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Harvesting

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Sunflowers are blooming! I planted eight little red potatoes in the spring. My only goal was to replace them with new potatoes. One of the 8 plants died back inexplicably, as the others are still green and growing. My curiosity got the best of me, so I dug that one up. This one plant replaced most of the ‘seed’ potatoes. Now I can’t wait to dig the rest up in about a month. Caring for the caterpillars is getting to be a chore so I won’t bring any more in. They are a marvel to watch though. This is Chikory when he was just about to fly off. I love how my garden hides all the neighbors homes so it just looks like an endless flower meadow. I didn't get to the pesto yesterday, so today is pesto day. I cut a huge bunch which commits me to the process. Esther brought me a box of little jars so I can store the pesto and give little random gifts of it. It makes me so happy to share my garden bounty. The basil is loving all the rain so that I can barely keep up with it. Regular basil and Th...
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Summer Fun

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 Thursday - Lake Placid I signed up to volunteer just a couple of days ahead of the competition, and luckily Peggy was working that day too. We rode up together and spent a pleasant afternoon rink side helping out with the Ice Dancing Championship event. During the four hour shift, I "worked" a total of 20 minutes running the results up to the office on the third floor. I got my 10,000 steps just walking around the venue, watching the skaters, and chatting with Peggy and Lyne. It was the last day of competition so we got to watch the top performers. I was enchanted by the costumes.  We stopped for dinner at a brewpub in Lake Placid before the drive home. What a pleasant way to earn lift tickets! Friday - Bike Ride We rode 35 miles along the Mohawk River with 13 of us in the group. The river was high and muddy due to our recent storms. The weather was just beautiful for a ride topped off with ice cream! Valerie snapped this picture of me, Peggy, Lyne, Amyjean, and Charlene. We...
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Drought To Deluge

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Tuesday - I took my girl to the airport this morning and said goodbye. Her two week visit passed much too quickly and I miss her.  We are in for 3 days of rain which I am glad for, as it's been a bit too warm and dry and I have crops growing! I just appreciate the break from watering each morning.  Once the compass was installed, I could see that the gladiolas were too tall and I needed shorter plants so as not to obscure the direction stones. I moved them out and added calendula which was not growing well in a shady area. I hope they will take off in this area and complement the zinnias and nasturtiums. I replaced the mulch under the triangles of rounded stones with pea gravel which sets them off better. I'll be looking out for larger direction stones on my hikes as the ones I have are on the small side.  The improved compass. Wednesday - I really need to be careful what I wish for.  Just 18 hours ago I told my sister that the rain hadn't started yet. I was woken up...
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Flowers And Insects

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Little displays of flowers are all around the house this time of year.   This arrangement was for the lunch I hosted for Geri and AJ. Another way to bring the outdoors in, is to make little flower arrangements. As if I don't have enough to do. My lunch with Geri and AJ went well as AJ had a chance to process (vent) about her family interactions with the recent passing of her father. We toured my gardens which even inspired them to plant veggies next spring. I have to say, it is so much easier in the Earth boxes when they are raised up a bit. Also when the yard is fenced in to keep the deer out.  My green bean crop is getting picked today, and I'm planting more in the garlic bed to fix some nitrogen into the soil. I felt a bit like a hobby farmer the other day as I sat collecting seeds from the arugula that went to seed before I could pick it. They will be planted in my winter garden in the house. Green beans to go with our pizza. Daughter came back from her Dad's and I was ...
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Morning Musings

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 Bird, insect, and mammal activity in the garden has increased dramatically with the flowering season.  It is not easy to get a photo of a hovering hummingbird, but I got this one. Yes, it does have wings, but they are moving so fast as to seem invisible. It loves the lantana nectar. A deer wandered through the other night and ate almost all the remaining blooms of my favorite day lily. Luckily, I had already taken 4 or 5 chunks from it and planted them out back. At least I don't have to spray Deer Away on it every night now. I forgot that night as I was at a wake for a friend's Dad and got home late. I harvested my garlic crop yesterday and will let it cure for a couple of weeks before I hang it out in the garage. It keeps very well in there throughout the winter. Last year's garlic lasted right through June, though I still have some roasted garlic cloves that I froze. This fall I need to remember to plant about 60 cloves to get a solid year's supply. Roughly 45 garli...
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