Quote of the Day :)

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. 

My New Bike :)

well, almost new. Got this great bike for free, all it needed was a good tune up and voilà! My own beach cruiser! I love the color :) Haven't sat on a bicycle in a very long time. Now I'm looking forward to the cooler weather to use it.

Black Gold

Ahhhh the key to a successful garden. It's all in the SOIL!
This weekend I got a large bag full of semi-dried cow manure,
I picked up five free garbage bags full of chicken waste and cedar chips at the feed store. The owners were more than happy to have someone take them away.
My compost bin is now filled with browns and greens. I spread some of the waste in the garden, tilled it like mad. It was a workout in this heat but very satisfying.
It was a very productive weekend.

My soil will be ready for fall planting. I promised myself that this will be my best season yet. I am better prepared and a little more knowledgeable this time.
I love to show pics with every post but I didn't think taking pictures of waste was necessary.

A Sprouting Bean!

Made me smile today when I saw this one little bean sprouting!
My mom's old bean sprouted!! :)

Old Seeds

Some of the things I have that belonged to my mom....her seeds. She had a shoe box full of them. I planted some of them 5 years after her passing. Amazingly they sprouted...until my dogs got into the garden and destroyed every plant. It was devastating, knowing I had a piece of my mom and I so badly wanted to keep her memory alive through these seeds. But I know that she would have found this so funny :) She had such a sense of humor about these things, and she loved my dogs. I can almost hear her say "it's just dogs being dogs"
At the time I didn't have this garden. It wasn't closed in and secured.
Now with what's left of these old seeds I will attempt once more to grow them. It's been a few more years, so I'm not certain of the outcome. If I can get just one plant out of this! :)

What a weekend, I almost got all I wanted done. Tilling 450 square feet of soil was a lot of work, but rewarding once done. The soil looks fluffy and healthy :) The garden fairies were hard at work!

I found a rusty metal rack which I painted. I thought it would be perfect to place my seed trays on it. I also painted some cans, can't wait to see my herbs in them!

I love finding things and making them new again.

We had some overnight storms, I loved waking up to the rain this morning.

Very Busy Weekend Ahead

I have a list of things to do this weekend, most importantly emptying my full compost bin and filling it right back up with buckets lined up - full of garden leftovers and chicken waste.
I will be testing my soil and adding much needed nutrients and prep it for my next planting adventure.
This I prefer doing manually, help break it down, till, and fluff it up nicely :)
Something about feeling the dirt on my hands and under my feet :)
No gloves required here  :)
Also, open up my cherished seed box and sort out what I will be growing this time. Will need to see what kind of seed trays I can fabricate, something recycled I imagine.
Then the coop...
Then the cleaning up after the dust storm...
Deep soak my fruit trees...
Mow the lawn...
Clean the dusty, dirty vehicle...
More indoor cleaning...etc
and then... if I have time, sort out my canning recipes and figure out what I want to can next.  sigh. I'll be happy to get half of that done!
I love weekends

The Gutter Garden

Reclaimed Gutters....another project to think about  :)
What a fantastic idea!

Cool Project on my List

I was inspired by this photo I found a while back. I have been collecting and painting some empty coffee and tomato cans lately and it's looking really pretty. I chose a bright green to liven up the garden walls. This will save me a lot of space in the garden, I'm thinking my herbs will be happy in there :)

On The Menu Last Night...

Vegetable Lasagna!
This was simple to make, and oh so delicious!

next to it you can see a decorative tile which belonged to my mom :)

Monsoon Monster

What an exciting time it is when the monsoon storms roll in!
We had an incredible dust storm take over the city, never seen anything like it. Exciting and eerie at the same time. I have lots of cleaning up to do even though the rains soon followed, there's still dirt and accumulated dust everywhere on the patio.
Sigh.... I thought I was going to be working indoors this weekend....

Renewal...

The hottest days of the year have arrived, the garden beds, empty.
This is good.
A break. Time for indoor projects.
Also, a time to revise mistakes done in the garden, in life.
Renew the soil. Renew my soul.
A time to sit back and reflect on what’s in my best interest… a time to cleanse.
The older I get the more I am becoming my mother. The secluded person who found joy in little things, the person who adored her time alone in the country; away from people.
I was truly blessed to have built solid friendships in my life. I’ve had to say Farewell many times too, the saddest part of growing up.
I wish to focus on what’s important to me now. My animals, my home, my garden, my well being…sometimes even my sanity.
I’ve been feeling a great need for renewal. Time is slipping me by, now more than ever I feel the need to see some positive changes in my life :)