Fall Garden

The weather has been, oh so delightful, and my garden has taken on new life. Our roses are putting on one last show before the temperatures plummet and the marigolds are dominating the flower bed with their orange and yellow blooms.

The garden centers around town are full of pansies. I stopped by one garden center today that had pansies and viola's on the clearance racks, trying to make room for Christmas trees and decorations. I was only too happy to take advantage of the reduced prices. I spent the afternoon filling up pots with pansies for some fall and winter color.

                                               The mums are still going strong as well

I know I am going to have to put these flip flops away for the season soon but until that day I am going to continue to enjoy this beautiful weather. 

Repurposing Old Items For The Garden

We had dinner with friends the other night and while the men were barbecuing, the lady of the house showed me around her garden. I love garden tours, don't you? One of the things my friend did in her garden was use an old headboard for a trellis for her ivy, pretty clever don't you think? I think I might have to look for one of these. I'll bet you could also use something like this to help stake tall flowers.

These rain boots were filled with Impatiens at the Botanical Garden's last summer, you'd have to make sure you poked some holes in the bottom so they would drain. They look like old black boots that were sprayed painted red.

These were also done up at the Garden's. I am not sure how the suitcases would do in the rain, these were under cover, so they weren't directly exposed to the elements.

This window is from the farm that my husband's grandparents lived in. We hung it up from the pergola and it makes the deck feel more like a room.

So many things can be found at yard sales and thrift stores, or better yet buried in your closets or garage. (and you'd be surprised how many curb finds are garden worthy)
This wrought iron piece was a reject from a friend, I'm not exactly sure what it's original use was for but I thought it was perfect for holding a couple of potted plants.

Hope I have inspired you, keep your eye out for things you could use in your garden.

               Linking up with Roxy at Living From Glory to Glory             

Remembering The Summer Garden

This weekend has been the first weekend that it has been cool enough for me to pull some of my warmer clothes out of the closet. Fall has indeed arrived, I have actually been enjoying the cooler temperatures. This is one last post of my summer garden (looks nothing like it now)...looking forward to the colors of fall and the little bit of cooler crisp air that comes with it

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil neither toil or spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Luke 12:26-27

Using Tomatoes

Our tomatoes have been ripening the last couple of weeks and I am on a search for new ways to use them. In years past we would go to one of the local farms and pick tomatoes to supplement our meager crop and can jars of salsa. This year we plan to eat them as they ripen

One of my favorite dishes is Bruschetta. To make Bruschetta, I just chop up some tomatoes (any kind or size) add a little olive oil and fresh chopped basil. Stir it up in a bowl let it set a few minutes and serve it over some toasted bread (you can put a little more olive oil on the bread if you want)

In this photo I had also added mozzarella chunks to make it more of a meal.

Another one of my favorites is Avocado and Tomato Salad. To make this I simply chop up however much tomato I think we might want to eat, chop up an equal amount of avocado, add a little lime juice, sprinkle with cheese and you've got yourself a meal

Then of course there is the Tomato Sandwich. We like it with thick hearty Artisan bread with big slices of tomato, if you really want to get fancy you can add some lettuce and bacon and you've got yourself a BLT... am I making you hungry yet?

We have sliced them and topped them with tuna and chicken salad. 

Sliced as a side dish is always nice and we also dump them into all sorts of salads and pastas. Our "problem" is we don't have enough tomatoes to can but enough where we have to be vigilant about eating them. We gave some away, then the next day my husband came home from work with a half dozen more...a coworker wanted to bless him. Apparently our young son is having the same "problem" He counted over 60 green tomatoes on his plants. We would love to hear how ya'll use your fresh tomatoes...ideas accepted here

My Vegetable Garden

Every year we plant a vegetable garden, it usually consists of a few tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and herbs, nothing big just something I can putter in and play farmer. My garden never produces enough to can (when we want to can we pick out at a local farm) but we have fresh vegetables through the summer and a little extra to share.

This spring it was looking questionable that we were going to get a garden in at all. Our spring was unusually wet, it seemed like every time we wanted to go out and dig the ground was too wet or it was raining

Then my back decided to go out...that hadn't happened in several years. In the past when my back went out it would "right itself "after about a week or so...not so this time, it took well over a month before it was anywhere near "garden ready" When I asked the doctor why it was taking so long...I heard something about being older...taking longer to heal...need to give it time...you know the drill...getting out there to plant a garden in time wasn't looking good.

