be a little time- consuming, but actually they worked up very quickly.I tried to find some inexpensive microfiber towels, and maybe if I had looked at Big Lots or something I could have, but I was shopping with hubby and as usual, he was in a hurry. So I picked up a package of 5 barmops from Walmart for about $6.

After doing some measuring and comparing the best way to cut one from each towel, I came up with this:

Its hard to tell from this pic, but there is a blue border on this lower edge. I measured up 4" from the inside edge of the border, and the same with the left edge.

I trimmed off the blue border, and the left hem first.Then from the remaining 4" strip on the left, and the 4" strip across the bottom, I was able to get 2 more panels (for a total of 3) the length of the mop to lay down the center for extra absorbency. As shown in the center pic this will lay across the center of the panel from left to right as shown in the main panel in pic two. The pic below is showing the main panel with the left side down at the bottom now.

The pic below shows the left edge of the main panel being folded over the center paddings about 3/8" Then this edge and the other 3 edges of the center padding will be zig zagged to hold securely. The same will be done to the other raw edge of towel.

Now fold over left edge to meet center padding stitching( approx 2"). Do the same with the right edge. Stitch the folded edge down with straight stitching along the edge. Be sure about double or triple stitch this and reinforce the edge where it will be pulled alot to pull it on and off the mop. Do the same with the other 3 corners.

This is the final product:

You can easily flip the edges of the mop up by pushing the rounded disk edge, and these easily slip over the edges of the mop. I didnt bother prewashing my towels, as I am always in a hurry, It may be a big mistake if these shrink much int he wash. So you may want to prewash before cutting. I only made two, so I will wait to make more until after these are washed.

UPDATE: I just used my first one and washed it in warm water and dried it. It came out beautifully. No shrinking, and washed perfectly clean. Now I can finish the rest of the set.

Beautiful Dames Rocket

2011-05-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

I had a few plants last yr, towards the back of this end of the bed. I wasnt sure I liked them. I even pulled a few out last yr. But this yr a bunch sprouted up in shades of purple and white, and look so nice near the purple iris's and the bright pink azalea. My huge weigela just to the right of the azalea, and looks just as beautiful. I think I will let them stay.

PS: I edited the title as I at first thought these were phlox and later found out they are really Dames Rocket.

AreThese Tomato Seedlings?

2011-05-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

I planted several different heirloom tomatoes last yr along with a couple early girl. I had so much problems with tomato hornworms and stinkbugs, I got very few fit to eat. Needless to say, a LOT fell to the ground. Now this same 4'x8' bed is full to the brim of these little seedlings. They appear, and smell like tomato plants. I dont know what to do with them. I thought at first they were marigolds, and was going to just leave a few sturdy ones, but now after they have gotten bigger and I smelled the leaves, I am pretty sure they are tomatoes. I hate to destroy them, but there is no way I have room for a few hundred tomato plants,lol. I didnt know the seeds would survive winter.

Hidden Dangers in Food!

2011-05-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

I thought the only time we had to watch for razor blades, and other dangerous objects in food, was only on Halloween. Well this evening, I learned that is definitely NOT the case. I always buy the little 6 , snack size packs of Sun-Maid Raisins for in my husband's lunch and my 5 year old grand daughter to snack on. I have bought these for years. A healthy, quick snack. But this evening my grand daughter grabbed the brand new pack off the counter and wanted me to open it and give her a box. I did so,as I turned to walk away ,she suddenly brings something to my attention, asking : "whats this?". I looked at her little hand and couldnt believe my eyes. She had a raisin that was slightly mashed and pressed onto and wrapped 3/4 the distance around a 1 inch long piece of wood that was about 1/8 inch wide. Had she just popped it into her mouth without noticing, there could have been serious injury.

Robot Baby Blanket

2011-04-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

My 21 yr old daughter just completed her first major sewing project. She is a nursing student right now and wanted to earn a little spending money. She made this gorgeous flannel and flannel lined satin baby blanket and matching burp, that she is now offering on Etsy.

The set turned out beautiful. Take a look and see what you think.

My 4th Grand Daughter

2011-03-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

We just welcomed a new grand baby to the family in January. She is now 2 months old. Her name is Braylee. She weighed 6'4". A tiny little bundle of Joy. She is the first child to my youngest son.

Wintersowing for 2011

2011-02-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

   It is such a warm beautiful day outside today ( a warm 65°) , I decided to get started on a little wintersowing. I am much later than last yr. But this yr I have no intentions of sowing over 200 containers either. I want to see how things filled out from last year. With perennials they frequently dont show their true glory until yr 2 or 3. Mostly what I sowed today are the fantastic seeds sent to me from Renee's Garden about a month ago (see link in side bar). I participated in a group grow last yr sponsored by her.It was a lot of fun. I got about 15 containers sowed this afternoon. It didnt take long as I saved a few bags of last year's containers. So I didnt have all the cutting to do.
   I also sowed some more rose seeds I had saved. last yr I got two wonderful rose bushes this way. I expected some weird looking thing with flowers no where near the parent, but I got a wonderful surprise when they bloomed. What a cheap,easy way to make more roses.
  Traditionally, winter sowing is started on Winter Solstice. But I avoid the cold weather as much as possible. This is such an easy method to start seeds. Mother Nature takes care of most of the gardener's duties. Give it a try and drop a line to let me know how it did.

Christmas At Home

2010-12-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

I dont have much to say, but I just had to share some photo's that looking amazing in the Christmas lights.

and Many Blessings for the New year !

New Baby Shoes

2010-12-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

My newest grand daughter is due in a few weeks and I have been busy making things for her, among others. I found this cute baby shoe pattern online, and thought about trying it, but never got around to it. Then while shopping at target this evening, I found the exact same style shoe there for $8. It was so cute... but what isn't when its baby size,lol. Anyway, when I got back I decided to give it a try. The pattern is for 0-6 mo, but I wanted newborn, so I just took a generous seam allowance. I havent gotten the other one made yet, but I will get it done shortly. I just couldnt wait to share how cute this pattern is. The tutorial and pattern can be found HERE.

Baby Quilt For Coming DGD

2010-12-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

We are expecting out 4th grand-daughter sometime the middle of January. I started this baby quilt for her the first of September while on the road to Tennessee with our camper for the annual car show in Pigeon Forge. I finished it after our return the day before the baby shower the end of October. It is totally my design. i kinda winged it as I went along. I knew I wanted soft colors. I started with the center floral wreath then added the stars around that, then did a simple border. I want to embroidery the baby's name, birth date and weight ( the only time a woman ever truthfully tells her weight....well come to think of it, someone else is opening their big mouth even then,lol) into the center of the quilt. The mom loved it.

Snow Bunny Crochet Ponytail Hat

2010-12-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

My grand daughter has been bugging me since this summer that she needed a new ponytail hat. I had made one for her a couple of years ago, and forgot how I did it. Well I finally buckled down and created a new pattern. This one turned out so much nicer, with loads of feminine detail. The hat is open at the top to allow you to pull your ponytail thru the top so you no longer have to full with unsightly bulges in the back of your hat due to your ponytail.
This time, for the first time ever...I wrote down my pattern as I went. I always tend to wing it, and make it up as i go. However sometimes that makes it rough when I need to create more than one of my design, and now I have 3 DGD and one more on the way.

This pattern is available for purchase at Stitch This Designs.

Fantastic Giveaway at Stonegable!

2010-11-18T03:40:00.000-08:00

I just followed THIS link to a FANTASTIC giveaway being held at Stonegable. She is offering a huge set of gorgeous Christmas dishes. Some lucky winner is going to be very happy at Christmas.
Tammy

My First Baby Wipes Case

2010-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

We are expecting our 4th DGD the end of January, so I have been busy with sewing and crocheting projects. I have a baby quilt that is in the hoop now almost done with the hand quilting, A crocheted baby blanket done. And today I made my first In-The-Hoop baby wipes case. These In-The-Hoop projects are so much fun. its hard to believe you can sew this whole case completely in the hoop (other than the two tabs on the ends). All I had to do when I removed it from the hoop was to trim the excess fabric around the edges and turn right side out.

I digitized the design myself. I havent done any digitizing for several years, and have just gotten back into it this year. I am also loving my new (to me ) Viking Designer 1 Embroidery/Sewing machine.

A Laptop Case For My Daughter

2010-10-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter is in nursing school, and just purchased her first laptop. It is a 17" computer and we couldnt find a ready made case. All the better. She picked out her fabric and style, and I stitched this up for her. its a perfect fit. More importantly, she is very pleased.

My New Fall Table Runner

2010-10-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

I just got my new Fall table runner completed this morning. I am having a blast playing around with my new embroidery machine. I digitized the pumpkin design myself. I used to digitize a lot, but was stopped for a couple of years. I am just getting back into it. The design file can be found on my Stitch This Designs website.

Tomato Hornworm

2010-07-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

All I could say was "YUUUUCCCKKK!" when I was strolling thru the garden this morning, still in my p.j.'s. I found these two on one of my Early Girl tomatoes. I at first noticed a couple of tomatoes with areas kinda skinned. So I started looking closer for the varmint. Then I found the first. They are HHUUGGEE!.

I wasnt about to touch them. I wasnt sure what it was at first, since I have never seen them before. But the first thing that came to mind was a Tomato Hornworm. So I took these guys away for their moment in front of the camera, and then came inside to my "see all know all" computer. I found out my supposition was right.

According to this website: http://organicgardensite.com/bugs-harmful/tomato-horn-worms/
"Tomato Hornworms are the larva of a huge moth called five-spotted hawkmoth. Approximate size of the moth is around the size of a hummingbird so you can’t miss them. The hawkmoth is gray-brown with yellow spots on the sides of their body.
The hornworm caterpillars are pretty small at first and hard to see because of their pale green color, but they become huge – 3 1/2 to 4 inches (7-10cm) in 3-4 weeks. You can’t miss them then! They are green-brown colour with v-shaped markings on the body and unmistakable ‘horns’. Hornworm eggs are green and are laid on the underside of leaves."
Here is the google pic of the MOTH.

According to THIS site, solanaceous plants, mostly tomato.but larvae can also attack pepper, potato, and eggplant. The eggs of this worm grow into the adult moth often referred to as "Hummingbird Moth". It is a large heavy bodied moth with a wingspan of 4-5 inches. It is not uncommon for some people to mistake them for deformed hummingbirds.According too THIS site, it is in its last instar of development since it has the cream colored "V" shaped markings.It could soon be pupating and then the large moth emerge in about 2 weeks.
The larvae are the damaging stage.They are capable of destroying several leaves and fruit, and leave behind large black droppings.
Handpicking off small crops works the best (eeewwww). Early instars are often preyed upon by ladybeetles and green lacewings. Later Cotesia congregatus, a small wasp will lay her eggs on the hornworm, which then form cocoons in her body. These white coccoons stick up on the worms back. If you see this , leave the worm. When the wasps hatch they will destroy the worm, and seek out others to kill.
So observe your gardens from early July into August for their eggs and small caterpillar. Well Time to dress and head back into the garden, armed with a bucket of water, prepared to do battle.

