2011 !

Well, obviously I dropped the ball last year in keeping up with my garden blog. I will attempt to do better this year. I'm beginning today, because it's the first time this year I've spent much time in the yard doing cleanup - and hoo boy is there a lot to do! To be honest, what's been preventing me from getting out there is my body. My arthritis is getting worse all the time, and for some reason my hips seem to be the worst affected when I do any sort of bending (or sweeping or mopping). I have been dreading the pain. But today was a good day and when Elton and I came home about 3:30, it just "felt" like I needed to get outside. He went shooting and I put on my old shoes (which are falling apart - must get new garden shoes), grabbed my gloves, clippers, and paper waste bags, and went outside. Miraculously, after about half an hour with my hips hurting, they suddenly stopped hurting and I felt great the rest of the time I was working.

Kolchak whined at me so I let her out of the back yard. She is pretty good about staying close to me and she did stay in the yard like a good girl. I even let Gretchen out after awhile because she was dancing around practically begging me to get out the door. She was pretty good, though less predictable than Kolchak. I don't trust her yet not to run away, after her escape down the sidewalk and across the street about 2 months ago when it was 10 degrees outside. Rotten stupid little dog.

So I cut down yarrow, pulled mullein, pawed leaves out of the beds. Found tulips coming up, and beautiful purple crocuses in bloom. I filled those two paper bags very quickly, but I wanted to do more so I got a big plastic bag and filled it with leaves and clippings from some of the lavender. It started to rain, though, so I called it quits just as Elton got home. We came inside for a yummy dinner of crock pot roast and vegetables.

Right now my goal is to get things cleaned up. There is sooo much to do and I will just have to do it a little at a time, as I get the chance. There are areas I really want to work on, like the herb garden, but this bigger clean-up must come first. The back lawn is already tall enough to mow, so that will have to be addressed in the very near future. Lots of clean-up back there as well, and I am pondering getting rid of some of the flax to make more room for our vegetable garden.

I will be adding pictures as things progress. Right now, it's not much to see, other than a mess that still needs a lot of work!

New Herbs and Plants!

Today we went to visit our friend Dana, who had offered to dig up some of her garden excess for me. I came home with a tub full of new plants and herbs. I'm so excited to get them in the garden, but have been reading up on them to determine where they need to go.

This is what she gave me: Figwort, Datura, Elecampane, Feverfew, ground Ivy, Woodruff, Valerian, and White Horehound.

Figwort is in the snapdragon family. It needs dry to medium soil, full sun to part shade. Its magical attributes include health and protection. I think I will add it to my existing herb garden.

Datura, aka Jimson Weed, and is poisonous. It requires a dry, sunny area. Elton has already planted it in our back garden area, near a sagebrush. Its magical associations are in communing with birds, hexbreaking, and protection. It is associated with Saturn, and is feminine.

Elecampane is also known as "horse heal." It prefers good, loamy soil, damp but well-drained. This plant has antiseptic properties and has been shown to kill bacteria such as MRSA. Magically, it is used for love and is said to attract fairies. I plan to put in in the front yard somewhere.

Feverfew likes full sun, and needs to be cut back in the fall lest it go wild. It is said to help with migraines and fever, hence its name. It is magically believed to provide protection and to banish unwanted influences. Its planet is Venus, its element is water. It will go in my herb garden.

Ground Ivy concerns me a bit. I'm not sure if I will use it or not, since it is considered a weed and I'm not sure I want it to take over any areas. I suspect I may already have some, and I have spent a lot of digging time trying to get rid of it. It does have medicinal uses, but it does have divination and luck associations. An old folk spell is to place the herb around a yellow candle on a Tuesday, and burn it, and you will learn who is working magic against you. If I plant it, it will probably be in the front yard, but we shall see.

Woodruff likes partial to full shade, and moist, rich soil. I may put it in the front yard, since it gets much less sun than the back. Its medicinal properties include use as a calmative, diuretic, and antispasmodic. Magically, it aids in seduction, romance, and love. It is used to effect change and to attain clarity. This must definitely go in the front yard.

Valerian is also known as garden heliotrope. It prefers fertile, weed-free soil and is a heavy nitrogen feeder. It is used widely for its sedative effects. In magic, it has associations with love, sleep, protection, hexing, and protects against lightning strikes. When powdered, it can be used as a substitute for graveyard dust. It is feminine and Venus is its planetary association. I haven't decided for sure where to plant this.

White Horehound likes sun and well-drained soil. It is good to plant near tomatoes and is a good bee plant. Its leaves and flowering tops are used for wound healing, and it repels flies. The magical uses include being carried to guard against sorcery and fascination, and to be scattered as an exorcism. It is a plant of Mercury, and Horus is its deity. The herb garden will be its destination.

Spring work has begun!

Today was my first real time in the yard that felt good. It was nearly 60 degrees and, armed with my new used wheelbarrow I took down a lot of yarrow and did some raking. The crocuses are abloom, orange/yellow. Tulips are pushing up, and the paper whites are still blooming.

The man I got the wheelbarrow from brought me a weedeater today, and says he has some rakes that he will sell me as well. My big rake has all the tines broken on one side, so I need a new one. Lots more leaves to get out of the flower beds.

