Well, I guess winter has come to the mountains.  

 

Here's my beautiful frosty sage.  It doesn't love the frost, but it will survive.  And start growing again next spring.  See all those tiny leaves along the stems?  New branches will leaf out above each leaf when it's ready to begin the new year.  

 

You can't see it in this picture, but there is another Praying Mantis egg case attached to one of the branches.  Yay!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Gizmo the day we brought him home from the Shelter, November 18, 2020.   They said he was two years old, but he was so little!!!  He weighed 6 lbs, 2 oz.  They also said that he was "at large."  For how long:  we don't know.  The first month, we took him to Dr. Van Horn for a baseline exam, and he was up to 8 lbs.

 

Well, fast forward two years, November 18, 2022.  We have had so much fun with him, and we are sure that he loves his home here with us.  He has the whole house, and all of outdoors.  He gets fed well, and gets lots of exercise.  And lots of love.

 

Oh yeah, and we weighed him the other day:  13 lbs!!!   He's one healthy, happy kitty.  

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GIZMO!!!

 

This is one of our fall/winter cabbages.  I planted seeds in May, transplanted them into the garden in June, and harvested one of them yesterday.  

 

I've never bought Savoy cabbage in the grocery store, but I have always admired how pretty they are.  So this year I bought seeds and planted them.

 

After the frost on Monday, I harvested this one, and made cabbage rolls using ground turkey, onions, carrots, celery, and rice.  We used the big, outside leaves for the rolls, and cooked them in homemade chicken stock.  WOW!!!  Were they good!!!

 

I'M A HAPPY GARDENER!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Great news!!!  It warmed up some, we got some rain, and the arugula is back on track.  YAY!!!

 

It sure looked sad on Monday, but yesterday it perked up, and this morning it looks beautiful again.....

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I'm not sure about this, but it looks like the basil exploded from the inside with the frost on Monday.

 

No other plants in the garden looked like this, but all that white is ice.  And if you look closely, it looks like the ice is coming from inside the stems.  

 

Interesting.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

It was 28 degrees this morning, and we got our first frost.  

 

So I went out to the garden, because I knew there would be some pretty pictures.  

 

Sure enough, the kale is gorgeous, and the cabbages are too.  The Swiss chard looks a little sad, the basil is dead, and the arugula is struggling, but it was worth the trip, because I love you that much.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Wow!!!  Look at all those seed pods on the arugula.  Each one of those pods holds about 30 seeds, and each seed will grow a whole new plant, like the one that grew in between the pavers on the patio.  

 

They need to turn brown before I can harvest viable seeds, but I think we have time before the first frost.  And arugula tolerates more cold weather than most.  

 

So we should be in business this fall for next year's crops.  Yoo-hoo!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

So many of our friends and neighbors are veterans.  So many of our relatives are veterans too.  

 

We want to acknowledge you, and thank you for your service.  Not just today, every day.

 

THANK YOU!!!

 

It's TRUE!!!

 

Our gardens not only feed our bodies, they feed our souls.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I wish she hadn't, but a Praying Mantis parked her egg case on my lemongrass.  The egg case has to overwinter outside, and I usually bring the lemongrass inside for the winter.  

 

Oh well, I will start again in the spring with the lemongrass.  

 

I love the praying mantids that much.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!