PS: While I was inside loading pictures onto the computer and starting this post, I had left the little (and I use that loosely) worm's sitting outside on my deck. When I came back to take care of them, I found a few of these little droppings:

These are approximately 1/4" in width. The worms themselves are pretty hard to locate, since their coloring blends in with the tomato plants so well. The best times to look for them is early morning or late evening since they dont like the heat so much. You may also look around the base of your plants for these green to black droppings. Finding these would be a postitive sign you plants have unwanted company.

Note: As always, you can click on the image to bring it to a much larger size for close-up viewing.
Also, someone on the gardenweb forum said to plant Borage near by. This is supposed to deter the moth from laying her eggs, and "gently" re-seeds so you wont have to replant them again. I think I will try and remember to plant a few next year.

July's Flowers

2010-07-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

I finally have some blooms on my new Japanese Morning Glories. They are beauties. i cant wait till they get fuller.

Chocolate Silk

And Morning Glory Cameo Elegance

Friends visited the other day, and as they were leaving and looking out over my large raised bed, he commented about me having so many Hummingbirds. I also have loads of butterflies too. Thank You Winter Sowing.

Cosmos Rose Bon Bon. I have noticed some of these are more a single form with just slightly extra center petals, and some are what I was expecting with a real full look like this one:

Heliopsis Summer Sunshine:

Seed grown Marigold

Zinnia Fruit Smoothies. I love the multiple colors of these. I plant to grow them again next year.

Sunflower

Red Gladiola

Scabiosa ,Summer Berries I love these cute little flowers. These are getting re-sown again next year too.

And last but not least...California Poppies

Making Napkins

2010-07-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I have been reading online tips about how others are saving money on their grocery bills, running their home etc. That, plus the admiring Yvonne at StoneGable's beautiful place settings. So I decided to try my hand at making a few napkins. I have a link to her instructions for making their mitered corners in my sidebar. You cant improve on perfection, so I didnt try doing my own tutorial.
I made four of these napkins from some scrap that I already had.

Then as usual, I got on a roll, and made 4 new placemats. The fabric I used was from a new tablecloth I had bought from Gabriels Brothers real cheap, but it was too long, so I cut about a foot and 1/2 off one end. Then I already had the binding made (although I would have preferred a wider binding, but I wasnt in the mood to make more).

Then this morning, I was so proud of myself for how well these turned out, and that they looked so fantastic on my table. So I made 4 more napkins. While looking for info on making napkin rings, I run across this youtube video on folding your napkin into a rose. Yep.....I had to try that too. So I took one of the last napkins I made (that incidently was the same fabric I had used some time back to make my kitchen curtains). I played with it some, re-watched the video another time, and voila! It worked. They are soo cute!

You can watch the youtube video HERE. These were lots of fun. But this morning my husband still reached for a paper napkin, because he didnt want to get the new napkin dirty. Awwww how considerate of him.

A Day Of Excesses

2010-07-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today was really a bad day for me to have taken on so much. The fibromyalgia has been acting up for the past 4 days. I have been feeling exhausted most of the day. On top of that I havent been sleeping again. Last night I got about 4 hours. This morning started out fair. I did some cleaning, had my kitchen cleaned and scrubbed in the bathrooms some. Then I decided I wanted to do some baking. I have been jotting down some recipes from allrecipes.com/ . I love this place. You get reviews, and can adjust your recipes according to servings.I started out this morning with making ten 8 oz jars of Strawberry & White Peach Jam. My first jam in a long time. It was going to be just strawberry, then I thought, "What the Heck!, I have some white peaches I just bought, so I will add a couple of them". Aside from a few screw ups in steps, everything was going pretty well. That is until my daughter called wanting me to make a phone call for her while the strawberries were boiling. Let me tell you, It doesnt take long for this stuff (in a too full pot) to violently boil over. All over my nice clean electric stove. Plus the burner is hot , and it gets cooked on, actually burnt on in some spots. The SMOKE is a flying! One thing in my favor, is that it is a smooth top. Took me OVER an hour to get that nonsense scrubbed, and scraped off with a blade. Aside from that, the jam turned out wonderful!

When I am feeling so fatigued, I dont think clearly, and frequently screw things up. get sidetracked etc...you know the drill. I should have quit there, I knew better, but I wanted a nice supper for my husband. I then burnt the green beans I had picked from the garden.....again. Then I decided to concoct and make a couple of loaves of white bread. I read that by reducing the sugar, you can get a lighter, fluffier bread. So I put together a recipe that should have been fantastic. YEAAA, I said "should have been". It raised beautifully. Dough felt fantastic. But I baked it too long. Crust got a little too brown, and too thick. It still tasted great tho, especially with that fresh jam :)

Then I decided to make a meatloaf to go with the bread.....Wait a minute...Didnt I just say "I should have stopped" a little ways back? I guess I missed that. here we go again, back to allrecipes.com. Did a little research on favorite recipes, and came up with THIS one. But I changed several things, and came up with my own recipe which I will post below. This was hands down, the MOST best tasting meatloaf I have ever had, including Cracker Barrel's.

Well, maybe my luck was turning. After all, this worked out well. Then i fixed Mashed Potatoes. Another well made dish. Kind of hard to screw up mashed potatoes. But believe me I have done it. I burn a LOT of things by forgetting they are on the stove cooking, or falling asleep on the couch.
By this time, I was too tired to make the salad I had planned. I had even picked the lettuce from the garden too. So I just sliced up my first Early Girl to eat plain. What a SPECIAL treat that was!

While I was working on these things, my daughter and her daughter decided to make cookies. They made sugar cookies, and chocolate chip.

Now my nice clean kitchen is destroyed! More work to do..........

Meatloaf

Loaf:

3/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 TB Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup ketchup

2.25 Ib Hamburger

1/2 cup of milk

3 eggs

2 and 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 medium onion chopped fine

1/2 green pepper chopped fine

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 and 3/4 cup cracker crumbs

Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1 TB vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 TB mustard

1/2 cup brown sugar ( my husband liked it this sweet, but I think I would have preffered a little less)

Combine loaf ingredients in a bowl. Dont overwork. Place into loaf pan or other dish and form into a loaf.
Combine your sauce ingredients and pour over loaf. Bake at 350° for about an hour and 10 minutes.Depending on your oven, you might want to check it in an hour.

White Bread
1 cup of warm water
1/3 cup of sugar
2 packs of yeast
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of warm milk
1/3 cup butter or vegetable oil
1 egg lightly beaten
6 cups flour ( I used unbleached King Arthur)

Mix together first 4 ingredients and set aside to allow yeast to activate. Then add the rest of the liquid ingredients. Measure in the flour, reserving the last cup to add in increments . Knead by hand for about 10 minutes, or about 5 minutes by electric mixer with dough hook, then finish by hand. (just my preference). Could be all done on machine. Pour small amount of oil in bowl, and grease bowl, then turn dough into bowl, greasing all of dough. Cover with towel, and let rise in warm area for about an hour or until doubled. then pan out into 2 loaves and allow to raise again till doubled. About 45 minutes. bake at 350° for about 25 minutes or until sounds hollow when tapped.

Strawberry & White Peach Jam
4 cups mashed strawberries ( also put mine thru a blender so there were no large chunks)
1 cup mashed white peaches (blended with strawberries)
4 TB lemon juice
1 box sure jell pectin
7 cups of sugar
I just followed the directions that come in your Sure Jell box for cooking. Pour into jars, and seal by hot water bath.

Preserving Lemons

2010-07-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided I like lemons in my ice water, and lemons in my ice tea. Its not something I do real often, and I hated that my lemons were going bad before I used them. No one else uses them, its just me. So yesterday I washed my lemons and sliced them into slices and placed them on a tray, then stuck them in the freezer to flash freeze. Once frozen, they were easy to pop off the tray and stick in a ziplock baggy to go back into my freezer. This freezes the individual slices so I can take out just the number I need at one time. No fuss, No waste,No trouble. I tried one this morning in my glass of ice water. Worked like a charm. I got to enjoy the zesty hint of lemon, and none of the problems.

I almost forgot to mention that i also do the same thing with green pepper slices. Then I can just take out what i need for cooking. They soften in minutes.

Free Useful Computer Programs

2010-07-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am all about free. I always look for a free program when I need something. Recently, when I started setting up my machine embroidery design site again, I needed a program to zip files and another to store files for easy downloads. After looking for a bit, I found 7-Zip. It is a wonderful free program that works like a breeze. Just mouse over the file you want zipped, right click, then right click on 7 zip, then "add to (filename.zip)". And the zipped file appears in that folder. Thats it. Simple as can be. You find find 7 zip HERE. CNET gave it high marks too.

Another program I needed was one to store files so I could allow downloads with a link. Mediafire fit the bill. One program I looked at limited the number of downloads. I don't think this one does. and it works very easy. Just upload your file, then click on "UPLOAD TO THIS FOLDER" and then select your file, and then "BEGIN UPLOADING FILES". Once file is uploaded to site, then after the file name click on "SHARE", then click on "COPY LINK". This gives you the code to send to someone or post on your blog, or in a forum to allow someone else to click on it and be able to download. Also a very simple program. You can access Mediafire.com HERE.

Flylady

2010-07-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

I know most of you probably thought this post would be about flies, or insects since this is mostly my gardening blog. But I had to tell you about Flylady. This is a fantastic free site to help you get your home organized AND clean. I am usually an OK homemaker. Everything was usually clean, sometimes a little messy, but for the past year or so it has really gotten out of hand since my grand daughter is up and running. Not to mention several young "adult" kids who live with me. I tend to think they are worse than the baby about destroying a household. I dont know what happened, it was never this bad when my own kids were little, but here lately my home was looking like a war zone. LITERALLY! I tried this site once before many years ago, with a quick loss of interest. I think at that time I tried to get too much accomplished all at once. Not paying any attention to their main motto....." BABY STEPS" ! This time I have been doing what I could get done comfortably. If it didnt get done, no big deal. last night I didnt get to the evening routine, and things were looking a little rough again. But what really took me by surprise was that I was able to get things back to presentable in a very short time, and had plenty of play time on the computer. If you are feeling overwhelmed with a messy house, need to get into a routine (which has helped me the most)...check out flylady.

Chicken Teriyaki

2010-07-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

I am not one to eat meat. I was vegetarian in high school for a couple of years. Now, when I eat meat, its usually only 2-3 bites. If its something I didnt have to cook, I can eat it ( sometimes), such as a hamburger or chicken sandwich from a fastfood restaurant. Tonight was totally different for a change. I made my first oriental dish...Chicken Teriyaki. I found THIS recipe on http://allrecipes.com/ that sounded pretty good. But I made a few changes. This chicken turned out fantastic. Everyone loved it including my picky, plain meat & potatoes husband. I even went back for seconds. Below is the recipe I came up with using the above one. If you try it, let me know what you think.

I think this would also be good with some stir fried veggies. You can serve this over your favorite rice, but I included how I fix mine.

