• What’s Growing

    monthly garden pic The following edibles are currently growing in the garden: arugula Brussels sprouts cilantro carrots dill garlic kale onions oregano spinach Swiss chard There are also some mystery greens. I had a couple packets of old seeds that I sprinkled off the side of the deck into the dirt below, and that section is full of sprouts! The crop of rudbeckia was gorgeous this summer but then was overtaken by an unknown condition. Fortunately it reseeded, and a…

  • Garden Monthly Pics

    The fall progression is visible in the veggie garden. The rose bush was pruned back to its nubbins and the spent veggie plants were pulled. The large yellow mum grew too heavy and was cut back to the ground. Manure and cedar mulch were added to the beds. By now, we should have experienced our first frost of the season, but the weather forecaster says we could still be another week or two away this year. So it turns out…

  • Fall Garden Inspiration

    Frost hasn’t hit us yet, so we are enjoying some of the final blooms of the season. Yesterday I was at Lowes, where all fruiting, flowering and shade trees were on sale. I suppose they are past their visual prime, but it is the perfect time here to plant them. We’ve been building a shed in the back yard, and the site selection required that we move a blue cedar, camellia and redbud (well, cut down and left for dead).…

  • Fruit Trees

    Our fruit trees are looking good this season.  We finally have gotten to try cherries this year! The peach tree seems to have responded well to the heavy pruning at the beginning of spring. We tried to follow some extension guides, and while I think we did an okay job, there are still some branches drooping under the weight of the peaches. I have not been thinning out the fruit, but today I did take out a few skinny branches…

  • What’s Growing

    Corn in the middle. Flanked by squash and carrots and the teepee Broccoli and marigold Second year Swiss chard Onion blossom Fountain, path headed towards the pepper patch Plot where I dumped a bag of unknown seeds that had gotten all mixed up: poppy, dill, cilantro, lettuces Same plot, zoomed out Path looking towards the bee and butterfly corner Overstuffed pot: lettuce, mint, bee balm, curry, random thing in the middle with little white flowers, pineapple basil, lemon grass

  • Trees of our Choosing

    When we put in the fire pit last fall, there was a very hairy section of the yard that had to be cleaned out. One by one over the past year, we started pulling out shrubs and trees to make room for a new cherry tree and pecan tree. There was no way these newbies would have room or the sun to grow with all the bushy and tall vegetation slammed into this one section of the yard. The goal…