Garden Walk

62°f/about 17°C, mostly clear afterblight morning showers. High og 82°f.

Time to get out of the kitchen and take a garden stroll! Actually, we were out working on our booths today, then came home to weedeat and stringtrim.  I ran out of batteries before i finished all i wanted to do, so I took my phone out for a stroll to take photos. 

I had been wanting a white rose bush, and this spring I picked one up at Walmart, with very low expectations. Surprisingly,  it is doing well. I have it planted beside my only David Austin rose, and it makes that one look anemic. Now to see if it will survive our winter. I ljked the way the light shone through this single bloom i picked.

The surprise lilies are always a very welcome surprise. Unfortunately,  Larry weedeated down my biggest patch, thinking those fallen-over leaves were old daffodils, so that patch did not bloom. I will protect it better next year, if it comes back.

The veggie garden is a jungle; still producing well but getting out of hand. Every year, same thing: I have to put up the stuff it produces, and the weeds know I am not paying attention. I did a good bit of stringtrimming tonight and will so more tomorrow, which should tame it down again to a reasonable level.

My roses have suffered from my lack of attention too. These guys are usually gorgeous but not this year.

The big flower garden was also getting crazy. I went through it with my stringtrimmer last week, cutting back things that were done: the lambs ear, the Mexican primroses,  and irises. Not maybe the proper way to trim, but effective!

I am so happy to see the orange butterfly weed really taking hold. I have tried to grow it for years and it was frustrating to see it thriving in ditches and not grow in my gardens! But it seems to have found its happy place at last. You can see it here, mingled with the coneflowers.

These are miniature zinnias in the flowerpot. I was dubious about trying them, but they have bloomed beautifully all summer with very little care.

One of my favorite flowers is lantana. This hardy plant just does its thing with little help from me, and it's so colorful. The Shasta daisy has bloomed all summer as long as I keep it deadheaded.

Zinnias also like this large, somewhat dry, sunny bed.

The grapes are ready now, so I may be getting started on those tomorrow, or certainly on Wednesday. Juice ahead!

That white rose bush.

My little pink hydrangea never gets very big, but always produces a few beautiful blooms.

The shady gardens by the porch have been happy with all the rain this summer. Note to self: pull up all the four o'clocks that sprout! They are shading out my other plants, and this particular strain is much too tall and bushy, and has only smallish pink flowers. Not a fan. 

 

This garden, down along the walk, hasn't done as well as last year. Too much rain? Not enough fertilizer? I don't know. Sometimes I long to be rich enough to hire a gardener. What I could do then! But as my mother used to say, if wishes were horses, we'd all be riding.

And last, my sweet blue lace hydrangea, that has been putting out single blooms all summer long. 

I do love this bush.

It has not been my best garden year. But there's always next year!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sunday Ramblings

66°f/about 19°C, mostly cloudy, with several rain showers, and very humid. 

It was yet another day in the kitchen for me, canning more tomatoes. Whole tomatoes this time as I was about out of them. I did 6 quarts yesterday and 8 quarts today. Also made 4 pints of dill pickles and 4 of pickled cherry tomatoes which should be delicious in.pasta salad,  and maybe on sandwiches? Never made them before, so we shall see.

Our neighbors Mark and Spring came over to help Larry move a very heavy table saw on to our back porch. We got the saw for $2.50 at the auction. It needs a new belt and the plug repaired--it's pretty old but a big sturdy thing.  We had a nice visit with these young people. I have known Mark since he was 3 years old! Hard to believe that he is now 55. As my younger neighbors get older, it seems like our ages move closer together---similar aches and pains, and of course many shared memories.

After I finished the tomatoes Larry and I loaded the van. We really need to get to our booths. I have plenty of things ready, but finding time between canning, appointments,  and lawn care has been a struggle. We should be able to get them both done tomorrow.

I finished up this buffet this week and am really pleased with how it came out. 

Before:

After:

Larry had to completely strip it as it had many layers of paint. It was white originally,  so I went with that. I tried staining the top first, but the wood took the stain oddly---since it was painted at the factory, they just used odds and ends of mismatched wood and the stain took differently to each type. So I sanded it off and used a very dark brown paint, then sealed with polyurethane and waxed with a dark wax. I also had to replace the pulls, but I think it is a pretty, graceful piece now.

I also decided to give up the green dropleaf table I painted last month.  I like it very much, but it just didn't seem to fit in here, so off to the booth it goes, along with the little 2-tier round table, 

a few totes of things i had priced, and a stack of vintage suitcases I recently emptied. We need the furniture as we sold the big buffet below that I did last month. 

We aldo sold  a "chimney cupboard", so-called because of its tall, narrow shape,

and a table we made from a treadle sewing machine base. So lots to do tomorrow to get everything rearranged. 

Dinner tonight was a pasta dish similar to this one I made several years ago. 

I sautéed yellow squash, onion,  celery,  peppers, a couple tomatoes and sliced kielbasa, added a jar of our pasta sauce and bag of pureed yellow squaah from the freezer as a thickener. Served over whole-grain spaghetti.Yum! So delicious, and used up a lot of veggies.

Finishing up with a couple pages from 2 favorite books. First is from Kate Greenaway's Book of Days. The book has such beautiful illustrations along with folklore, history, and random interesting tidbits. I try to read each day's entry, but sometimes fall behind.

Today's entry noted that Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was published on this date in 1865, and only 45 copies were sold. Amazing!

Next, Cicely Mary Barker's Blackberry Fairy, from her Complete Book of Flower Fairies, which seems fitting during blackberry season here in KY part of the world.

Until next time, stay well, friends!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

At the Greenhouses

70f/21C, cloudy with occasional light showers.

I enjoy visiting Mark's greenhouses. There is much to see besides tomatoes, like this perfect field of corn. Mark's farm is a West Virginia Century Farm, meaning that it has been in his family for over 100 years.

I took a few minutes to photograph weeds, like this perfect blue morning glory. 

And a couple pretty pink morning glories. This wildflower takes me back to my childhood,  when our garden would also be overwhelmed by them. We children loved them, of course.

This fellow is jimsonweed, and highly toxic to man or beast.

A closer look at the jimsonweed plant.

Chickory is one of my favorite summer flowers. We used to try to pick it for bouquets when we were children. Two problems with that: its atems are very tough, and the flowers close immediately when picked. So disappointing for a child!

I could take hundreds of pictures around this place.

Larry particularly likes the swinging bridge, as he grew up with one in his neighborhood,  and often crossed it.

Tug Fork Road is a very pretty drive. It's always interesting to meet other vehicles on West Virginia's back roads.

There is a local ghost legend about Tug Fork (named for the little creek that the road borders) that i developed into a short story and posted here some years ago. If interested, you can find the story by clicking here.

I canned some whole tomatoes yesterday, but still have plenty. We've given quite a few to neighbors, and today Larry is at our friend Maddie's place, helping with their barn building. Maddie is our milk provider, and they are building their own place as they get time and money. Been there, done that. It's hard work. I was too worn out and hurting from a very full day's work yesterday and in no shape to go, unfortunately.  Sure wish I could have!

There are such cool road names in that area: Rock Castle, Thirteenmile Creek, Tightsqueeze Hollow, Ghost Run, Jim Ridge. Stories behind each one, I am sure.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.