Chicken Teriyaki

2 to 3 pounds of Chicken ( I used boneless,skinless chicken breast cut into chunks)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon grated fresh ground ginger ( I didnt have fresh, so used 1 tsp dried)

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 to 3/4 cup pineapple juice ( I had some canned in its own juice left from supper last night)

1. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish

2. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken

3. Place in the refridgerator for 3 hours to marinate.( since I cut mine into chunks, and didnt have the time to wait 3 hours, I marinated for an hour and that seemed to be enough for the chunks)

4. Preheat oven to 375°, and then bake for 1 hour uncovered.

serve over your favorite rice.

My favorite Rice

I poured about 2 and 1/2 cups of water in a sauce pan, and add 2 chicken flavored Bouillon Cubes. Place in one baggy of Minute Rice, and bring to a boil. Boil uncovered about 9 minutes and drain, add salt to taste. I also like to add steamed carrots to this sometimes as well. Simple and quick.

Seed Grow Project July Update

2010-07-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

I am supposed to post an update the first Sunday of every month. July was a big OOPS for me. We didnt get back from vacation until the 30th, and I forgot. Anyway, I am going to catch up today. My nasturtium "Spitfire" is planted at the corner of the potager, in full sun. It is only partially shaded by the plants in the border in front of it. We have in the middle of a heat wave and a very dry spell. I dug into my flower bed to try and find where I planted garlic bulbs, and found absolutely nothing. Almost like they dried up and withered away. Those two weeks that I was gone was hard on things without water. I dug down about 6" inches and found nothing but bone dry hard dirt. Since I have been back, I have been watering things as best I can, but the flower garden is only getting a light watering since we have a limited amount of well water, and the potager is getting water about every other day this week. Most of the extra I am reserving for the veggie garden. I have only grown Nasturtiums one other time in my life, and that was a very long time ago. I know I have seen pics of beautiful, full blooming nasturtiums so I figure its something with my growing conditions. Mine look healthy, nice bright green, but I have very few blooms at once. Usually only 1 or 2 at a time. I love the bright, vibrant orange color, and the white veining in the leaves though. As you may remember from my potager post, it is growing in several inches of composted horse manure.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

BEE......N Busy

2010-07-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

While outside with my camera this morning, I decided to take a pic of one of my clumps of Purple Coneflower:

While admiring the color of these blooms, I happened to notice this guy:

He is soooo loaded with pollen, he looks hilarious. This guy has been one busy bee. I have never seen anything like it.

He looks almost too fluffy to fly.

Ten Days Of veggie Growth

2010-07-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

We were only gone for 11 days, but I couldnt believe the growth that had happened in the potager in that time. The Half Runner pole beans were HUGE! I last photographed them on June 15 ( we left on the 19th). This is what they looked like:

This is what I came home to on the 30th, just 15 days after the above photo was taken:

The tomatoes were determined they weren't going to be out done:

At most, some were about 3 feet tall. The Early Girl's only had 5-6 small green tomatoes on them. Now 15 days later, they are about 6' tall, and lots of Sungold Cherry tomatoes, and Brandywine have set on:

Now the tomatoes are staked, and everything weeded. I will take an updated pick today of the tomatoes, because they are now within a foot of the top of the 8' stakes that were pounded into the ground about a foot or so (which was as far as my husband could get them in the hard clay soil under the horse manure..

Back To Reality

2010-07-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

We just returned from the beach yesterday evening around 6 pm. That 11 hour drive seemed like it took forever. We enjoyed 10 wonderful days at Lakewood Campground. We have been camping there every summer for the past 6 yrs or so. We have walked thru Pirate land Campground, and Ocean Lakes Campground to see what they have, but for our needs we prefer Lakewood. Most of the activities are located close to the beach, and a short walk from the section we like to stay in. Especially when your traveling with a child and twenty somethings . Every morning my husband and I were the first ones up (by hours....you know young people are). We got up around 7 AM, and went for a long walk on the beach, sometimes ending up at the local McDonald's for a breakfast biscuit.We also enjoyed bicycle rides together. He enjoys playing basketball, and horse shoes. The kids stayed busy with the ocean, the inflatable water slide, boats etc.

Here is some of my crew in front of the camper getting ready to hit the water, my 20 yo son on the right, my 20 yo daughter on the left with her boyfriend, and my grand daughter and her mom in the back:

My 4 yo grand daughter had a blast. She loved the water.

My daughters found what we were told were shark teeth. At least this year we didnt see the shark. Last year we looked down in the foot deep water we were in to see a 2 foot long shark tumbling against the sand and low water only 4-5 feet from us. Didnt take us long to get out of the water. Then some guy picked it up for all to see for a few minutes, then tossed it back into the ocean.I havent decided if he was REALLY brave, or VERY stupid.

My husband enjoying time with the grand daughter .

Mommy and daughter

Feeding the resident Swans:

The resident goats checking us and the Yorkie out:

We visited Dolly's Dixie Stampede. We hadnt been there for a few years, and the grand baby was wanting to see the horses( my bunch are the 4 in the middle:

One of the guys getting ready for the show:

On the way back we drive by Pilot Mountain in Mount Airy, NC. I understand this is where Andy Griffith's "Maybury" was filmed, and Floyds Barbour Shop is. One of these days, I would like to stop, and see whats there, besides this mountain:

On the way home we were stuck in a bumper to bumper traffic jam on I 79 due to some road work.

Finally, we hit WV, ( cue the guitars...) "Take me home country roads, to the place I belong........WV"

All in all, we all had loads of :

Off To The Beach!

2010-06-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday morning, we are off to the beach for 10 days. I cant wait. There is something sooo relaxing, and soothing about scrunching your toes in the sand, feeling the gentle breezes flow across your face and thru your hair, and looking out over the ocean. For the past 5 yrs or so we take our fifth wheel and stay at Lakewood Campground in Myrtle Beach. I would prefer the quieter, calmer atmosphere of North Carolina beaches such as Duck and Kitty Hawk, but I havent found a campground there on the ocean with full hook-ups. We used to stay in NC when the kids were smaller and we traveled with friends and shared a house on or near the beach. Now its just us. I much prefer to stay in the camper than a hotel . So I guess after Friday, things will be a little quiet around here for awhile :)

See ya later.......................................

Sustainability Through the Consumption of Things Conserved

2010-06-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, someone contacted about being a guest blogger on my lowly site. His name is Dan Grifen. The idea he had for an article sounded very intriguing. He sent me the article, and I read it. I felt the article to be very thought provoking, and I hope others may find it interesting and informative as well. I would love for you read the article in full below, and please leave comments , and let me know how you feel about it.

What has been concerning me about the state of our food supply is how in recent times we have been having a scourge of bacterial contaminates in our food supply. Causing people to become sick, and shortages of one product or another. There is also concern of bio-terrorism. How safe IS our food supply from terrorist attacks. We have already seen that we are no longer safe on our own lands. I think a return to greater self sufficiency now a "must" rather than an option. And he is right , when you go to the store, there are only a few varieties of the different produce. What would seem like"saving" of a certain variety could actually mean its loss . Its fun to try new things. Isnt that what we teach our kids?

Tell me what you think.

Sustainability Through the Consumption of Things Conserved

"In other environmental issues we tell people to stop something, reduce their impact, reduce their damage," - US Ecologist Gary Nabham

Since the beginning of the green movement, there has been a rise in the number of organizations and businesses that are doing their part in the promotion of sustainability through conservation. As human beings, we're told to reduce our carbon footprint, consume less unhealthy foods, and spend less time in the shower! But let's take a minute to step back and look at this from a different perspective; one that Gary Nabham strongly suggests.

Gary Paul Nabham, phD., is a Arab-American writer/conservationist who's extensive farming work in the U.S./Mexico borderlands region has made him world renown. Specifically speaking, Nabham is known for his work in biodiversity as an ethnobotanist. His uplifting messages and attitude towards life and culture has granted us access to multiple beneficial theories including his latest of eat what you conserve.

According to The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, about three quarters of the genetic diversity of crops been vanishing over the last century and that a dozen species now gives 90% of the animal protein eaten globally. In accordance, just 4 crop species supply half of plant based calories in the human diet.

Nabham claims that by eating the fruits and vegetables that we are attempting to conserve/save, we're promoting the granular dissemination of various plant species. But this goes beyond what we typically buy in supermarkets, particularly because of price and abundance. We must remember to try new things and immerse ourselves in the very concept of diversity. Keep in mind; the benefits of splurging for that costly fruit/vegetable supremely outweigh the cons. Not only are you promoting biodiversity and further eliminating the needs of farmers to remove rare, less purchased crops off their agenda, but you're also effectively encouraging healthier lifestyles.

Agriculturist Marco Contiero mentioned that "biodiversity is an essential characteristic of any sustainable agricultural system, especially in the context of climate change."[1] With sustainable crop efforts being lead by the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) and the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) the duo plans to provide a more sustainable crop, untouched by natural disasters, much like the ones experience in Haiti and neighboring areas. Contiero goes on to state "We need to ensure this is the basis for the future…" – This is exactly what Doug Band, the CGI, and the IRRI are doing by engaging in sustainability efforts.

So remember, next time you're in the supermarket picking out navel oranges or strawberries, turn your attention to something that's a bit more "out of season," or exotic in nature. The same goes for salads/salad ingredients; shop outside the norm, picking spices and vegetables that you wouldn't normally incorporate into your everyday diet. During such economic downtime it isn't always easy to maintain the same level of grocery shopping intrigue, but we must also not forget that in this sundry of foods we can find fun!

Dan Grifen – Supporter of all things green and progressive.

If you would like to contact Dan about his article, you may email him HERE:

Bloomin Tuesday

2010-06-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

It's Bloomin Tuesday, and I have lots to contribute. Lots of things are new for me this year. So I am very thrilled at all the little surprises I find every day.
My first Echinacea "Tiki Torch" bloom. I bought it late last year and it was too young to bloom yet.

This Rudbeckia is bloomin like gangbusters. I love the color varieties in every bloom.

Rose Mallow, first bloom from a winter sown plant.

Balloon Flower "Sentimental Blue". However this guy is twice as tall as it was last year. It must really be loving the horse manure that I top dressed the garden with in spring. last year it was only 6" tall. The flower is just in its "balloon" stage and has opened yet.

Lavatera "Pink Beauty". Another first blooms from a winter sown plant.

Lysimachia "Alexander". This is my second year for it. It is supposed to be variegated, but for some reason, half of the plant reverted back to a solid green. It is still pretty tho, but to be honest, I prefer the variegated.

Another Asiatic Lilly I got in the fall last year when Lowe's had them clearanced for a dollar. This is the first time I got to see my prize.

This is Stella d'Oro lily. I love the bright golden yellow of this plant. it just keeps getting prettier every year.

Lychnis. I received this from a Gardenweb friend last year. I love the bright jewel tone color.

Clematis Jackamani growing in with an un-identified white climbing rose.

