My tomato/basil cup runneth over . . . . .

This will probably be the last of the garden photos on this blog for a while.  While most of you are in full swing with your garden, ours is starting to dwindle.   We have had ours planted since Easter . . .3 months.  Now we just try to keep the perennials from dying in the heat and coaxing the veges along to give us "just a few more".  We will probably wait until September to start a fall garden.

This is about the time that we have so many tomatoes that we just can't eat them fast enough.  I have a feeling I will be spending the afternoon blanching and freezing tomatoes to use for soups this winter.

This is just one of our three Roma plants along with a total of 18 tomato plants.  There is already a basket full of Romas sitting in the house.

 I like to make Basil butter then freeze it.  Wonderful on bread along with the soup in the winter.  I'm not sure I have enough butter for all of this.  I have also frozen it in ice cubes to drop into a pot of veges in the winter.  Not sure I am up for making  Basil cubes today!

This is the purple basil I decided to try this year.  Just one plant.  Not quite as strong as the other basil but still delish!!

Hope you all have a festive and SAFE 4th of July tomorrow.  We'll be going to a church cook-out/softball game.  Should be fun!

Blessings, Cathi
1428

Garden and Remodel Update . . . . .

Things are moving slowly on the remodel as it always does in our house.  Too easy to get distracted with fun stuff like sewing for me and woodworking for Dear Hubby.  That's why we wanted to hire a contractor for the big stuff.

We are now the proud owners of 8 new piers with footings, 2 big long beams and a MUCH sturdier floor.

Dear Hubby and I are in the process of putting down a second layer of subfloor, glued and screwed for added strength.  Next will be the pine floors.

The dining room has become the staging area.  The 2nd layer of subfloor is already down in here.

Now if we could just decide on the floor stain color!!  More on that later.

Garden is coming along, too.  The tons of rain seem to have stopped so it's back to handwatering every couple of days.

Here is a picture of the daylillies that I promised.

Our first harvest of bell peppers and tomatoes this morning.

We even have some raspberries.  They aren't quite ready but I'm so afraid that I will go out one morning and some bird will have gotten to them before me!

Blessings, Cathi

How does your garden grow - Part 2 . . . . .

While the house is a disaster zone, I've been trying to keep my mind on other things like gardening.  Here are some pictures I took this week. 

The herb bed . . . much farther along than just three weeks ago.

A couple of tomato plants . . . almost as tall as I am!

Our first crop of zuchinni, squash, cukes and banana peppers.  I threw in some purple basil to carry in the house. We cut the zuchinni and squash into medallions, covered in olive oil, salt and pepper and threw them on the grill  Delish!!

Our first watermelon about the size of a golf ball.  Yes, that's purple basil you see on the left.  I think they like each other.

An Easter lily from last year.  Stuck in in the ground after church last year and forgot about it.  I didn't think potted plants took to the outdoors very well.  This one sure did.  Complete surprise this year. 

The other daylilies that I showed in the first garden post are just starting to pop open.  I'll wait until they are all open before I take pictures of them.

Hope your garden is doing as well as mine.  We have had an unusual amount of rain this year.  Not so much the last week so I guess it's back to hand watering like other years.  Next year's goal . . . .   drip irrigation!!

Blessings, Cathi

How does your garden grow . . . . .

Not much quilting or crafting or primming (is that a word?) going on around here lately.  As I have mentioned before, as long as the weather holds out, I'll be in the yard.  8 hours yesterday and I am paying for it today!   I think that other than cutting the grass and keeping the garden weed-free, I am finished for the season.  Yeah, right!

This bed hasn't filled in all the way yet but I just had to take a picture of the lily while it was blooming.

 

The Computer Geek bought this for me for Mother's Day two years ago.  It had one stalk when he gave it to me.  Last year it had 3 stalks.  This year 7!

It has gotten so big that it blocks the view of the hanging basket (see the first picture) as we pull into the driveway.

