MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! I HOPE EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THIS GREAT WEATHER. MOST OF THE SOUTH GARDEN IS IN AND I HAVE PLANTED PRENNIALS IN EACH BED TO CONTINUE TO ATTRACT THOSE THAT POLLENATE THE PLANTS. THE NORTH SIDE WILL BE DONE TODAY AND I WILL HOPEFULLY FINISH THE FRONT TRIMMING ALSO. I AM DOING IT BY HAND TO AVOID ANY RUN INS WITH BUNNYS OR THE "CECIL" FAMILY. LOTS OF STUFF IS UP NOW UNDER THE CEDAR TREE AND THE HOSTAS UNDER THE DRIVEWAY ENTRANCE SURVUVED THE WINTER AND LOOK GREAT. ONCE THE FRONT IS DONE, THEN THE BACK HOUSE IS BEING CLEARED FOR OUR NEW PRIVACY PATIO WE ARE BUILDING. CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PICTURES AND HAVE A SAFE WEEKEND!

Yardwork!

Well today the yardwork has begun in earnest. Lots of things going on due to the early "spring", which by the way seems to have stalled briefly the last week. Hostas and Tigers are coming up, and Bishops is up in the cedar tree space. Also had to clear a bunch of brush to complete the west side of the fench and dragged that up for the town boys to take. Garden level braces took a beating with all the erosion and wind. I began repairing and resetting that last weekend. The cedar tree behind the kitchen is coming out and we are building a small private patio over the next month or so. After all these years we will finally be able to sit in our back yard with our dogs without worry or having to run after them into the woods. Hope every one has a good Easter. Enjoy the photos!

New Projects

Hope you are enjoying the weather. Just don't get over zealous with the seeds, there is still a slim chance of an overnight frost "attack". We all know about the weather here don't we?
Projects upcoming are the front fence gate and the rear gate entry, and the lattace we are putting up on the front porch which will add huge privacy value and nice back drop for the perennial garden. Both front shrubs are being pulled out and some nice "anchor" color will replace them, making the entire front garden perennials. Photos to follow in my next post.
Also I will post my newly completed gravel road around the perimeter of our soon to be rear patio. Look for the pics in my next post.

A New Year

Hey all, is everyone glad to be rid of 2011? I will be much more active on the blogs this year and look forward to your comments. As the spring begins to approach, I have big plans for the rest of the front porch and the rear garden. I will be using a lot of the space for cutting flowers and perennials and adding some rasberry bushes as well. In themeanwhile , my honey is a baking maniac during these weeks and it's all for me!!!! Homemade from scratch Granny apple cupcakes infused with caramel and real cream cheese frosting, and canoli cupcakes. Of course, Ava helped a lot cleaning up!

Back to Business

Sorry for the lack or recent posts. We had some tough times in the last couple months and the garden and yard have been low on the priority list. Hopefully things will continue to lighten up and I can resume what I like most, gardening and cooking the stuff that comes out of it.

All of the peppers and tomatoes are now starting to ripen and be ready for harveting. The squash was not polinated very well this year so it was minimal at best. The lettuce lasted up until late July and we got a bunch of great salads and meals from it. All the herbs are ready for drying and the old Sage plant has come back nicely.

Dan Slotman of Slotman Nursery gave me some ornamental grass plants that I will put under the front cedar tree behind the Bishops weed. Nice and bushy like Spider plants with tall wispy fronds when it blooms so it should be perfect there.

The photos show some of the harvest and stuff we made from it. Lisa also contributed a scratch made homemade cherry pie for the dinner. One of her best!

Thanks for looking and I'll be more frequent on the blog as time frees up.

HOT!

WOW! THE HEAT IS ON FOLKS. GOING ON THE THIRD WEEK WITH NO RAIN. EXCEPT FOR SOME CALLED FOR SHOWERS TOMORROW, NO MORE IN SIGHT EITHER. i HAVE ELECTED NOT TO WATER THE ENTIRE LAWN AS I DID LAST YEAR WHICH RESULTED IN A RATHER LARGE WATER BILL. I AM WATERING THE FRONT AND STREET VIEW AND THE GARDENS AND THAT WILL BE IT. WATERING THE LAWN EVERY TWO DAYS AND THE FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES TWICE DAILY. I HAVE ALREADY HARVESTED NUMEROUS SALADS FOR OUR TABLE FROM THE ROMAINE AND A BUNCH OF BANANA PEPPERS WHICH I PLACED IN BRINE. PEAS HAVE ALREADY COME OUT AND LIBERTY AND LISA WERE EATING THEM RIGHT OFF THE VINES AND THEY ARE EXCELLENT!

THE PHOTOS OF THE BABIES WILL ATTEST TO THE "DOG DAYS" OF SUMMER WHICH ARE UPON US. WE FILLED THE POOL FOR THEM, BUT IT HAS BECOME THE LOCAL WATERING HOLE FOR ALL THE WILDLIFE SO IT IS WHAT IT IS. ENJOY THE HEAT, BUT STAY COOL!

Garden is in and Tigers are blooming!

WELL, A LOT IS GOING ON NOW THAT THE TEMPS ARE UP AND SOIL IS WARM COULD USE SOME MORE SUN, BUT THNGS ARE DOING WELL DESPITE THE LACK OF IT. tHE FRONT HALF OF THE GARDEN IS IN AND FERTILIZED WITH 5-10-5 AND EGG SHELLS POTTIING SOIL MIX. THE TIGERS ARE BLOOMING AROUND THE PORCH AND THE sNOW ON THE mOUNTAIN IS DOING GREAT UNDER THE CEDAR TREE. THE PHOTOS WILL GIVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND THE YARD. i AM GETTING READY TO START THE FALL VEG PATCH AND SOME MORE PERENNIALS. THANKS FOR LOOKING!