Nicotiana "Hot Chocolate". This plant was started from seed by winter sowing, and planted Hunk-O-Seed style. As you can see there is a great variety of color here in these two blooming plants, But I think that is what makes them so pretty. While photographing them, I had forgotten about the wonderful scent Nicotiana has, until it hit me.

I have posted pics here of one of my favorite roses....Madame Isaac Pereire. This past winter I decided to try sowing some of her seeds for the first time. I have never grown roses from seed before. Most likely they will not be true to the parent, but so far the color matches.Here is mine now only 6" tall and getting ready to open. "I 'm not as young as I once was", oh wait thats one of my favorite songs,lol. Well anyway thats my excuse for not getting down on my knees and putting my nose to the ground to see if it smells as heavenly as Madame.

This is, I think, Nasturtium "Milkmaid". I planted several of these in the potager.I love the deep, blood red color of the blooms.

These are my first blooms on winter sown Catchfly.

This is Rudbeckia "Tiger Eye Gold" that I rescued from Walmart's clearance pile. It was looking pretty ragged. I am surprised, Walmart doesnt usually discount their flowers. they always told me before that they return them. They must have changed their policy.

Petunia "Laura Bush" from winter sown seedling. I believe these are supposed to return every year. I am hoping.

Balsam Impatients. I havent grown these for many years. I remember how the pods "snap" open springing their seeds out. I cant wait to show my grand daughter.

These are the Hydrangea "Annabelle" grown from cuttings a few years ago. I love the bright white of these blooms.

White Yarrow

Shrimp Plant. This was grown from winter sown seeds as well. The flowers are rather small and non descript. But I like the foliage.

Another Asiatic Lilly I bought last fall on clearance. This one is a pretty white and called "Tiny Snowflake"

This is a pretty pink Hollyhock.

Malva "Mystic Merlin". I love the color of these.

Antirhinum "Rembrandt" grown from winter sown seeds. I hope these guys grow, cause in the pics on valueseeds.com they look to be at least a foot or so tall. This one blooming is only about 4-5" tall.

And updates on the potager....The first is my tomatoes. Early girl has green tomatoes on her about 2" across, the others just have some blooms.

The pole beans are growing very quickly as well.

This is a shot of the back of my house taken from the backyard over looking the top of the stone retaining wall.

How to save Columbine Seeds

2010-06-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know the particular variety of Columbines (Aquilegia) that these are. My father-in-law gave me the plant when he was still running his greenhouse probably about 30 years ago. He is no longer with us, but I still have these beautiful flowers. They bloom in spring a pretty, dark, bluish/purple color. More purple than blue tho. They require absolutely no care from me. It grows best in zones 3-8, and will tolorate full sun to partial shade. Do not plant them in full sun in zones 7-8. Even in my zone 6, it might get too hot. It seemed the ones I had planted in partial shade got about a foot taller than the ones in more sun. Those in full sun were easily 24" to 30" tall. They grow from a central rosette of leaves that kinda of resemble a frilly clover leaf, only larger.

The camera really distorted the flower color above. The true color is in the first pic.

To save seeds from these pods, you should wait till the pods are brownish.Then the seeds will be black.
This is what the seed pods look like after the flowers are gone. The pods are still green yet.

Now when the pods turn sorta brownish, you can see the pointy tips start to open and show the seeds inside.

Now just tip this pod over and wiggle it around and all the seeds will pour out. And you have this:

You can easily get 50 seeds per pod.

Seeds need light to germinate so dont cover them. You can sow them this time of year like mother nature would, winter sow them. They need stratification if you sow them in spring. Winter sowing works ideally for this type seed.

My First Poppies

2010-06-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

I winter sowed poppies for the first time this past winter. I am now getting some very pretty blooms. Look at this strange little square one. I kinda doubt, this is its normal behavior,lol.

I think poppies are supposed to re seed. So hopefully all these should come back for me next year.

Another Pretty Combo

2010-06-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

I usually go outside just about every morning with a glass of ice tea to see what new plant I may have flowering. With all the winter sown plants, it seems I am getting little surprise blooms pretty frequently. While out this morning, I noticed my peach colored lillies were blooming for the first time this year. Last year the deer ate them off just as they were getting ready to open.

I really loved the unexpected combo of the peach lilly and the Nicotiana lime Green.

Bachelor Buttons

2010-06-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

I sowed these Bachelor Buttons ( Centaurea montana) in early spring. I just have a small clump, but they are very pretty, delicate flowers. I especially love the the bluish purple colored one.

I didnt notice the little bug on the flower until after I loaded the photo on to my computer. Its iridescent wings are beautiful.

My plant either got beat down by some of the hard rains we have or is just a little floppy. But I think in a couple of weeks I will prune it back hard to make it a little more compact. This little beauty is supposed to re-seed. I have my fingers crossed, because i certainly wouldnt mind more of the bluish ones.

Bachelor Buttons prefer full sun to partial shade, and normal, to sandy, or clay soil. Mine is in partial shade and mostly clay soil, and seems pretty healthy looking.It is a fast grower. It only gets to a height of about 12-23", and the flowers are only about an inch and a quarter across and appear in early spring thru mid summer.It is deer and rabbit resistant. Dead heading will encourage repeat blooming.

Visitors That Don't Know When To Go Home

2010-06-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

You know the kind. They stop by for a visit. Eat everything they can find, and just literally make a pest of themselves. You keep dropping hints and still they won't leave. No....this time I am not talking about family,lol. But this guy:

Click on pic for a larger version. This is called a Turkey Vulture, because of its featherless red head. Off the top of my head, I called it a Vulture. My all knowing husband corrected me and said " No...Its a buzzard."
Well when I started to post about this "Buzzard", and actually took the time to look it up, I found out I was right to begin with. Lucky for him, he "politely" corrected me, because he already pi**ed me off this morning, when he let the weedeater get loose. I guess he thought he was helping pull weeds this morning in the potager, luckily/or unluckily, the only thing missing are my zuchini. I wonder if he was trying to tell me something? Anyway, I have been watching this HUGE bird buzz my windows, and sit outside my living room in a tree only about 30-40 feet away. I was afraid it was a predatory bird. With my little 5 lb Yorkie, and Maltese dogs and cats, I was afraid of what he had his eye on for dinner. I have gone outside, and he watches me for a few moments then flies in a wide sweeping circle and returns to a tree slightly further away, until I am not looking again. After reading this page on him: Vulture.
it says they are actually an "unagressive", "non-confrontational" bird. And does NOT feed on live prey. These are the birds we usually see eating on dead animals along the road side. As far as I know, cause I checked my pulse nothing is dead around here. I read this bird gets 25-32 inches long, and mine is every bit of 30 some inches. With a wingspan of 6 feet. It also states:"The Turkey Vulture, contrary to popular belief, does not feed strictly on carrion. This bird enjoys plant matter as well, including shoreline vegetation, pumpkin, and bits of other crops. " I hope its not waiting on my garden.

Unknown White Climbing Rose

2010-06-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

I have two of these roses, both on separate arbors. They are pretty vigorous growers, and survive my z6 garden very well, even in clay soil, and very little to no amendments.It has some dangerous thorns, and not much noticeable fragrance , at least to my nose. They are a true white, and as you can see some buds have a blush of pink. I am trying to get them identified. If anyone knows this once blooming beauty, please let me know.

This is not a small plant. These were taken AFTER we cut off 3'-4' branches on top growing towards the sky.It is growing from the right side, and dragging the ground on the left.

June 8 Update For The Potager

2010-06-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

I finally have some blooms going on inside the fence. The first is Nasturtium Creamsicle. I really need to get different photos as some of these are a little out of focus.

I love the green and white marbling in the leaves.

This is one of the new Mr. Big Pea buds. They are a pretty white.

My wintersown Marigold's are starting to bloom

I also have a few tomatoes starting to set buds.Cant wait for these!

Update: I dont know how I missed this early, but I was looking thru the garden again, and found this:

We have fruit! Thank You Early Girl!!!

Early June Views From My Garden

2010-06-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

June has just gotten started, but already I have some new things going on in my garden. I winter sown several varieties of poppies. I have never grown them before, but I am so excited. I have my first of two different poppy blooms. The first to show her face was Poppy Laurens Grape. Unfortunately I didnt get a good pic of it yet. The second was this morning, when I noticed one bloom about to pop.

Stella D' Oro was just showing her pretty face for the first time this season.

I bought these Lillies from Lowes last year during their clearance. Most had already finished blooming, but looked healthy. I think they were only $1. I couldnt pass up that price. I am getting to see them bloom for the first time.This one is

Asiatic Lilly "Tiny Ghost"

This one is Lillium "Petite Pink"

This Clematis was a total surprise. it is the second season for Clematis Ramona that resides in this spot. Suddenly I noticed another pretty face in the same spot this morning. I dont remember planting another their, but you know how it goes. Now I have to ID it.

Update: This has been ID"d as possibly Clematis "Black Prince".

I also have a pretty new pink Hollyhock. I must have planted it last year and forgot it, since this is the first year it has bloomed. I love the soft yellow center.

This Rudbeckia just fully opened its face this morning. I know it from its fuzzy leaves.

These Annabelle Hydrangeas were grown from cuttings traded for on Gardenweb several years ago. I just love Hydrangeas, and these are so hardy. they never fail to bloom, and are so easy to root. All my Annabelles came from this original clump.

This bed is along the walk on the way out of my courtyard in the back. To the left is where my stone raised bed is.There is Annabelle here, some Pee Gee Hydrangea (which I am sure will have to be moved one of these days), and a beautiful Climbing rose Cecille Brunner. Unfortunately is only a once bloomer. Also just showing its blooms are a purple clematis slimbing with the rose, and just now starting to open.

Then after you exit this area, and turn around to look back in (the opposite side of the above bed) is my all red and white bed. I didnt plan it, it kinda just happened. You can see the Annabelle blooms hanging over the fence, and then there are a variety of Hostas, and crammed in are the red Asiatic Lillies "Tiny Ghost", a Salvia Snow Hill, and not yet blooming but growing towards the front are Dianthus "Raspberry". When I planted everything the hosta's had just started opening up, and I forgot how big they were. So things really need dug up again, and spaced out forward some more. But I will wait till fall so I dont lose any bloom.

The Grow Project update

2010-06-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

This is an update for the Seed Grow Project for the month of June. it is a little late however, since it was supposed to be posted this past Sunday. I have the first Climbing Nasturtium Spitfire planted in the potager. However, I forgot about a plants tendency to grow facing the sun, so this gal is growing facing the fence of the potager. It still may look pretty nice once it gets more mature and blooms, I am hoping it climbs around the rails as it is growing up. It is about 18" tall and looking very lush and green. No blooms as yet. This one was winter sown in a milk jug, so it is my largest plant. I have done no fertilizing , but it is growing in soil topped with about 6" of aged horse manure. It is in full sun as well. So far I havent had to water. It seems when things are starting to get a little parched, it rains.