Kolchak was out with me and, aside from taking off after a dog who was being walked down the sidewalk, she behaved herself pretty well. I trimmed some of the lavender, but I'm hesitant about it because I'm not sure exactly how much to cut off. I believe that I cut it too severely last year, although I did get flowers. I'm trying to be more conservative this year in hopes that it will grow tall and gorgeous instead of short and gorgeous.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Saturday will be nice so that I can get some more accomplished. Still have loads to do in the front yard, but am anxious to get in the back, clean out the patio pots, and plant some lettuce and spinach. Back there I have roses to prune, and must try to tame the wicked oregano. Not to mention itching to get into my herb garden and clean it all out so I can install the sweet little ceramic garden signs my sister made for me. So much to do, and can't wait to get to it. Hope the weather will cooperate!

Hints of Spring

I sort of dropped the ball last fall in keeping up with this blog. We became so busy picking and preserving that I didn't take time to blog. The bottom line is, we had a wonderful harvest, Elton canned all kinds of things, and we had tomatoes after frost because I picked all the green ones and we enjoyed them for quite awhile.

I did clean out the tomato patch, but I have tons of work ahead of me. It's been chilly, but I've been out a few times, beginning to cut yarrow and rake leaves out of the flower beds. I discovered the paper whites in bloom, and tulips are poking through. I'm not pleased to see weeds already greening up -- before anything I want to see growing, of course.

So I've done a lot of thinking about this year's yard and garden, and came to the conclusion that two things I really wanted was a wheelbarrow and a weedeater. I priced them, and wheelbarrows were a lot more expensive than I expected... around a hundred dollars. Weedeaters aren't too bad; about $30 for an electric one. I got a wild hair and put an ad in the "wanted" section of craigslist asking if anyone had a used wheelbarrow that they would sell for a reasonable price. A guy e-mailed me and said he had one he would sell me for $15.

Elton and I went over to pick it up yesterday, and the guy was really nice. He and Elton had lived in Germany at the same time so they talked about that. As we were leaving, he said he had some other stuff he was going to put on craigslist, a couple of weedeaters. I perked up at once. Weedeater? He had an electric one, and said he would sell it to me for ten bucks. He has to dig it out, though, since he just moved. He is supposed to call or e-mail me.

So, the way I look at it, I saved about a hundred dollars getting this stuff on craigslist. I'm going to remember this for any future things I need! Like a patio umbrella.... ours is looking a little rough.

Summer Bounty

I haven't kept up here as well as I wanted to, but just had to get in here to add a few pictures and give a report on the garden.

We have some late summer roses in bloom; they look a bit tattered, but I guess the heat will do that. I'm glad they are blooming because last year after the first gorgeous show, none of them bloomed again.





We have quite a lot of squash in various places, and have enjoyed zucchini and yellow squash so far. We have several large spaghetti squashes, and Elton's pumpkins are beginning to set on. If the blooms are any indication, he is going to have quite the pumpkin patch.

The most interesting thing in our garden is how this squash has intertwined itself into the sagebrush that is growing above it. I may have mentioned that this is the only squash that has not been attacked by bugs, and I believe it is due to the aromatic sage. As you can see, the squash has blossoms so the sage has not inhibited its growth. Every time we go out and see how many more runners this squash has set out, it makes us laugh. Sage and squash, who'd a thunk it? You may not see any red tomatoes in this shot of our tomato patch, but we've had plenty so far. It sure took them awhile to get their act together, or perhaps I was just anxious. Anyway, they are producing now and if these green ones are any indication, we should have plenty to enjoy. They should continue to give us tomatoes until frost - yummy! Of all the garden veggies, tomatoes are the ones I love the most.

pickin's

Here is our first summer squash! We've already had zucchini. This little fellow is destined to become part of tonight's dinner. Yum!

Cucumbers are nearing readiness, tomatoes are profuse but still green. I am still carefully watching the growth of the eggplant. We shall have more good things to eat, very soon.

the latest from the garden

I was out this morning to work in the yard and garden. It was warm and felt humid; I should have gone out earlier than I did. But despite my discomfort, I got some things accomplished. I trimmed the yarrow and other plants that were once again blocking the sidewalk. I trimmed the bushes that were blocking our garage door entrance (not the big garage door, but the side door). I cut off some of the long, gangly rose branches. Then I set to weeding the vegetables. I began with the pumpkin patch and worked my way over to the zucchini. The pumpkins have blossoms, and we have a zucchini that is pretty much ready to eat whenever we want to. The cucumbers and corn were particularly weedy so I spent awhile on them. The corn in this part of the garden is not yet very tall because it's in partial shade from roses, but it is trying valiantly. I was thrilled to discover teeny little cucumbers growing, about 2 inches long. Yay! I weeded around some peppers and eggplant that are along the front edge of that garden area. That was about all I could do; I was dripping in sweat and it was so hot.

We have noticed that our yard is attracting a lot of honeybees and swallowtail butterflies. How wonderful it is to be outside and see these buzzing bees and magnificent butterflies!

We now have lots of green tomatoes, and all the squash is blooming and/or has tiny little ones growing. We have one beautiful purple eggplant that we've been watching every day. It's going to be so delicious!

My herb garden is a bit weedy right now, but things are going nuts. The lemon balm is huge, the dill is tall, and all the others are doing well. I've used some chives as well as tarragon. Having fresh herbs is one of the wonderful pleasures of life.