We have seen this turkey a couple times in the last few days, always in the same place.  Usually, we notice it in the middle of the road as we are climbing the last stretch up to the top of the mountain.  Then it steps off the road for us to go by.

 

This particular day, it waited for me to get a good picture.  Oh, I guess I can call him:  “him.”  I can see his beard now.  

 

How fun!!!

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

 

 

Here are the mullein flowers up close.  They bloom up this spike, just a few flowers each day.  Then the flowers produce hundreds of seeds, some with the ability to germinate for up to 100 years!!!  I read that in the Wikipedia article.

 

I hope you enjoyed the article on mullein;  I thought it was very interesting.  What a fascinating plant.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I saw this the other day when I was inspecting the garden.  The beans are just starting to bloom and make beans.

 

We have a section of meadow fence about 20 feet long at the bottom of the garden.  This is where we plant beans.  That area gets a little shade in the afternoon (which beans love) and water flows downhill, so it gets plenty.  

 

We love to plant rattlesnake beans.  Not because of the name, but because they are pole beans and you can stand up and pick them.  They also show some purple coloration which makes them easy to see.  

 

They are looking great so far. 

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

  

 

Here is my beautiful wild common Mullein (rhymes with sullen) that we dug out of our friends’ garden.  It was growing as a weed there, so Jon dug it up and I put it in a big pot.  I intended to plant it on one of our hillsides, but never got a round tuit.

 

So we just watched as it grew from a 10 inch rosette of basal leaves into this magnificent specimen.  It is almost 7 feet tall.

 

Here’s what I read in the Magic and Medicine of Plants book:  its botanical name is Verbascum thapsus, and it is also called Bunny’s Ears, Flannelleaf, and Jacob’s-staff, along with many other common names.  It is in the snapdragon family, and has been used since antiquity for many purposes:  some religious, some medicinal, some cosmetic.  I especially liked the practice of putting the leaves inside thin-soled shoes for added warmth.  

 

Here is a link to Wikipedia if you would like to read more about mullein.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbascum_thapsus

 

Anyway, the next time you are out for a ride, look around roadsides, waste places, and country fence rows.  You may see mullein blooming now.  They really are pretty.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We love these cucumbers.  We plant them every year.  

 

This heirloom variety is Suyo Long.  They can grow up to 18 inches.  Not the vines, the cucumbers!!!

 

I love this picture, and I just noticed a third cucumber all the way to the left.  WOW!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Holy Smokes!!!  The sunflowers have gone wild!!!

 

They are really tall.  See the dill at the bottom of the picture?  It is 6 feet high.  And that support pole on the right hand sunflower is a 10 foot pole, in the ground about a foot.  So, 9 foot pole, and flower way above it.  

 

There are about 20 sunflowers in the garden, and they are all beautiful!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I was up in the squash garden this morning and I thought you’d like to see how much the Candy Roasters have grown in just the last week.  They are amazing.  

 

I love seeing them change every day.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The dill is still gorgeous, and just at the right stage for making pickles, so we made a small batch of refrigerator dill pickles.  It took about 2 hours to get all the stuff together and ready, but it was another rainy day, so we made the most of it.

 

Now the hard part:  we have to let them sit in the refrigerator for two weeks before opening.  Fortunately we have some that we made last summer.  

 

They are so good!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Don’t laugh too hard, but…these are weeds in my garden.  

 

Let’s be clear about the definition of a “weed.”  A weed is a plant growing out of place.  They are usually uninvited and unwelcome.  

 

Well, these Black-eyed Susies come up uninvited every year in the lower corner of the garden.  But since they are so pretty, and not really in the way, I welcome them.  They make me smile.  

 

So maybe they aren’t really weeds after all.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Rosalie’s flower garden is bursting with Four O’clocks this year.  There are three different colors:  These dark pink ones, pale pink ones, and some white ones.  They stand about two feet tall, and are so pretty.

 

You will love this:  Its genus name is Mirabilis which in Latin means wonderful.  I love that.

 

And I love these flowers.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!