Yay!!!  It’s getting warmer and raining.  Garden likes that.  So do we.

 

Look at one of my gorgeous kale plants.  It looks good enough to eat!!!

 

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!

 

We have had some really cold mornings this past week:  in the single digits!!!  A few days it only got up into the 20’s for the high.  Jon had to cover the Rosemary bush we planted this spring.  It is too big to cover with a bucket, so he turned the wheelbarrow upside down over it.  Hey!!!  It is still alive, after a couple mornings of 6 degrees.  

 

The rest of the garden is struggling, but surviving.  Just look at the parsley. 

 

I thought you might like to see some green today.

 

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!

 

Since I don’t save seeds from my hybrid plants, I had to order new seeds.  

 

So I ordered green, red and Savoy cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, and some new cherry tomato seeds.

 

I also ordered cumin and pink celery seeds to try for the first time this year.  I’m already getting excited about this year’s garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

I’m just dreaming about my summer gardens.  Not wishing away the winter, just dreaming about summer.

 

Here’s a happy memory of Black eyed Susies growing wild in the garden.

 

HAPPY JANUARY!!!

 

 

 

Can you believe this arugula?  We have had a few nights of 30 degrees, and a couple days of rain, and the arugula is still hanging in there.  We just keep harvesting, and using it until it decides that winter is indeed here.

 

Love this bed.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I glanced over at the mushroom logs yesterday, and this is what I saw:  a couple Shiitakes and a big fat unknown mushroom.  So I got out the Seek app, and the mushroom field guide, and positively identified the shiitakes (because we plugged these logs with shiitake spores) but couldn’t identify the other one.

 

These were my thoughts:  first of all:  NEVER eat what you can’t positively identify.  Then:  is it an overripe shiitake?  Is it some other kind of mushroom that we plugged, like oyster, red reishi, or chicken of the woods?  So I looked up all those and saw nothing that looked like this.  Then promptly washed my hands. ;}. Don’t want to start out the new year dead.

 

We saved the shiitakes in a brown paper bag (best way to store mushrooms) and took the other one way out into the woods, far away from our mushroom logs.  

 

Wonder what it was…still unknown.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Yippee!!!  New seed catalogs.  These are my favorites.

 

* Baker Creek sells only heirloom seeds, has the most gorgeous pictures, and free shipping.

 

* Sow True Seed, out of Asheville, NC, has a climate that is similar to ours, and lots of charts to help with garden planning.

 

* Pinetree has the best prices, even though I have to pay for shipping.

 

All three offer growing tips, telling me when to plant, how to plant, and even harvest information, which really helps in the garden.  They are more than just sales catalogs.  I learn a lot from them.  

 

Please notice the picture on the front of the Pinetree catalog.  Do you know this plant?  It is an heirloom PINK celery.  How beautiful!!!  Maybe we will try it this year.  I always like to try something new in the garden.  And what do I have to lose:  They sell 100 seeds for $2.50.  

 

My 2024 garden is still in the dream stage, and this is where I start.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Well, we got our Christmas wish!!!!  Rain, glorious rain!!!

 

It has been three long months with almost no rain.  But yesterday it rained all day, and overnight we got some more, and it is supposed to rain again today.  

 

That means water in the wells, and water for my garden.  Yay!!!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

 

 

This is a gorgeous time of year for the Sycamore trees.  Their upper bark is stark white against the winter sky.

 

Look around, and you’ll probably notice lots of them.  

 

HAPPY DECEMBER!!!

 

This is also a great time of year to see Mistletoe growing in the trees.  Look way up, it’s usually pretty high up in the trees.  

 

I have read that birds eat the sticky berries, and when they go to clean their beaks, they rub them on the high up branches of trees, planting the seeds:  starting the next generation of mistletoe.  

 

I always love seeing Mistletoe, but I don’t bring it in the house, because those berries may be toxic to Gizmo.

 

We just air kiss when we see it in the trees.  

 

HAPPY DECEMBER!!!