Me with an ice pack wrapped around my back

My husband was helpful, he pruned my rose bushes and cleaned out the flower beds and probably would have dug up the garden and planted the vegetables but I really wanted to do it myself...did you detect any frustration here..when am I going to learn that I do not have control...not over the big things and not over the small things...but I digress

Anyway, he suggested we try containers...no digging involved, and with the way he set things up I had to do very little bending...cause that was a real problem

He put out two saw horses and set an old door on top...(this made everything at waist level), he filled the wheel barrow with dirt, set me up with some pots and I was as happy as can be. The cool thing about all of this is, my tomatoes have never done so well. Could be because of all the rain we have had, could be because the pots are close to the deck so I am constantly reminded to care for them...could be they are in nice amended dirt instead of heavy wet clay, maybe a combination of all three. Our squash is not doing as well but, I have high hopes...our growing season is long

We have been so happy with the results of our little container garden that I think we will be doing it again next year.

Object lessons learned here, when there are obstacles or road blocks in your path God just might have a better plan...and for me...something I constantly need reminding....I don't have control, not over the big stuff not over the small stuff...so relax...live like you really do trust in the Lord in all things (yup I really did get that from this)

And thank you to Vee for helping me get my little flower thing back on my "about me"

Thankful Thursday

Time to stop, take a moment and list some of the things I have to be thankful for

1. Laughter among friends while playing domino's and cards. Squealing, giggling children (and adults) running around our yard playing soccer and corn hole
   
2. For the opportunities to play host to various family members and friends over the last couple of weeks, having people over is one of our favorite things to do...it is a blessing
   
3. For sweet time spent with friends last weekend and for safe travels back to their respected homes
4. For the sound of the french horn playing up in the room over the garage...young son is visiting
   
5. For the rain we have been having, my garden hasn't looked this good in years
   
   
   
6. Hummingbirds that dart from one feeder to the next all day long...one even came within a foot of my husbands face yesterday...his shirt was the same color as the flower the little bird had just visited, we think he was trying to decide if my husband was a flower...it was a wonderful moment
   
7. One week on Tamoxifen and so far the side effects have not been too bad, I have really been battling fear about starting this drug...I was supposed to start it weeks ago
8. That even though husbands hours have been reduced because of furlough, he still is employed
9. and in that same vein...husband now has a bit more time to do some needed chores around the house
10. For faithful friends I know I can call when I am fearful or when I am upset about a situation. I know they will point me to biblical truth and I know they will pray with me. I can't tell you how important that is to me....because sometimes I just can't see, or I forget and need to be reminded
11. And I am thankful that;

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him"

Lamentations 3: 22-24

Mystery Solved

A few weeks ago I noticed the flowers from my hostas had all been nibbled off. Perplexed I called my favorite Garden Lady to get some advice. She said if the cuts were at an angle it was probably rabbits. That sounded reasonable to me because I had seen plenty of rabbits in the yard

Then I woke up to this, believe it or not it had been a beautiful tomato plant with fruit that was beginning to ripen. I began to have serious doubts about rabbits, the condition of my hosta convinced me we were dealing with something much bigger. 

I know it doesn't look like it, but this was hosta, eaten down to the ground. 

These are what are left of my Day Lilly's. Can you guess what was munching away in our garden? Wish I had a photo to show you but she was too fast and it was too dark.  Seems like we have "city deer" who would have guessed. Next step was to try to protect what was left in the garden, husband had the perfect solution

It was obvious the deer had jumped the picket fence, so we decided to go up. Extended the picket fence with some chicken wire and stakes. We had to act quickly because we were getting ready to go out of town the next day...wanted to make sure we had some garden left when we got back.

We weren't successful the first night, deer tried to jump the fence again, left some hair behind, knocked the picket down and crawled in between the pickets, ate the remainder of the hostas on the side of the yard and more Day Lilly's. Husband put fencing around the bottom of the picket that morning and reinforced the rest...all before we left for our trip...it made for a pretty hectic morning but we were successful. When we came back from our trip there was no more evidence of deer damage in the backyard but it continues in the front and side yards. So how about you, how do you contend with deer?

Spring Planning

This time of year my thoughts turn to spring.  Seed catalogs have been arriving the last couple of weeks and I have already planted some seeds that I saved from last year. I am semi-successful with growing vegetables so I am always looking for different types of veggies to try.

I can grow flowers but, for some reason have more trouble with vegetables. Our soil is poor, so we have raised beds, but trees have grown through the years and our raised beds are now more shaded than they used to be. Last year we decided to try something different, in addition to the raised beds we tried growing our vegetables in pots...success was mixed.

Some things we have had success with were lettuce and spinach but, only in the cool of the spring. I have lettuce in a cold frame right now that is growing. Tomato's did well in pots, the "determinate" type did best, those are a little more compact. The "indeterminate" type worked but they are taller and more sprawling, and needed sturdier support as they grew. All the tomatoes I grew needed some type of support with either cages, stakes or trellises along our fence line. I grew a couple of different "Roma type" tomatoes and some patio cherry tomatoes. I also grew peppers and, various herbs in pots.  Pots can be expensive but I found many at end of season sales, yard sales and Craig's list.