This Spitfire Nasturtium is growing in my raised bed in the backyard. It was spring sown then transplanted. Right now it is about a foot tall, and looks very green and pretty as well. I cant wait to see this one bloom. Where it is planted, instead of climbing, I want it to drape down my 30" stone wall that supports my raised bed. I think this will look very attractive. This one is also growing in full sun in my natural clay soil but with only a top dressing of composted horse manure.I have watered this bed a few times when it got dry, but thats only because its close to the hose, and I have a load of winter sown seedlings growing in this 60 foot long bed.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

Happy Birthday My Son

2010-06-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well I wouldnt tell them I said that. They are all determined they are NOT babies anymore. They are big girls! Truth be known they really are growing up way to fast.

The two girls dad, my oldest son, just turned 30 yesterday ( yep....the BIG 3-0), and I had the audacity to forget it. Well actually we had been talking about it clear up to the night before, then forgot it on his big day. We all got-together for a graduation party for my niece. I really felt bad because my husband and I could tell he wasn't enjoying the get together or his birthday because he and his wife are overwhelmed with sudden job worries right now. And to top it off, his mother FORGOT to wish him Happy Birthday, until he reminded me.Talk about feeling even worse. But I did forget my own anniversary and birthday last year, so nothing really new. But Happy Birthday my first born. The big day might have been temporarily forgotten, but your certainly not loved any less.

My son and his dad

Dancing on the table tops at an early age. Cute drawers!

6 Days old. The moment you were born, your dad's first words were :

" I got my boy!"

Me and my baby about 24 yrs ago.

The birthday boy and his younger brother.

My oldest with his oldest. Taken after he finished coaching their basketball game. It all came full circle. Seems like yesterday my husband was helping to coach him in sports.

My New Obelisk

2010-06-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

My pole beans are about 14" tall now, and I finally got my husband to build me an obelisk for them to grow on. He is going to build me one more yet. I plan on painting them a medium blue. I want an "X" pattern between the two cross braces, if I don't get them made from wood this year, then I will probably wrap twine here in an "X" pattern. I think they are going to need this to give the beans a little more to grab hold of. We got part of the tomatoes staked last night, but still have about a dozen more to do. I wanted to paint these blue as well, but the tomatoes needed them a week ago. One of the plants had broken off, but it had some small roots on the stem, so I went ahead and planted it back, hoping it will take new root quickly enough to support it. I may still try and paint them yet. I just dont like the looks of the bright bare wood.The Mr. Big Peas, are now about 18" high. Cucumbers are about 6" and the same for the squash. Nasturtiums and marigolds still havent started blooming inside the garden yet. I also planted some Zinnia's inside as well. The 2 plants of the Echinacea Berry Pow Wow are about 2" tall. they are growing extremely slow. I also have some Climbing Black Eyed Susie vines that are about 2" and growing along the fence above the strawberries. On the opposite fence, growing above the bush beans are some Luffa vines.The lettuce has alo been doing well. I have been just cutting off the leaves instead of pulling, and it grows back very well.

My husband built me another one, and added a little more decoration to the top of the original tower. I got them painted, but not without a little mess. While I was in the doorway of the garage painting, we got a sudden severe storm. The rain came down so heavy, gutters were overflowing, and my sidewalk down from the backyard looked like a waterfall. Luckily I was inside when it hit. After things settled down, I took them outside to dry and got them placed in the garden for the pole beans to climb. I really like the bright blue color. I had planned on painting the tomato stakes, but after the time it took on these, I changed my mind.

My Daughter's Photo's

2010-06-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

My 20 yo daughter is an excellent photographer, but she doesnt seem to believe it. Below are some shots she took in the garden today.

Blue Flax

2010-06-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

Another blooming winter sown seedling. This is one of the first blooms. Right now it is looking a little sparse with only 3-4 blooms, but I am looking forward to it filling out with maturity. Its very hard to find blue blooms, so I am very grateful for what I have.

Nicotiana Alata "Lime Green"

2010-06-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

As most of you already know, I winter sowed well over 200 containers of seeds. Some of these winter sown plants are starting to bloom. One of them is Nicotiana Alata "Lime Green" or also commonly known as flowering tobacco.( I have read it has nicotine in it). Nicotiana is usually grown as an annual in my area, but in places with mild winters it is actually a tender perennial. It also reseeds well if you dont deadhead. I plan to lest this beauty spread to its hearts content for now. It grows 1=3 feet in height. It likes full sun to partial shade. Its 1" chartreuse blooms ( which are fragrant at night) can continue for around 3 months. It can bloom from early summer thru early fall. It prefers rich, well drained soil. It is also deer resistant, probably due to the fuzzy foilage. It attracts Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees, and Birds. I have mine planted near my Salvia May Night. I think the lime green of these flowers will be a great combo with the purple salvia. Right now both are young plants tho. Cant wait to see them in concert next year.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

These shots were taken on the road home from my son's home after a Memorial Day BBQ with both families.I loved how the fog was already settling in the meadows.

Ruby Tuesday

2010-06-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

My first contribution to Ruby Tuesday sponsored by Work Of the Poet Blog.

Mello Yellow Monday

2010-05-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

My newest contribution to Mellow Yellow Monday . The beauty loved my Penstemon Husker's Red blooms as much as I do. He/she was flitting around from flower to flower no matter how close I got.

Taking Cuttings

2010-05-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

This morning, I have been working a couple of hours taking cuttings of the Climbing Peace Rose, Madame Isaac Pereire Rose, New Dawn Rose, and the Unknown red Garden Rose. Also, I am trying cuttings of the Salvia May Night, and Salvia Snowhill for the first time. I already have more cuttings in the bed for the variegated Weigela, and Annabelle Hydrangea. Ocaasionally I list rooted plants on ebay, this helps to support my plant and seed habit,lol. A few of these roses will go to my son, and daughter-in-law if they root. If I get roots in a few weeks, I will be sure and post my method. In the past I have had only about 40% of the rose cuttings root. Roses are kind of hit and miss for me.

Rose "New Dawn"

2010-05-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

  Do you have an area of your yard you want to hinder non wanted visitors Something that will snatch them when they least expect, and maybe draw blood? Something that never knows when to let go? A pitbull?.....No, just rose "New Dawn". Well actually its not quite that bad, but if this bugger gets a hold of you, you wont soon forget it when you have to draw near again. It is loaded with sharp thorns. It is an aggressive,tough climber.The only other draw back is that it only shares its glorious blooms one time a yr. from late May to early june. Never to appear again until next season.
   Mine was rooted by my father and given to me. He found it in the yard of an old home once owned by my sister's, husband's aunt. Then they resided they for a time. Mine has been in its present location in my raised bed for approximately 8 years as far as I can remember. It is growing on a 6 foot tall, round metal trellis, that will soon need to be replaced since it is rusting badly. The branches grow thru the sides and arch out gracefully. I know when my husband has been in the flower bed for some reason, and happens to walk by New Dawn. I think the neighbors 1/2 mile down the street also know it,lol.
   The elegant blooms are a soft, pearly pink. It can easily reach 20 feet if allowed to grow unchecked. It is hardy from zone 5-9.It is shade tolerant, resistant to mildew, blackspot, and rust.It blooms on old wood, so wait till it is finished blooming before you prune.In 1997 this rose was voted the most popular rose in the world. Pretty impressive !

Here the rose is at least 6 foot high, but the branches are at least that long to the sides, and arch out gracefully........awaiting naive passersby,lol

More Roses

2010-05-27T04:28:00.000-07:00

I have had this beautiful old rose for so long, I have no idea what its name is, but like all the other roses I have, this seems to be really putting on a show this year.

Update on Rose "Climbing Peace"

2010-05-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

When I went out front today, and seen how full and beautiful this rose is getting, I had to take more pics. Some of these roses are marked so beautifully with soft blushes of pink on the tips of the petals. Some of them are a beautiful soft yellow. Its beautiful.

I just found some very interesting info on this rose. It seems it has a very rich history. Francis Meilland, a French horticulturist, pollinated this variety on June 15, 1935. When it seemed the Nazi invasion of France was about to begin, Meilland sent eyes of the plant to rose growers he knew in Turkey, Germany, US, and Italy to protect the new rose. In 1945, Meilland wrote to Field Marshall Alan Brooke, to thank him for his part in Liberating France. Meilland wanted to give Brooke's name to the new rose. Brooke politely declined the offer stating that his name would soon be forgotten, and a much better, more enduring name would be "Peace". That was the very day the Berlin wall fell, symbolizing the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later, the American Rose Society sent each of the 49 delegations at the inaugural meeting of The United Nations in San Francisco a single long stem Peace Rose with the following note:
" We hope the "Peace" Rose will influence men's thoughts for everlasting world peace."

Dont Overlook The Vignette

2010-05-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I have been so obsessed with just the individual flowers, that I have truly been overlooking the vignettes they create. That is awful to admit. Especially when i love it when gardeners photograph the entire plant along with close-ups so i can see how the plant grows for them, not just the individual flower. Cameron of Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel Blog is fantastic at observing and taking pictures of how plants look grouped together. How could I overlook this in my own garden. This realization finally hit me when I was taking some photo's of the newest blooms in my garden. I had taken what i thought was my last shot, and started to walk away, when I noticed how beautiful the vignette below looked. I love the look of the white lacy flowers such as Baby's Breath intermingled with roses. However I dont have any baby's Breath as yet. I never thought of Penstemon Husker's Red being a "lacy" type flower. But as I walked by I noticed these beautiful whitish, pink blushed flowers mingling in with the pretty pink Peony. I am going to be looking at my garden in a whole new way.

May Potager Update

2010-05-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Someone was asking me some questions about the potager we built this year, so I figured it was time for an update. I dont have much done inside as far as ornamental. I hope to work on that more as times goes by. I dont have a gate up...yet. We also dont have the paths in yet. Right now they are just grass that my husband takes a weedeater to. I think we are leaning more to fine gravel paths. I would have preffered brick, but I think my husband didnt have his heart set on the labor,lol. I guess I cant have everything I want,lol. Outside the front I have some Peach Passion Sunflowers planted (they are just starting thru the dirt), purple Coneflowers, Butterfly Weed, Zinnia's, Cosmos, Marigold's, and heavenly Blue Morning Glory on each side of the opening.
Enter in and take a peek. Sorry, there's nothing to eat yet except a few sprigs of lettuce. Those little tomatoes seem to be at a standstill. Almost mocking me, since they know I am anxiously waiting some fresh tomatoes. Step carefully past my ever present, watchdog.

This is the bed I have my bush beans growing. If memory serves me (and a few of you know it does NOT), I believe they are Blue lake.

Here are the Mr. Big Peas. They are doing very well. About 10" tall now and growing up the fence I put together.

This bed shows where The Climbing "Spitfire" Nasturtium from Renee's Seed is growing just to the left corner ( check out the link for the GROW project for more info), the Latham Red raspberry in the center, strawberries, and some lettuce to the front edge. The strawberries I started planting out about 1.5 feet or so out away from the raspberry, because according to the tag it is expected to get about 3 foot wide. Around the tomatoes in the bed to the right, where you can just see the corner of, I have tomatoes, marigold's and nasturtiums planted. Also on th edge are carrots, lettuce, and chives. I think there is also Basil starting up on the ends near the tomatoes.

