The Mullein had the prettiest flowers in my garden today.  Not too good for cut flowers, but they do make a a pretty picture for your computer wallpaper.  

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!

 

 

 

 

Funny!!!  Not funny!!!  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Saturday I took out all the dill, and harvested the seeds.  I realized that I am in the wrong line of work.  I should be raising dill seed for Mr. McCormick.  

 

I cleaned the dill heads and ended up with enough seeds to fill 10 of these spice jars.  First, I will make sure they are dry, then put some of them in with my kitchen spices, and the rest in a pint jar along with my other vegetable seeds.  

 

Let me know if you need dill seeds.  ;)  You can cook with them or plant them.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Yesterday I saw this perfect specimen of poison ivy:  just two leaves (ignore that little leaflet on the left), each with three scalloped leaflets, and growing at the base of a tree.  Everybody needs to be able to identify this plant, especially if you work in the garden or in your yard.  All parts of the plant contain a heavy oil, Urushiol, and even plants this small can cause inflammation of the skin in susceptible individuals.  My best advise is:  learn to recognize it, and avoid it.  

 

I want to be sure that all my friends can identify poison ivy, because it can be a stinker if you touch it.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

This is just one sunflower that I planted back in April.  Look at all those branches and flowers!  And all this from just one seed!!!  It is about 10 feet tall.  I love it!!  It makes me smile every time I look out there.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

We made this Buttermilk Berry Cake in a cast iron skillet from a Cook's Country recipe.  WOW!!!  Is it good!!!  Not too sweet;  in fact, it is delicious for breakfast.  The ingredients are not much different than blueberry muffins.

 

I will put it in the recipe section, because it is definitely a keeper.

 

So, thank you, Linda, for thinking of us and our abundance of blueberries.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Last week when we were in the park, we noticed some the American Beech trees have set fruit.  You can actually see these beechnuts are cracking open.  I'm pretty sure they are edible, but let me just check, before I tell you for certain.

 

Yes, the leaves, bark, and beechnuts are edible, but in large doses can be toxic.  OK.  Let's just be happy to know that they are edible, and leave them for the squirrels and other critters.  We have lots of other choices.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Well, I have done it again.   Even though I always say I won't, I let the morning glories grow up the tomato cages.  But it is so easy to see why I let them go:  they are beautiful.  And yesterday morning in the rain, they really made me smile.

 

They aren't growing up all the tomato cages, just a few.  But there are enough of them to make me happy.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I picked this cucumber this morning, and measured it.  It is 15 inches long.  Really!!!

 

We plant this variety every year:  Suyo Long.  They are fabulous.  And since they are heirlooms we can save the seeds, and replant the following year.  I only buy new seeds every few years to to be sure they haven't been cross-pollinated with any other Cucurbits.  So far we have been very lucky.  

 

This year the vines have grown way up over the trellis and flopped down the other side.  They just keep giving us beautiful cucumbers.  Time to make pickles again, before the dill runs out.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is the Sumac at the far end of the garden.  When we walk down there we can hear the BUZZ.  The flowers are covered with bees.  There are honey bees, bumblers, and probably some others.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see them all over the flowers.  This is my natural (read:  do nothing) means of attracting pollinators to my garden.  Whatever works, right?

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!