I am also going to try to do potatoes in a trash can again this year, first time we tried it we didn't get a potato one but I am not going to let that stop me from trying again...not sure what we did wrong.

Tomatoes we are trying this year are Amish Paste, Roma, Patio Princess, Yellow Pear and Gold Medal.   Any other suggestions?

 We have a long growing season, and the weather can be quite hot. What are some of the things you are planning to grow this year?  I would love to hear how you garden in less than ideal conditions.

New Growth

About six weeks ago many of the plants in my yard and containers were all looking pretty dismal, they had stems that were lanky and bare, foliage that was brown and crispy and no flowers.  I decided to prune them, figured I had nothing to lose, they already looked pretty dead.  I was quite aggressive with my pruning, by the time I was done, some plants only had a little bits of green showing and roots, I was sure I had killed a couple of them, but like I said they had already looked dead before I started. All I could do now was to wait and see what would happen.

The results have been encouraging The Clementius which I had cut down to the ground is blooming  again, with new vigor...I knew it would come back next spring but was surprised it came back this fall

                                           The geraniums, sending out new blooms

                            These petunias had just little green stems showing after I pruned them

                                                                   More blooms

These plants had to be pruned to get new growth, the old dead stuff had to be cut away for the flowers to return. I thought about what God, the master gardener does in our own lives, pruning the dead stuff away so new growth can occur. I think we are all in some phase of the pruning process. Sometimes we are being pruned, sometimes we are in the recovery growth phase, sometimes in the blooming stage. Gardeners know this is a continuous cycle, the garden always changing always needing some pruning Where in the pruning process are you?

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,  he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful  John 1:1-2

Fall Color

Bet you thought you were going to see some photos of beautiful fall foliage...sorry, our leaves have not begun to turn yet,  but that doesn't mean we don't have fall color, there is plenty. Fall is the time of year I plant pansies, they will continue to bloom through the winter here. Pansies are one of my favorite flowers...but to be honest, I haven't met a flower that I didn't like. That's our little dog at the door, his name is Angus

                                                 

The marigolds are looking better than they have all summer, many of these had reseeded from last year,
                                                  I just love it when that happens....free flowers

The zinnia's are also doing better in the cooler weather....(my definition of cooler weather would be daytime temperatures in the 70's and 80's.) I have been abe to bring in several little mini bouquets the last couple of weeks that have added a bright spot to our kitchen

Then there are the mums...the flower I always think of when I think of fall. I have a few that survived from last year,  despite my neglect, but also picked up a few....these were quite the bargain...I always check out the distressed plant rack at the big box store...I have rescued more than my fair share. I enjoy the challenge of trying to nurse them back to life.

With outside employment gone I have been able to spend more time in my garden, I have enjoyed that and look forward to planting a fall garden soon. So how are things going now that I am home full time...much to my surprise, it has been an adjustment and I am still adjusting...but it's all good

Fall Favorites

With our temperatures beginning to cool, my garden, which had been scorched and stunted with the summer heat has taken on a new life. My roses are blooming again, and the marigolds and zinnias are looking better than they have all summer. This is prime growing time for a fall garden, I need to get motivated with that and plant some salad greens...meanwhile

We are continuing to get peppers and tomatoes, these tomatoes had fallen on the ground

after a rain storm with a lot of wind had knocked them off. I have two plants that are still full of

green tomatoes, not sure if they will ripen before the first frost. No clue as to what to do

with these...any ideas?

Peach preserves, still in my pantry waiting for some warm toast accompanied 

by a hot cup of coffee

                                 My basil is ready to be made into pesto, we just finished the last
                                      of what I made last year. Great on pasta and pizza

                                         

                 Since my cherry tomato plant keeps on producing, I can still enjoy one of my favorite

                             dishes, avocado with cherry tomatoes and shredded cheddar cheese

I am trying to squeeze that last little bit out of summer. The soups and the stews will come later, and I  
                    will begin using the oven again....soon, husband requesting homemade bread.

On another note, thanks to all who have offered prayers and encouragement concerning my job. I decided to make last Tuesday my final day instead of working the rest of the month, it really was not that hard of a decision, it was time. I said my goodbyes, hugged a lot and shed a few tears. Many of us have worked with each other for over ten years, we all promised to get together after this was all over. My thoughts continue to be with them and I have been inspired to pray as to how I can be a blessing to them, especially in the next couple of weeks.