And here is a close-up of the raspberry.

Sweet William

2010-05-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

This pretty little Sweet William survived major weeding by my daughter and I , and is popping its pretty head up. I forgot all about having it. Now I gotta sow some more.

Salvia Snow Hill

2010-05-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

Nice combo of Salvia Snow Hill, Heuchera, and Hosta. I just planted this quart size salvia last fall. I am in love with its delicate white blooms already.

Foxglove

2010-05-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

   A few years ago, I started out with a couple Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) in this bed. This year I have several new plants that are blooming for me. I think my first was Camelot Rose. They really brighten this bed. The only problem I have is that this is such a narrow bed. It is only about 24" deep at the deepest part. So I will probably have to transplant these this fall. This bed looks kind of unkempt now with the Bleeding Heart and Hosta's now getting huge.
   Dr. William Withering, born in England in 1741, was credited with the introduction of Digitalis into the practice of medicine.
   Foxgloves have been a pretty much carefree plant for me. They also grow easily from seed. They are a biennial that grow 3-4 feet in height, and are hardy in zones 4-8. They tolerate sun to partial shade, but this bed they get early morning sun, then only indirect light, as the sun then comes over the front of the house. They form rosettes of fuzzy lance shaped leaves with the flower spike coming up from the center. The individual flowers are about 2 inches long and tube shaped, with an elongated bottom lip. Sometimes they have spotted throats. They are considered poisonous if ingested due to the cardiac drug digitalis in the leaves, flowers and seeds of the plant. So keep that in mind if you have kids or pets that may nibble on things. I have always had cats and dogs, and never had a problem. However, it can cause mild side effects to cardiac arrest and even death. I read that it is not recommended to grow near edible plants because the pollen is said to have 80% digitalis. Never, ever try to self medicate with this plant.
   I have read it will rebloom if you cut the stem when its done blooming. I Havent tried this, but I may try it on a few plants this year.They prefer moist conditions, so they dont do well in dry areas. There is also a newer introduction called "Foxy". These new hybrids bloom the first year from seed, unlike their relatives which dont bloom until the second year. They actract hummingbirds, and bees, and are deer resistant. I have some of these that I winter sown this year.

Rosa "Climbing Peace"

2010-05-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

I never met a rose I didnt like, and this one is no exception. This rose, along with a couple of others is growing in very poor, clay soil, but does so like a champ. It is extremely vigorous, and hardy in my zone 6-6b garden. I love how the blooms form in a multitude of soft, satiny yellow, ivory, and pinks. My husband lops it back every now and then when it gets in his way. I just dont have the heart,lol. It climbs fairly quickly, and enjoys full sun. Hardy in zones 4-10, and I get to enjoy its blooms all summer long. When fully open, the blooms are about 4-5". There is a slight fragrance, but not real noticeable to my nose. Most information I have read about this one, says it gets 8-10 feet. Where I have it, it easily goes 11-12 ft. I really need to go in and cut it back to about 8 feet.

Allium Molly

2010-05-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here is another fantastic little plant. The blooms are such a bright yellow. It is blooming right now in the flower bed It is approximately 12" high. My soil is not very good here. Quite a bit of clay.Which I never amended when I planted this.It is in full sun, but tolerates part sun as well. It is hardy in zones 3-8, and rabbit, squirrel, and deer resistant. Even when I was having a problem with the deer (before the milorganite), they never bothered this one.Its common name is Golden garlic or Lilly Leek. They can be divided in the fall if the clumps become overcrowded. This pretty little plant has never become invasive in the years I have had it. The clump just gets fuller and prettier every year.

Update: I was leaning over this plant this morning to work in the bed and noticed, true to its name "Allium", it has a mild onion like smell.Not unpleasant, but noticeable close-up.

Unknown Green and White Clematis

2010-05-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Still trying to ID this clematis.

PS: I found out this is actually my Clematis Henrii, I dont know white he had green spots on the early blooms this yr.

Rosa 'Madame Isaac Pereire'

2010-05-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

My favorite rose is finally blooming again for this year. I could smell the buds as soon as I stepped out on the front porch. I posted about this rose once before HERE. The fragrance is intoxicating, even in bud.

And all these different shades of pink are on the same rose.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

2010-05-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

I believe this is my first time to participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day hosted by May Dream Gardens. This seemed like lots of fun, and I know how much I enjoy seeing what everyone else has blooming. So this is my contribution. I hope you enjoy the show :)

Welcome to my garden.

Climbing Peace....first blooms for Spring

My favorite Iris, growing near the pond.

My first ever Lupine blooms! Luckily I have lots more on coming.

Backside of an unknown clematis i am trying to get Id'd

Second season for blooms on this gorgeous red Peony. My camera doesnt show the true deep red it really is.

Unknown red rose bud growing at the base of the front porch.

The same red rose opened fully. Again the camera doesnt show the deep jewel tones of this red.

excuse this photo, blogger is screwing up and adding the bottom of another shot to this. This is a picture of my Spiderwort.

This is the first time I have seen this clematis bloom. Now i need to get it Id'd

This beautiful, old whitish peony is probably my favorite. This shot was taken early this morning before it had a chance to full open.

The next shot shows it opened in full, taken just a few hours later.

Got a Memory Problem?

2010-05-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

Do you need help remembering birthdays, when to cut back a plant, or when to plant? I found a free site I signed up for last yr, that has been working very well for me. I use it to help me remember when to cut back some of my plants, when to sow certain seeds, and reminders to contact someone.It is very easy to use, and you can set it up up to send you one or many reminders before a certain activity Also for a one-time reminder, daily, weekly, or yearly, etc.For us absent-minded professors (gardeners,wives, and mothers) it can be a great help. Those little boxes on my calender are just so big.
Anyway, here is a link to the site: Memotome.

More Frost!

2010-05-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

I awoke at 7 am to 30° temps, and frost again. May 15th is supposed to be our last frost date. Mother Nature is sure pushing it to the limit. We had frost in the front yard, and neighbors yards, but none again in the back, so everything was spared. Even my annuals, and tomatoes looked OK this morning. I figured last week it was safe to put the tomatoes out when the weather showed nothing lower than 50° for the next week, but things changed fast. Below shows what the weather is expected to be for the next week.

Iris Blooms

2010-05-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

A few more of my Irises have come into bloom. I think next yr, I shall try and purchase some more bulbs. I would love more variety.

Spiderwort

2010-05-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

My Spiderwort ( Tradescantia virginiana) has just begun to come into bloom. The flowers are actually a purple, but for some reason my camera is determined to show them as blue. I love how this plant looks with the gold color of the Red twig Dogwood as a backdrop. I have seen some responses on GW about a few complaining of it being an aggressive spreader. However, I have had this one plant for many years, and have never had it spread once. Its a pretty little plant that requires no care on my part.It is a perennial that grows 18"-24" tall. Its hardy in zones 4-9b. Prefers sun to partial shade. Mine is growing in full sun in clay soil. It blooms thru out most of the growing season. I have saved seeds from it, but I have never tried started them from seed.

Surprises in the Garden

2010-05-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

When working in the garden, one always needs to be prepared for all the little surprises that tend to occur. You never know what Mother nature is going to throw your way. Such as sudden rain storms, snakes, bugs, bird donated plants, etc. I have had all of the above, plus one more this morning. I opened a jug with one lone, Shasta Daisy seedling inside. I figured I might as well plant it out. So I carefully dug my hole, then scooped my fingers down in and under the seedling. Scooping it out gently. While picking it up and moving towards the hole, I thought it felt a little different.....a little squishy. Suddenly, I thought I felt slight movement inside the lump of dirt.Still i wasnt concerned. I just figured it was a bug, and gently laid it in the hole. Just as the clump settled into the hole, suddenly a little critter jumps from the clump as if to say, " Hey, I was sleeping there!" here is what I actually had in my hand:

Luckily, this is my daughter holding it for the close-up. I am a little more squeamish,lol

And here is the home he was so rudely evicted from:

This was actually a little better than the surprise I got while messing around in my lillies last year. I might be squeamish about the frog, but I dont like snakes.

Clematis Ramona

2010-05-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

I just love the color of this clematis. And when it blooms, I can see it while sitting on the couch. It is growing right outside my sliding glass doors. Last year, I left the seeds to develop after the first bloom. I didnt know it would bloom again. Those seeds took forever to ripen. This year I am pruning it back when it is done. Then if I want I can save seed from the second go round.

Early Morning Glow

2010-05-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

I love relaxing in my garden in the early morning hours with my favorite drink of the morning. Its my time of day. Anyone that was up are gone off to work, and the rest are still in bed. Its perfect time to reflect, and enjoy your work. I was doing the same this morning, when I noticed how much more ethereal everything looked with the soft glow of the morning sun peeking thru the trees down on my insignificant garden. Its a moment in time, that almost seems to transport you to the heavens. As if the hand of God had taken a brief moment to reach out and touch all living things as if HE was enjoying his handiwork just at the same moment you were. As always, click on the photo's for an enlarged view.

The Sun seems to make the leaves of the Penstemon Husker's Red almost glow.

I had to include this shot, even tho it was off subject slightly. This is my little kitty, birdwatching. She knows momma starling makes her nest under the eave of my porch every season.

A Tour of My Garden

2010-05-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some random shots I have taken recently after some spring cleaning.

This shot was taken of approximately the center of my long raised bed in back. When things are more in bloom, I will take another shot to document its transition.

This next photo shows the left side/end of the same bed.

Columbine/unknown variety

The same Columbine

Shell Bark hickory Tree at the edge of my property

A Group of my Tomatoes waiting to get planted

A Black Krim Tomato waiting to get planted

Far left End of the raised bed

New Dawn Rose is in the teuter far center, with purple Iris just behind.

Hosta's After A Rain

2010-05-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have a small variety of Hosta's. Approx 6-8 different ones, but my original has been divided many times. i like it because it tolerates full sun very well. below are some pics I took after a rain.

And here is the one that likes the sun or shade:

Clematis in Bloom

2010-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pics of my two clematis that are in bloom. Pink Champagne Clematis is in its height of bloom. It is group 2, so will be pruned back after it finishes for an encore.

This next one is Clematis Ramona. A few buds have just started opening, so I will wait for a full shot when it is in its height of bloom. it is also a group 2, and should be pruned after bloom for repeat.

Grow Project

2010-05-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

My Climbing Nasturtium Spitfire's that I winter sowed one month ago, are doing very well. They are about 4" tall now.Leaves are bright green and very healthy looking. I just took these from their winter home (milk jug) and planted them in the potager under a small 3 ft bamboo tri-pod a couple of days ago. Our last frost date isnt offically until May 15, so I am taking a chance removing these from their protective home so soon. But I am hopefull our frost are done. Either way, my backyard is surrounded by my house and hills, so it doesnt get frosted very easily. As soon as we get some good weather again I will direct sow the remainder of my seeds with more details added to this post, on where and how they are planted.

