When we were at Home Depot last Friday, we saw their Maple trees starting to change color.  There are about 10 of them in the parking lot, and they are beautiful right now!!!  The tops of the trees turn red first, and by the time the leaves at the bottom change color the leaves from the top are on the ground.  So, IMHO, now is the best time to go look at the Maples at Home Depot.  They are prettier in person than in any photo.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Jon picked 15 pears the other day.  They are ripe, just hard as rocks.  That's OK, a few days on the dining room table and they will be ready to eat.  I'm thinking about digging a few beets and making my beet salad.  Ripe pears are part of that recipe.   You can find it in the recipe section, under salads.  Nope, it is under vegetables.  Not sure why I put it there, but I did.  So...

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING !!!

 

I'm not sure what this blossom and bee think they are accomplishing this late in the season.  It takes about 90 days for a Butternut to grow and get ripe.  Let's see, that would be December first.  I don't think we have time.

 

Don't care, I just love watching them try.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

When I checked our chrysalis on Friday, it was still bright green and full.  And on Saturday, it was dry and empty.  I didn't get to see the butterfly emerge, but it must have, because it's gone.  So, now we know that Eric Carle did his homework when he wrote the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  With some butterflies, the pupal stage lasts about 2 weeks. And now we know that the Black Swallowtail butterfly falls into this group.  

 

Isn't it cool to learn new stuff?  Especially from children's books.  ;)  I love it!!!

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

The cucumbers are still producing fruit.  We picked one the other day that was 18 inches long!!!  And they are so beautiful.  The leaves are starting to fade, but the cucumbers are still great.  

 

I love going out every morning for my daily inspection.  There is always something to make me smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look at this beautiful bowl of raspberries.  This was our trade for the apples.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We picked the big apple tree, and took this big box of apples to our friends.  The box was way too heavy for me to pick up, so we transported it in the wheelbarrow to the road, then Jon loaded it into the golf cart.  We took them up to our friends on the ridge.  They were so happy.  They like to slice and dehydrate them.  

 

It's fun to watch everything grow, and good to share.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We started harvesting butternuts this week.  This is the first haul:  20 squashes:  30 pounds.  And aren't they beautiful?  Yes, they are!!!

 

We cooked the last of the butternuts from last year just a couple weeks ago, and made pumpkin bread with them.  I love that they last a whole year in the basement.  The ones that last so long are the ones whose seeds we save.  Good genes.  If they last a whole year, they are telling me that their seeds will produce fruits that have good storage ability.  Hey, it's a thing they always mention in the seed catalogs:  good storage.  

 

Psst:  there are 20 more out there in various stages of ripeness.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I have been so busy showing you all the critters lately, I forgot to show you our big apple tree.  This is just one branch, but the whole tree is FULL of apples.  I'm not sure why there are no leaves left on it, but it does this every year.  Maybe the tree is giving all its energy to the fruit.  Or maybe it's too dry to support all the leaves.  I don't know.  But I do know that there are about 500 apples up there, ready to be picked.  

 

We better get out there and do it.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

We were having a little breakfast this morning, and could hear the woodpecker chattering.  So I looked out and saw her in the blueberry bushes!!!  She is huge:  maybe 15 inches tall, and I have no idea how the branches can hold her, but there she is!!!

 

When I checked for berries yesterday I only saw a few, and they were on these first two bushes.  So there she is, helping herself.  And we are happy to share;  we certainly have enough.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!