This is a picture of my herb bed.  There is two kinds of basil, onions, chives, oregano, rosemary (the big plant in the back on the right), dill, cilantro, parsley, two kinds of mints (in the old ammo box), and chamomile. There are some other things in there besides herbs......like the watermelon and canteloupe.  We had bought so many plants that we ran out of ready space and stuck things in anywhere we could.

We wound up with 18 tomato plants, 50 pepper plants (Dear Hubby LOVES hot peppers), squash, zuchinni, lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, canteloupe, blueberries, and raspberries.  The most we have ever planted in one season.

This is a picture of the front of the garden.  Those are almost all daylillies.  I took a shovelful from my mother-in-law's house 10 years ago and this is what it has become.  This is a PORTION of what it has become.  There are daylillies stuck in just about every bed I have.  These need to be separated, too.  Anyone need daylillies?

I'll post a picture next month after they all start blooming. The double knockout rose on the far left has already bloomed once but has new blooms on it. There is also a new bee balm plant in there somewhere.  Hope all decide to bloom at the same time.  It will be beautiful!

Thanks for visiting my garden.

Blessings, Cathi

New Landscaping !! ......

Yes, that's right.  We have a new landscape plan.

The poopie tank went out in February.  After an eternity of smelly, sludgey stuff in the back yard (INSIDE the dog fence, of course), the poopie contractor finally came this morning with his little buddies to fix it.

UPDATE: 3:15 pm  The hole in the picture above in the backyard is as LEAST as BIG as the hole in the front yard. . . . . .  and it doesn't smell too good.  They promised me they would be finished by the end of the day.  Good thing the sun is staying up longer!

It's okay.  It was bound to happen.  The old system was 35 years old.

But they have to re-route the old drain line from the back around to the front.  At least I won't have to cut the grass in that area for a while !! 

Oh, the joys of living in the country!!

Blessings, Cathi

Remember Valentine?.....

Valentine is an amaryllis that I started last year at this time but he didn't show his beautiful face until........almost Valentine's Day.

Back in the summer, I transplanted him to the garden and forgot about him.

About 2 weeks ago, I found this.....

He's come back for a visit!  Even though we have had some cold nights and one good frost, he is still chugging along.  What a trooper!

Blessings, Cathi

What happens to the garden when you go away and leave kids in charge.....

Okay, so they are not really kids.....they're 19 and 28. And in their defense, they aren't exactly as excited about the garden as we are.

Here is a picture of one of the rogue pumpkin plants that just showed up that wasn't watered quite as much.


And here is the other one that is so far holding it's own.


I'm really surprised that they turned already. I don't know if it was because they were "planted" so early or because of our heat or a lack of water or what. But if I need to decorate for Fall now, I'm stocked up on pumpkins.

To read about why we even have pumpkins, click here.

Blessings, Cathi

Rain, Rain, Go Away ? .....

We haven't had a lot of rain in the past month but we were drenched with it this past weekend. We had so much outside work that we needed to do. I'd really rather it rain during the weekday while I am in the office (with no window) working. But beggars can't be choosers. Today it is beautiful weather again and it's a weekday again.

To make me feel better about being stuck inside on nice days, I'll show you a picture of my flower bed at the end of the driveway. I still need to mulch it but it is looking pretty good!


And a close-up of the lily plant that "Computer Geek" gave me for Mother's Day last year. This is just one of the stalks! Look at all the buds!



Blessings, Cathi

How did that get there?.....

Dear Hubby and I worked in the garden today since we had picture perfect weather. Remember the blueberry bushes we moved a month ago? We topdressed the plants with some compost that we "cooked" over the winter. Apparently it didn't cook enough because this weekend we found 14 pumpkin plants growing in between the blueberries! We're pretty sure they are pumpkins 'cause there were a few with the seed still attached to the end of the leaf.


Yup, we had thrown the pumpkins in the compost with all the leaves and grass clippings.


We decided to leave them and see what happens....will keep you posted.

Blessings, Cathi