Here is a pic taken moments ago of the Spitfires in their new home in the potager.

I forgot to mention, when I created the beds for the potager, they are made up of about 1/2 aged horse manure, and the rest my poor clay soil. Everything was till together very well. In this bed I also have my strawberries and a few winter sown seedlings (one of which can be seen growing right in front), and some lettuce, and a nice layer of mulch layed over.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

Winter Sowing Successes and Failures

2010-05-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Below is the long list of results I had with winter sowing for the first time in winter 2009/2010. Out of about 230 containers I sowed, 23, as of yet have NOT germinated. I dont consider that too bad. I did get loads of nice stuff that i have been busily planting out. With still loads more to do. Winter sowing sounds hard to believe, almost too good to be true. When thinking about whether to try it or not, i kept thinking it was going to be too difficult, I wasnt going to be able to keep 100's of containers watered, or it just wasnt going to work. I have read on GW where some put them out in the thousands. I thought in the beginning I would reach no where near 100. Well after sowing a handfull of containers out here and there over about 5 months, it was a breeze. Didnt take hardly any time at all. then my worry about keeping them watered. in that 5 months, i watered maybe 4 times this spring. I didnt obsess about it. just took my waterhose out and dribbled water in each container. Then on days when i was really feeling lazy (which is pretty frequent), I just set it to spray, and run it back and forth over the tops of the containers as it it was raining. Not as good, but it got me by. This has to be the easiest method to sow plants by the 100's or even 1000's there is. Thanks to Trudi at wintersown.org for coming up with this. If you love to grow your own plants from seed, you have to try this out. You will be amazed!

Seeds that did NOT germinate, at least as yet:
I will give them another month just in case.

Anchusa Dropmore Blue
Aster purple
Aster purple ribbon
Aster Schone Von Dietlikon
Blue Thimble Flower
Caryopteris summer Sorbet
Chrysanthemum Clara Curtis
Coneflower orange
Cosmos- all
Echium Blue Bedder
Florence Fennel
Gaillardia Burgundy
Gaillardia Red Plume
Gaillardia Summer's Kiss
Golden Chain Tree
Hakoni Double blue balloon flower
Helenium yellow
Heliotrope Marine
Hollyhock figleaf yellow and peach
Joe Pye Weed regular and chocolate
Marigold Citrus
Salpiglossus
Silene orientalis

Seeds that germinated, and I still need to plant out:

Agastache Korean Mint
Allium neopolitanium
Alyssum Carpet of Snow
Aster Tiger paws
bachelor buttons
Balsam
Bellflower, White peach leafed
Blue pimpernel “Blue lights”
Butterfly Weed, orange
Caryopteris Worcestshires Gold
Cineraria Stelata
Coreopsis Early Sunrise
Dahlia Hello bronze
Delphinium Blue jay
Delphinium larkspur
Dianthus raspberry swirl
Dianthus Sooty
fever few virgo
Foglove, dwarf Foxy
Foxglove, strawberry
gaillardia
Geum Rivale
Godetia Amoena
Gomphrena soft pink
Helenium red
Helenium red
heuchera marvelous marbles
Hibiscus Pinot Noir
Hollyhock Chaters
Hollyhock mix, rose, red, yellow
Hollyhock peach
Hosta mix
Hosta Sagae
Jacob's Ladder blue
Larkspur Kingsize Scarlet
Laura Bush petunia
Liatris
Marigold safari yellow
marigold Scarlet starlet
Marigold Sweet cream
marigold, orange from McDonald's
Marigold, yellow from McDonald's
Melampodium butter diasy
milkweed, swamp
Nasturtium Alaska
nasturtium cream Sickle
nasturtium Empress of india
nasturtium milkmaid
Nasturtium Whirlybird
Nicotian Crimson king
Night Scented Stock
Penstemon “Lipstick”
Penstemon Cobaea
Petunia Double Madness Rose
Petunia Hurrah Blue
Petunia Ramblin Red
Poppy , California
Poppy, pink
Poppy, Shirley Red
Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset
Rudbeckia indian Summer
Salvia Splendens
Shasta Snowlady
Shiso
Spirea, blue mist, Black knight
Sweet Alyssum
Thyme
Tithonia
Tithonia Fiesta Del Sol
Wallflower, siberian
Zinnia Aztec Sun
Zinnia benary's giant
Zinnia Cherry Queen
Zinnia Dreamland red
Zinnia Envy
Zinnia Exquisite
Zinnia magellan Coral And Cherry
Zinnia peppermint Stick
Zinnia polar bear
Zinnia Profusion Deep Apricot
Zinnia profusion fire
Zinnia Purple prince
Zinnia, tall

TOMATOES: Some of these guys are 10"tall right now, also some were sown indoors.

Black krim- 2
Black plum- 2
Brandywine PL: 5
Caspian Pink- 2
Cherokee purple- 3
Early girl- 2
Ladybug- 3
Mortgage Lifter- 5
Sungold Cherry- 2
Supersweet 100's- 5

Seedlings/plants that are planted out and doing very well:
Remember these plants were put out in clumps called HOS. So there are several in each clump. And some i sowed in a couple of containers.

Agastache blue Fortune
Agastache golden jubilee
Alyssum Gold Dust
Ami Visagna
Antirrhum Rembrandt
Ballerina Sea pinks
Balloon flower, tall pink
Bellflower, giant
Bellflower, purple Clustered
Bellflower, white peach leafed
Calendula Bon Bon
campanula peach leaf bellflower Blue
campanula Superba
Canturbury bells
Carnation, cardinal
catchfly
Cineraria Stellata
Coneflower, purple
Coreopsis Blue Butterfly
Coreopsis Early Sunrise
Coreopsis Sternthaler (from 2004 seeds)
Coreopsis Sunray
Cornflower Dwarf blue
Cosmos Double Rose bon bon
Daylillies, OP
Dianthus Eastern Star
Dianthus raspberry
Dianthus Siberian blues
Echinacea Berry Pow Wow
Echinacea White Swan
Feverfew Flora pleno
flax, blue
Foxglove ( 100's)
foxglove, dwarf Foxy
gaillardia Arizona Sun
Gaillardia oranges and lemons
Garlic
Gypsophilia Convent garden
Heuchera unknown
Hollyhock, Chaters Double icycle
JMG Cameo Elegance
JMG Chocolate Silk
JMG Fuji no Murasaki
JMG Gray mist
JMG Hige Red Feathered
JMG Tempest
Jupiter's beard
Larkspur blue butterfly
Larkspur kaleidoscope
larkspur rocket
lavatera trimestris Pink beauty
Lavatera Trimestris Rose mallow
Lupines
Lychnis Abbotswood Rose
Mallow Piroette
maltese Cross
Malva Moschata Alba
Malva Mystic Merlin
MG Red Sunsmiles
MG, Heavenly Blue
Money plant, White variegated
nasturtium Climbing Spitfire from Renee's
Nicotiana Hot Chocolate
Nicotiana Lime green
Penny Black
Penstemon Barbatus navigator
Poppy Dark pink fringed
Poppy dark purple fringed
Poppy laurens grape
Poppy orange
poppy, annual hot pink
poppy, pizicato
Popy red mix
Rose Campion Angel's blush
Rudbeckia Cappucino
Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset
Rudbeckia Double gold
Rudbeckia indian Summer
Rudbeckia Tiger Eye gold
Rudbeckia ToTo
Salvia blue Queen
Schizanthus Angel wings
Shasta Crazy
Shasta Snowlady
Shrimp plant
Sidalcea Elsie heughs
Sidalcea pink mix
Sidalcea, pink dwarf malva
Snapdragon, giant tetra mix
Snapdragons Candy Corn
Veronica Blue Streak
Wallflower bedding mix
Wallflower fairlady

Dealing With Fibromyalgia

2010-04-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

I usually don't get into details of how I am dealing with the fibromyalgia, but I had to share what happened this morning. I have had this since 1995. Which at that time, there was very little information about it. I had been a nurse for 14 yrs by then and had never heard of it. Now its all over the TV, when they try to push drugs for everything, then you have to buy more drugs to treat the side effects.When one has a lifetime condition it helps to not take everything so seriously (when you can). Fibromyalgia, in case your not aware of it , causes widespread pain, fatigue,tender points,sleep disturbance, problems with your thought processes, and a host of other symptoms that can come and go as they please.. I think the" thinking" problems are actually caused by the lack of deep restorative sleep. Which, early on, even caused me to start reversing letters and numbers. Thanks goodness for spell check. Now the pain isn't always bad, but its usually always present to some degree. This winter has been the worst for me for some time. Cold usually seems to trigger more muscle pain and fatigue which leads to other things. Once the weather started warming, I started feeling better, and getting some energy back.There are days I don't make it off the couch until I have to, and others I get a brief reprieve to enjoy life.You never know how your going to feel from one minute to the next.As for the "thinking" problem, that is another thing that can sneak up on you and grab you by surprise. Its the one thing about this condition that I can laugh about, and believe me sometimes it gets hilarious. Except when I get lost, but thats a whole other story.
Anyway, you have a little bit of background. Here is how my morning went: We woke up about 6Am. We were lying in bed, snuggled up under a warm blanket, and had started talking.

Me: It had seemed later than it was, and I was trying to figure out in my head why my husband wasnt up yet to get ready for work. " Are you off today?"

Him: "No"

Me: "Are you off Monday then?"

Him: "No, why?"

Me: "Cause this weekend is the fourth?"

Him: Already realizing I am not thinking clearly again, he said with a chuckle, " This is only May".

I was thinking this weekend was the fourth of July instead of the fourth of May, lol. Oh well, another interesting day is about to begin.

Planting Out Winter Sown Seedlings

2010-04-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first year winter sowing, and I know it wont be my last. This has to be the easiest and most productive way to mass sow seeds. I sowed out over 226 containers. I still have a few that haven't (and may not) germinated yet. But I cant complain, because I have so many that have. Some are even almost 6" high. I did find out that it is best to have the soil moist before trying to pop them out of the milk jugs. If the soil was a little dry, and I tried to pull out clumps of seedlings, or turn the jug over to get them out, they would fall apart. But if the soil was moist then I could take them out as one big cake, and separate the clumps into the size hunks I needed. Or as winter sowers call HOS, hunk of seedlings. Instead of planting out individual seedlings, it is much easier and quicker to plant them out in hunks. And from pics I have seen on Gardenweb, it looks much nicer and fuller when the plants have matured. Here is a clump after I turned over the milk jug and slid it out:

Now all I do is divide this large clump up into a few smaller ones. The size of the hunks are determined by how heavily I sowed, and the type of plant. A few things, I realized too late that I sowed way to heavily. Such as the Butterfly bush...es. These seedlings are packed into one jug. There is now way I am going to need 100's of Butterfly Bushes, no matter how well I like them. But I am learning,lol.

