Progress in the Courtyard!

 

It was so nice to look out my bedroom window this morning and see the Clematis blooming instead of a pile of snow.  It is a rainy day again but I still may stick a couple of seeds in the ground!

                                                                                      I use pots on my potting bench to add more space for growing.  There are a coupe pots of chives and soon  will be enough blossoms to  make chive blossom vinegar.  Two pots have peppers and one pot has a zucchini and the green pot has zinnia growing in it.

                                          I have two gro bags with potatoes in them.  I just added more dirt to these.  It is so exciting to see them growing!  Hoping for lots of potatoes!

 

The Calendula transplanted well from the milk jug sowing.  Hoping for lots of yellow blooms.

Tomato plants, Basil and Cilantro planted in these new pots.  The tomato plant on the left is a Beefsteak and the one on the right is a Paste tomato.

A coupe of the things growing in the green stalk.  Kale and pretty pink flowers.  I love those flowers and wish I would have bought a couple more of those plants!

Of course I need my supervisors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Happy Gardening!  .....Nancy

                                             

May 10, 2022 Rainy to Hot!

 We have gone from lots of rain to 80 degrees but Rosie is enjoying soaking up the sun!

I was given this plant for Mother's Day!  It said Self-watering and is heavy so thought a good place for it would be the front porch so we don't have to go out and water it every day!

I was given these two hanging ferns for Mother's Day also.  My courtyard and front porch are looking so nice!

My seedlings I started were so small this year so I bought a few.  A Sungold tomato plant, Beefsteak and Roma and another pepper plant.  I will still plant a few of my small ones and hope for the best.

Planted a Greek Oregano in this pot.  Hoping to dry lots of Oregano for the winter.

I planted three of my cabbages in this little box with the fence in front to discourage Rosie from pulling them out!  Two green cabbages and one red.  I have never grown red cabbage before.

I was happy to find a Lovage plant to buy.  I will dry it to flavor my soups this winter as it gives a celery taste.

One of Rosie's ears flops back a lot.  Has anyone else noticed that about their Beagle?  It is so great to finally see things sprouting and growing in the garden.  Maybe I am impatient but it seemed to take forever!!  Have a happy week..........Nancy

May 3, 2022 April showers in May!

 

I found some beautiful hanging flowers at Menard's for $9.99 with the rebate.  Thought that was a pretty good deal.  We have had rain so they are looking a little sad now.  I will be glad to see the sunshine and wish I could give some of my rain to some of the people having a drought.

 

A basket of double impatience.  It said they could take afternoon sun so hoping they flourish in this spot.

Straw flowers.  I have never had them before but thought they were pretty.

My milk jug containers that I had planted were quite successful.  I do need to get them in the ground ASAP.   Rain, rain go away.

 

I ordered ten strawberry plants and planted them.  Four of them has no green or life on them so that is not good!

I had a few celery leaves so dried them to help flavor soups.  Waste not, want not as the saying goes!

Rosie says I am bored,  Come play with me!   See you next week.  Have a good one!.....Nancy

April 26th, 2022 FROST TONIGHT!!!!

 Ugh!  Frost tonight.  Blueberry bushes covered, strawberries covered, clematis covered and cold frame cover put down.

Zinnias planted Easter Sunday.  Brought in the house tonight along with some other things!

Raspberry runner planted in a pail.  Hoping it will grow.  We are tired of digging up runners and hope we can get some planted in pails instead.

Most of my milk jugs I planted earlier are doing well.

I planted a green onion that had gone bad and look what grew!

Rosie pulled out my nice two lavender plants last year along the path so picked up a couple new ones.  Think I will put them in pots and hope for the best!

 

Rosie has the right idea!  She says "stop gardening and come sit on the swing with me"!  Have a nice week.  .........   Nancy

April 20, 2022 Brown thumb Gardener!

 Guess I am a brown thumb gardener this year!  My seedlings did not grow well and one of my celery plants died.  Woe is me!  We got a lot of rain and my carrots did not germinate so replanted those today.  One pea shoot came up so put more peas to soak to plant tomorrow.  I know it is only April but still...........

And these tomato seedling do not look any better!  Here I thought I would save a lot of money but guess not!

Of course this snow one night did not help my mood any!

I planted zinnia seeds Easter Sunday in this pot.  They are sitting on Bob's desk trying to soak up some sunshine which is the sunniest spot.  Grow zinnias grow!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter.  The Rose is from Bob and I made the Easter bunny a few years ago.

I have had this little  Ball Blue Book for years.  Is it still safe to use to can from?  The Copy right says 1995, l997 and l998.  Also when I put my cans through the dishwasher to sterilize can I turn them upside down on a towel on the cupboard to use the next day or do I need to use them the same day?  Maybe some of you canners out there can help me out?

Aww Dad!  I am bored.  Get off the phone and play with me!

Rosie is under this blanket.  She covers herself all up at nighttime when she goes to bed.  Even her head.  We have never had a dog do this before.  Wishing you all nice weather and a great rest of the week!..........Nancy  
 

April 13, 2022 So much to do!

 

So much to do, so little energy, rain today and high winds forecast for tomorrow!  But us gardener's plod on!  Most all of my new strawberries I planted last fall lived through the winter. Need to put some compost around them.  Have 10 more plants coming this month.

  

We were able to make a trip and get five pails of free compost.  Free is good!

A trip to the garden center yielded 8 little cabbages.  Four green and four red.  I have never grown red before.  I would have liked to have bought larger plants but these fit my budget better!

I chitted my potatoes and hope to plant them in the next few days.  I don't quite know what I am doing when planting potatoes.  Tried a few last year.  I will put four in one grow bag and four in the other grow bag and I am going to try one in the Greenstalk as have seen videos where they do it.

Oh, oh!  I washed my tennis shoes but forgot to take the orthotic inserts out.  Thankfully they ended up being okay as they are not cheap to replace.

I put egg shells around my blueberry plants.  Rosie thought they were good to eat!  She is getting her calcium!

Rosie got a new toy from the Dollar Tree today.  A squirrel.  She has torn the stuffing out of a couple of the other ones but really likes her squirrel.  I wonder how long it will last!  Happy Gardening!............Nancy

April 5, 2022 Fingers crossed!

Can you see the little tiny green on the right hand side?  That is my turnips that came up.  The peas were suppose to come up on the other side and carrots in another box but neither has peaked through so will probably be replanting.  We have had cold weather and lots of rain.

Planted the bunching onions I started in the house out in the cold frame today.  We will have a couple nights of cold weather yet but I can put the cover down.

I am so jealous!  Rosie would rather sleep on Bob's lap than mine.

Dehydrating celery leaves from the grocery store celery.

These are gluten free biscuits made from a mix from Aldi's.  No, they are not tasty but better than nothing!

Rosie likes to tear the stuffing out of her toys.  She had a one year old birthday this week so bought a new one for her.  All for this time.  Have a good week......Nancy