Neglect Not Thy Garden

I just realized I haven't posted since September.  I suppose I've been a little busy with teaching this school year, serving on a new committee, and deciding to go back to grad school to work on another degree.  It's all worth it, but whew, it's been a busy year.  While this little blog space of mine may have been neglected, my garden was not.  It is beautiful if I do say so myself.  Here are some pictures of my beautiful blooms from the past couple of weeks:

I really wanted to try growing some vegetables this year.  My wonderful hubby built me a patio box for easy access and maintenance.  I planted yellow squash, cucumber, okra, purple bell pepper, green bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper.  I also planted some herbs on one end:  basil, oregano, parsley, and rosemary.  Finally, I added some pink & purple wave petunias, marigolds, moss rose, and a couple of accents plants to give some color.  I love blended gardening! :)  So far the veggie box is a success.  We have picked squash, purple bell pepper, and jalapeno peppers.  The tomatoes are planted in the shrubbery bed beside the patio. I LOVE fried green tomatoes. We have small green ones now, but my daddy always said you can't pick a green one until you get the first ripe one.

Check out the progress:

April 20, 2013

May 10, 2013

May 16, 2013

May 25, 2013

May 30, 2013

Forgot to mention the blueberries are also ready for pickin'!  They are ripening each day and the tree is loaded with more to ripen.  Ready for those cobblers, smoothies, muffins, and freezer bags!

Beautiful Bouquets

I know I have posted about my zinnias before, but I can never have too many of them.  I have a continuous bouquet (or two, or three) on my kitchen counter or around the house.  The stems are starting to look a little rough (they are growing ridiculously tall, and with the amount of rain we are getting, they just fall over), but the blooms are still beautiful.

Fresh Eggs

 

I took a visit to my mother's garden last weekend. It was long overdue and I enjoyed the time.  She acquired some chickens and roosters a couple of months ago and I wasn't quite sure what she was thinking. But, after seeing how pretty the hens and rooster were, and the neat little coop that my mom and dad built for them, I have to say they started to grow on me.

The eggs are quite colorful gorgeous as well.

They fashioned together this neat little coop.

One of the bright red hens.

 The handsome rooster.  He liked posing for the camera.

 When the hens weren't clucking about, they made this funny humming chorus that was sweet and quite peaceful.

Jimmie the Turtle Returns!

 This is our neighborhood turtle, Jimmie.  He is a little camera shy.  He first came around We first discovered him last summer.  When we were working in our front yard, he crawled out of the middle "jungle" around the pine trees.  He stuck around for a couple of days and then we didn't see him again.  We were pretty sure he was still close by, because we have noticed several nibbles on our plants throughout the year.  The pictures below were taken last summer/fall.

If you compare the markings in these two photos with the first photo, you can tell it is the same turtle.  Good ole' Jimmie.  Some people say that you can mark them with fingernail polish to make sure it is the same turtle.  I am pretty sure that would wear off in a year's time, however.

Blueberry Tree Project

Summer around here means lots of craft time and yard projects.  We recently took on our blueberry trees and prettied them up a little.

 These are our beloved blueberry trees.   They bring us much joy...

...in the form of blueberry and mixed berry cobblers!

This is a "before" picture of our blueberry trees.  Notice that we added a border of stones and some fresh mulch.  They thanked us by producing so many berries that we literally thought they were growing back by the time we picked all the way around.  Shortly after, tropical storm Debbie blessed us with a lot of rain.  The grass loved it; the fruit trees not-so-much.  We haven't had any berries since the storms.  The trees still look great and are producing new growth like crazy, but no fruit.  Our lovely friends at Home Depot said that the fruit trees in the area went into shock from the large amount of rain at one time.

I also painted these concrete blocks and used them as planters for some backyard blooms.
"Go forth into the day and make it good."  "Bless these Blooms." 

 "Home -- where the flowers grow a little taller!"

A Potting Bench: My New Obsession

My husband recently decided that he had outgrown his garage workbench and needed a larger space. We spent the weekend building him a new bench, and I am recycling his old one into a potting bench of my own.  Letmetellya, I am super excited about having my own space in the garage, too!  My potting bench will live in the garage since the wood is not pressure treated or weather resistant, but I am still happy about it. I have been working on organizing it this week and adding my own touches.  I will share pictures with you soon.  Meanwhile, these are potting benches I have been drooling over long before.  The process of organizing mine has also led me to find lots of pictures.  Here is my idea file:

This picture caught my eye in a Country Living issue not too long ago.  Then it appeared on Pinterest.  I pinned it to my "Garden and Yard" board so I could drool over it whenever I wanted.  The lady who built this potting bench bought the materials for it and built it in a section of her garage.  I love everything about it...the cabinets, the drawers, the farm style sink, the arrangement of pots, the color pallet.  This is a gardener's dream. 

As the summer went along, I started thinking more and more about how I could create a potting bench of my own.  I searched Pinterest and Google images.  I found lots of variations and lovely ideas.  I love the pale green color of this bench.  I like the open shelf underneath and I love that it is outdoors under a sheltered area.  I don't really have a sheltered area outside, but that would be nice.  I also adore that the gardener has the word "LOVE" attached to her bench.  Gardening is truly a passion and a work of heart.

This potting bench sits outside in the garden.  The blog it came from said it actually came when the house when they purchased it and they just inherited it.  You can tell that it is weathered with time and has been loved by its gardener.  I might have bought the house just for the charming potting area! :)

Another idea.

 I like the pegboard on this one for organization purposes.  I also love the birdhouses that accompany the clay pots.

This potting cart is from Pottery Barn.  Lovely style, prestigious price.  I really love the hooks across the front and the towel bar on the side.  I also like the baskets for storage underneath.  I love stylish baskets.

The collection of pots here is beautiful.

There is so much to love in this picture.  This potting corner is too cute.

What this little potting bench sacrifices on style, it makes up for on efficiency.  The sunken area for potting soil is smart!

 This potting area reminds me a lot of my mom for some reason.  It is beautifully rustic!

Another outdoor option.  I like the board at the top with the water "spickets" (spigot or faucet, whichever word you prefer).  FYI - Urban dictionary says the spelling "spicket" is only used in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to refer to an outside faucet.  The collection of watering cans also adds visual interest as well as usefulness.

<3

The galvanized buckets with chalkboard labels are calling my name.

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After sorting through pictures of many different potting benches and potting areas, I have come to the conclusion that I like a bench that looks like it gets lots of lovin', i.e., slightly weathered looking and used often.  Must haves:  fairly organized, fairly large, filled with garden essentials, and a collection of clay pots.