"Shelled" Again

Those of you who visited my shop a couple of years ago may remember the huge seashell that greeted you just outside the front door.  Well, it's been hanging out in our garage for a couple of years now and I thought it was time we put it somewhere permanent or get rid of it.   So now it's outside the front door of our house instead!

Uhhhhhhhhh.........I couldn't stop there with my beloved seashells, so now the numbers on our mailbox are also shells.

I think this is going to have to go a bit further....the shells, that is.    More on that another day!   Just hang on to that thought.  While I was out in the front yard I had to get a pic of our roses.   They're going crazy this spring.   Check them out!  The bushes are almost up to my shoulders and it smells so wonderful when I get out of my car and walk past them.

Sadly, it's the end of my spring gardening season.   The last of the okra bloomed this week as well as the eggplant.   And I have plucked most of the blueberries off the bushes.   The blackberries are still producing, though, and they're huge and dark purple.   Maybe by next year there will be enough to make some pies and cobblers.   Yum!

These okra blooms remind me or a plant we used to have in Penna. called Rose of Sharon.  

Our last lonely tomato until next fall.   Wish I could grow these all year long.

Happy "hump day" Wednesday,
Debbie

Harvest Time

  I pushed off harvesting my herbs as long as I could, not because I didn't feel like it, but because Joel had a medical emergency that took all my attention.    Hmmmm.....husband's are like that, you know?

  

 I just love going out to the garden first thing in the morning to check out how the beds have filled in.  It's amazing what a little fertilizer and regular watering will do for your plants.  My herbs went crazy this spring; parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil and tarragon.   Early each morning last week, I'd wander out to the garden and cut back all of just one type of herb and bring it inside to the kitchen.

 After removing the biggest stems, the leaves were plopped onto the dehydrator tray and the timer would be set for 16 hours at 125 degrees.   By morning, the herbs were ready to put in a clean Ball jar with an appropriate label (wouldn't want an "inappropriate" label, now would we?)  Pretty simple process.   Then, I'd start all over again with a different herb. 

 By weeks' end, these are the herbs I had "put up", as my Penna. Dutch relatives would say.  And, oh, the aroma.  I wish you could smell them, too!   Not like the stuff that you buy in the grocery store that has been in that jar for who knows how long?

And I'm still harvesting tomatoes and okra!  Some mornings I've even popped a few blueberries and a blackberry or two in my mouth while I weeded and watered the garden.   Too bad I don't have an acre or so to put in an orchard.....now wouldn't that be fun?

Oh, my, almost forgot to tell you to check out my other blog to see what else we were up to this weekend.  

http://www.pinkfloridathreads.blogspot.com/    I put a new post there as well today and I think you'll enjoy reading all about what we did.

Signing off from the Garden of Eatin',

Debbie

Plants and Other Things

Okie, dokie....the weather has been just short of spectacular the last few weeks and I've been trying to do some of my late spring outdoor work before the real heat and humidity of the summer sets in.   One of the projects I've been meaning to get around to is replanting a basket that sits on top of a 4X4 post set in amoung the bushes along my back fence.

The idea came from a wonderful gardening book by Pamela Crawford about container planting and now I'm hooked on the whole concept.   She even combines veggies with her flowers in her planters!   Gonna try that this week...anyway, I digress.   So, I bought a bunch of succulents from Lowe's, plants that don't require any care and love, love, love the sun.....and they don't need to be watered hardly at all.   A great plant for someone who tends to neglect their garden for weeks on end when they get busy with other projects.   (Hmmm, who might that be?)

I buy the baskets from Kinsman Gardens online....a shop that is in a little Pennsylvania town I used to drive thru when I lived up there.   They are very helpful if you call them and they have a full selection of the baskets and accessories for this project.   I bought a basket and liner from Kinsman and Jeremy used the post hole digger to sink the 4X4 in the ground and poured quick set cement around it to make certain it won't lean after the heavy basket is attached.

Next, you pour potting soil into the liner (while it's sitting in the basket) up to the first set of side holes, then push small plants into the side holes, topping off with soil to hold the roots in place.   Repeat up to the next side holes.   To finish it off, plant what I like to call a "spikey-uppey" plant in the center of the basket and fill around the perimeter of the planter with "drippey-downey" plants so they will eventually drape over the sides and fill in any gaps between plants as it grows.   The idea is that you will have a lush, full planter when finished. 

Depending on the plants you put in your basket, it can look completely filled in as soon as you plant it, or you must be patient and let nature take its course as the plants slowly grow and fill in all the blank areas.   It's a very cool project and so satisfying to see the finished project when it's up on it's perch.   Can't wait to do more!

What I really like is that you can add these posts anywhere in your garden that you feel you need a focal point or where you just want a pop of color.   The possibilities are endless.   Hope you're enjoying your "gardening" day today.
Debbie

Happy Mother's Day

I'd like to wish all my girlfriends, my mom, my mother-in-law, and my daughter and daughter-in-law a Happy Mother's Day.   Julie invited me to spend part of the weekend with her in Orlando and this is what we did...

She and 3 of her friends ran in a sprint triathlon at Fort Wilderness at Disney World.   We stayed in one of the rustic cabins at the Fort and all I had to do was show up.   They had planned and prepared everything down to the last detail.   We hung out at the fantastic theme pool at the Lodge, then Julie made us an awesome dinner (thanks for sharing the recipe, Jules) so the girls could have a carb load the night before the race.   The girls had already "racked" their bikes and all their necessary gear at the race site before I got there, so they were prepared for the race.

They were anxiously laying out their clothes, planning their morning meal, and organizing everything necessary for the big event so they could get out of the cabin in just a few minutes after the alarm went off in the morning.   I think I may have been more excited than the girls because I woke up almost every hour or two all night long!   We went to bed by 9:30 and woke up at 5:30am, they ate and we clambered into the chilly car to head over to the race site.   I had to drop them off and return the car to the cabin, then take one of the park's buses to the venue as there is no parking there.

By the time I got there twilight was giving way to a beautiful morning and I started snapping pics of the girls as they waited (a little jittery) for their turn to hit the water at the lake.   Eileen was in one of the first waves of women to enter the water and she was off like a shot to begin the 1/2 mile swim.    Julie, Wendy and Sara were in the mixed class and were called up to the water's edge about 18 minutes later.   Ok, I don't think I could swim across my pool 10 times and they were swimming a half mile!   Yikes!   I'm glad there were spotters in kayaks and boats along the course....that made me feel a little better about watching them take off splashing into the chilly water.

As soon as they emerged from the water, they all dashed to the transition area where they had parked their bikes last night and I watched as they moved as fast as possible to get into gear to ride the 12 mile bike course.  Then, they reparked their bikes and ran a 5K.   Whew, I'm beat just from watching them.   But what an exciting event to watch!

The girls all finished and I have yet to find out Julie's official time, but she felt she beat her time from last year's race.   Eileen, on the other hand, finished first in her class and 15th overall!   Woo-hoo!   You go girl!!  Congratulations to all four of you.....I'm really impressed with your bravery overcoming your concerns about swimming "with the fishes", and can only begin to appreciate the many hours and hours of training that it took for you to participate in today's event.  

Here are the girls after the race proudly wearing their medals....from left to right, Sara, Eileen, Julie and Wendy.  What a great way to spend Mother's Day, thanks for sharing it with me,
Love,
Debbie