Random Pics In My Garden

2010-04-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Gerber Daisy

Purple Iris

Curly Leaf Hosta

Pink Clematis

Heuchera and Hosta combinations that I really love. I love the combination of the bright greens with the burgundy foliage.

Purple Columbine

White Scilla

Lavender Scilla

Heuchera Southern Comfort

Wild flowers growing in the yard

Red Twig Dogwood before the leaves

Red twig Dogwood with the leaves

Pieris japonica "Mountain Fire". I love the new red leaves.

My very first sprouts in our brand new potager.

I direct sowed Alyssum around the peas. The peas arent showing yet, but you can barely see the Alyssum showing its leaves.

The lettuce is thru just about as much as the Alyssum.

Here is a shot of the front of my house taken about 1/2 way down the front yard.There is a small pond just to the left. It is desperately needing some work.

Here is a pic of the back of my house, actually where my living room is located. if you look closely to the right you can see part of the jugs etc from my winter sowing.In the foreground you can see the top of the retaining wall.

I love how this Lamium almost glows in my shade bed.

I cant wait for the weather to stay warm and things really start blooming. Right now things look a little bare.

Hopefully Our Last Frost

2010-04-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well the weather forecasters first said we were to drop to 31 ° last night, then just before going to bed it said 29°. During the night I read it was 32°. I woke up this morning to a pretty good frost everywhere but my backyard. If there is any there it is so light I cant see it. My backyard kind of has its own little microclimate going. The house backs it up to a hill, and there is another large hill on the right, and a small knoll on the left. Trees surround all sides but the house. So far everything looks OK ,even my winter sown seedlings, perennials AND annuals. I had brought my tomatoes in that werent winter sown, the others stayed outside. May 15 is our official last frost date. I think if weather permits, I will go ahead and plant out my tomatoes this weekend.

Update 4/29/10--Well it wasnt the last! We had another last night. This time I was caught off guard, and had left all my tomatoes, fuschia, and more outside. Fortunately, that backyard microclimate thing must have saved them. Nothing was harmed. Other than a cup of Balsam I had sitting out. I guess it doesnt like the cold too well.

Pieris Japonica "Mountain Fire"

2010-04-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have two of these fairly slow growing shrubs in the back of my tiered bed. This is such a large bed (60 ft long x 6 ft deep). I like to have "anchors" interspersed in the bed. Something that has some height, and can even provide some winter interest. These are evergreen, and only get to 6 ft in height. So far they are staying pretty slim as well. So they are working out ideally. This variety gets its name from the new growth that appears in spring. It is a bright "fiery" red. As the new growth ages it turns to kind of a mahogany, then a bright green.The flowers that appear in spring, hang in chain like clusters of little white ,cup shaped flowers.It supposedly prefers acidic soil, but my soil tends to be more neutral towards alkaline, and they have done very well. it gets full sun, and has never needed any kind of winter protection. It is hardy from zones 4b to zone 7b. I am in zone 6 to 6b. Take a look at how brilliant this red is.

This pic shows the beautiful white blooms. Actually this shot doesnt show the true white that they normally are as this shot was taken as the flowers had started fading somewhat.

All On A Spring Day

2010-04-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

   Spring weather has hit, and I have been working outside all weekend. We had lots of rain in the forcast, but so far all we got was during the night. Today was a beautiful sunny day, with a light breeze. Perfect for hard labor. Yesterday, my husband and I built the arbor over the entrance. Today I stained the whole thing (fence and arbor). Well actually my 21 yo daughter stained the arbor, and helped me with the fence. She is a little taller than I am. My 4 yo grand daughter helped me with the fence using a small paint brush. You know how it is working with a 4 yo and paint. Actually she did pretty good, she didnt have any paint on her except where I got it on her. Now my daughter and I were a different story,lol. I bought 1 gallon of Cabot solid stain in Cordova Brown. It is a real rich, dark chocolate color. I will get more pics posted in a bit. The potager is looking fantastic.
   I placed several Heavenly Blue Morning Glory seeds inside a damp paper towel and placed in a baggy on top of my fridge. in 2 days these all germinated, huge plump roots on them. So I went ahead and tilled a 2.5 foot deep bed along the length of the front of the potager for flowers.I also hauled many buckets of manure to fill about 2-3" on top of the tilled dirt. I am going to plant the morning glories to grow over the arbor. I love the blue of these. I have seen many lovely pics of this MG on arbors. And now will be my first time growing this one. I also bought seeds for a low growing sunflower called Peach Passion. Unfortunately they dont produce seed, so I wont be able to save them for next yr. I am planning on putting these out in the bed in the front of the potager.
   I also bought a May Night Salvia from Home Depot on Thursday. I had never seen this plant in person before that day. I love the dark bluish flower spikes. It was placed right in front of my birdhouse.My daughter also spent several hours weeding my long terraced bed, and hauling more horse manure in to top dress it. I love the dark,rich brown color against the plants.We have about 2/3 of the bed weeded. I am trying to amend soil and plant some of the seedlings out as I go. That huge trailer of manure is now down by half.
   My Gardening Team

They were caught sitting on the upper tier of the retaining wall, taking a short break together. As I got ready to snap the picture my daughter was in view, then suddenly moved behind the shrub, almost as if she sensed I had the camera ready. As memorable, magical moments do, they flit past in a second,a brief glimpse then gone.

Here is a quick pic of the freshly stained fence of the potager. The dark areas in the front are the newly tilled flower beds with a thick layer of aged horse manure on top. Better than pine mulch!

Salvia May Night, however this one is small and not much to look at ....yet.

AAAHH, The Sweet Smell Of.......Manure?

2010-04-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had just about finished up using the last 3 dozer scoops (one full truckload) of well aged horse manure my son brought in for me from my neighbors over the last couple of weeks. All those beds I had and have been putting in, got a healthy dose. So my son went last night and got me a trailer load. Four dozer scoops ! My son said he figured it was pretty close 2 ton of manure. The trailer is now waiting in the back yard for me to empty. I want to put this in my 60 ft terraced bed out back. that soil is hard, dry, compacted clay in most spots. I dont know how anything grows in it. I am adding it in to newly dug holes while planting out my winter sown seedlings, and I would like to get at least a couple of inches added to the whole bed around all the plants.

Planting out the Potager

2010-04-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Along with the weeding, and bed building, I have also been working on the potager. In one bed I planted out 30 strawberries, and edged the bed with lettuce, and added mulch. In another bed I planted peas, and filled with a purple Alyssum. I also made a pea trellis out of some wire garden edging that I pulled out from some where else. the only thing is it was just a foot high. My peas are expected to grow 24"-36" high. So I stacked 3 rows, one on top of the other. overlapping slightly and bending the ends over to attach each row to the one below. Then this is stuck into the bed in a zigzag fashion. Similar to the pea fence found on Burpee HERE.
Pic courtesy of Burpee.

Here is my version, a little more ornamental:

This shows how it is placed in a zigzag. it also folds up accordian style for storage:

Can't wait to see how it looks with the peas vining up it.

Here is a pic showing where everything is planted so far. Everything that can be planted out before last frost. You can click on any pic for an enlarged version. My husband still has to plow up 2 more of the 4x8 beds, and the rest of the perimeter beds. I cant wait to get the tomatoes in, but they have to wait till closer to April 15, our last frost date. Here is a list of what was planted:
Mr. big Peas
Onion, evergreen bunching
Carrot, Mezza Lunga Nantese_ The Italian Choice
Lettuce, Simpson Elite
Lettuce, Master Chef Improved blend
Alyssum, Royal Carpet
Peppers, California Wonder 300 TMR
I still gotta get this guy stained and till outside the fence, for planting sunflowers etc.I also plan Heavenly Blue Morning Glories at the gate, and maybe some Japanese Morning Glories growing around the fence, or inside on small towers.

Weeding and Building New Beds

2010-04-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last couple of weeks doing some major gardening work, and my hands prove it. My 21 yr old daughter was home and helped me weed our 60ft x 8 ft deep raised bed behind a stone retaining wall. She is a perfectionist at this. She didnt stop until she had the section she was working on down to bare dirt, without a sprig of weed left. We still have about 12 feet left to do.

I also have re-done old beds, making them bigger, edging them, and heavily amending with aged horse manure. Then I moved a few plants, and added several more hunks of my winter sown seedlings. I edged the beds with a shovel. takes some time, but not too difficult. These beds had only been crudely and quickly put in before. Actually not even beds, just some things thrown in.

Milorganite For Deer Control

2010-04-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about this in the forums, I figured it was probably just another thing too good to be true like Irish Spring Soap, dog hair etc. To be honest I was a little put off about what it was made of as well. Then a friend said she had been to a local nursery that used it and swore by it.She said they simply hung up bags made of hose with Milorganite in it around the perimeter of their nursery.Finally, I decided to give it a try.

The website says it is a "dependable, slow-release, non burning organic fertilizer". It also states "research done at Barry College and other sources says Milorganite has an efficacy of being a deer deterrent". Now for the "not-so-good" part. It is made from processed Milwaukee sewage. If you are like me, your probably screwing up your face pretty good right about now. It took me awhile to get past that. You can find out more HERE..

Here is what it looks like to the right. As you can see, nothing like its former self, thank goodness.There is a slight odd odor about it, nothing strong. Once its in your garden or hanging up, I notice no odor at all. Its easy to forget its there. According to the site, its safe around your family, and even safe to use it on your veggy garden. However, thats where I personally draw the line. Aged horse manure was bad enough.

I have to tell you though, it works! I dont know about the fertilizer part, since in the beginning I hung up pouches around the perimeter of my backyard, but it does keep the deer away. It couldnt be easier. Late last fall, I hung up satchels of this stuff just around the perimeter of my backyard. Remember, I was just beginning my testing of it. I watched during the winter. I saw a deer in this area once all winter. When warm weather started, I found the deer had rubbed my small, 6 ft willowtree almost in half. Shrubs around my side yard had been eaten down to the branches, and there was deer droppings all around my front walk. Then when tulips season started, I noticed I actually had buds! I havent had buds on my tulips for at least 5 yrs or more. I have some I have never seen bloom or even bud since they were planted. I thought at first that I had just gotten to the early enough to apply cayenne. Never thought about the Milorganite. Then I noticed that I had other tulips blooming in other areas that I hadnt put the cayenne on. Now dont get me wrong, that deer concoction I mixed up last yr did the trick, but it needed to be reapplied every couple of months or they came back. I also noticed that not one of my hosta's had been touched, and they hadnt had anything on them as well. Same for the Heuchera, which the deer loved last yr. So I got out my bag and sprinkled it directly around my beds lightly. I am also building a potager.I said how I felt about this stuff in the food garden ( but thats just my quirks). So I just sprinkled it lightly around the outside perimeter of the garden. I had not re-applied or re-filled bags all winter even into early spring. That was at least 7 months of deer relief. I just re-applied to be on the safe side. I have beautiful tulips, heuchera, hosta's and more to enjoy. It couldnt be easier. Here is a link to the Milorganite website for lots of info.

http://www.milorganite.com/about/