I thought I would take pictures of my humble garden today. We’ve had a couple days of really good rain. It’s been nice because I haven’t had to water. Also, as we mainly line dry, the temperature has been so mild I’ve actually used the dryer because we’ve not had to use the air conditioner. It’s a luxury for me.
My wildflowers are enjoying all this rain. They have really started to bloom. I’m not sure what they are, but they are a lot of fun and very colorful. I especially like this blue one in the second picture. Blue is my favorite color.
My diabolical plan has worked and I have sucked my dear husband into the gardening obsession. These are his two pots, both have herbs and peppers. He’s quite the culinary whiz, so he actually will use these in his cooking. It makes a really big difference in the flavor in my opinion. When he comes home at night he’ll say, “Did you water my pots?” Bwahahaha!
I lost a yellow squash plant about two weeks ago. I was trying to save my squash from something dining on the flowers. Also, it appeared there was some end rot on the leaves. With my beautiful new Ethel Gloves that I won from Katydid and Kid this was a very easy task. I just had to remember to stop staring at the cute gloves. I got "jubilee", by the way, and they are awesome! I’m glad I had them, even though I’m not much of a glove girl. The spiny stalks on the squash would have really not been fun later on.
Anyhow, back to the squash, I lost the yellow one and this opened up some room for the cucumber to get more light. Mama says this is what cukes like best and my mama knows gardens. I was able to save my gray squash and they have thrived after I cut off the affected flowers and leaves. The cucumber is also starting to give us some veggies, too. C said to me, “Aw, Mommy, they look like baby pickles.”
My tomatoes have had fruit on them for awhile, but they are beginning to ripen. The yellow is actually an heirloom tomato. Martha would be proud. My little B will love them when there are so many we don’t know what to do with them all.
My green beans are tiny, but apparently happy. C is not all that excited about green beans. I think he gets it from Papa Eli.
Finally, after digging up some funky fungus growing in the garden, I found this beautiful ruby red potato. It’s small, but I’m glad to see that all that foliage is doing something. If you’ve not tried freshly gardened potatoes, you’re missing out. They are well worth the wait.

Lessons While Digging in the Dirt

After this ridiculously balmy heat, I went out to the garden to play around today. I was happy to see that my fried verbena was starting to produce new buds. It's as though even the frying sun can't keep it down. I think of that phrase "That which doesn't kill you will only make you stronger," (cue Kanye West). :) God has amazing blessings in Nature if we only listen, this seems to be one of them. I think about how He's done the same in my life. He's allowed tribulations so that I could grow. I never, ever suspected I'd be in the shoes I am today, but He knew all along.

Wowza!

I just received the most unexpected and satisfying news!!!!!! I was one of www.katydidandkid.blogspot.com 's winner of a pair of Ethel Gloves ! I am beyond excited! My fellow Gardening, Jesus Loving Sister, Megan told me about these great gloves yesterday and sent me a link to Kathleen's blog where I entered. Thanks, Megan!! Thanks, Kathleen!! You can check out both of their great blogs in the links to the right. I can't wait to get them!!!! :) If you'd like a pair, head on over to Kathleen's Blog, take a look around (not hard to do, it's really an interesting, fun blog) and find out how!

Back in CO

We took a short one week break to Albuquerque while Ron stayed back to renovate our downstairs bathroom. We visited with my parents, my brother and his family, and a couple friends there. It was a nice, short trip. I'm glad to be back in Colorado. It was already getting so hot there!

My garden was a bit sad when I got home, but it was to be expected. Ron works crazy long hours and barely has enough time to come home and sleep before another day, let alone try to squeeze in bathroom renovation and gardening to boot. He did a great job on the bathroom, though.

The house is still in shambles, as it always is upon first returning from a trip. That's how it is for us, anyway, I'm not sure about anyone else :) There is lots of laundry to tend to, lots of cleaning to do, routines to get back into. Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to start, though.

Of course, I jumped back into my garden. It's hard not to after being away. I even played with my mom's garden while in Abq. :) That's almost forbidden. She's more of a vegetable gardener. And while I love harvesting things I've grown, I'm more fond of flower gardening. I'll have to wait to see if Ron will be able to assemble my Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary gift. He bought beautiful wood to extend my vegetable garden, and potting soil to fill it. I'm so excited. In the meantime, I'll be headed to the nursery to stock up on some replacement plants for those that met their demise and some seed onions. I fell in love with Mom's fresh green onions.

On our way out of Albuquerque, we met up with my dear friend Megan at Jackalope/High Country Gardens in Bernalillo. If you've not heard of High Country Gardens, it is a wonderful nursery specializing in drought tolerant primarily perennials. Meg bought me some yummy additions to my garden, a lamb's ear (stachys lanata) and a black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata). I also found a Red Rock's Beardtongue I'm going to be adding, a little apprehensively.

We're not done with homeschooling. I've opted to take a short break for the meantime to figure out where we are and what we need to do to finish up first grade. I'm going to be purchasing a Spectrum First Grade Sample Test from Barnes & Nobles to ensure I've covered all that would've been tested, although we don't teach strictly based off that. I'd like to be more dedicated and emphasize the joy of learning more than just the process.

Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?

This past weekend I thought I would plant the beautiful annuals I bought at my favorite local nursery, O'Toole's. They had been soaking up the sun in their flimsy, plastic planter thingies since I had bought them... um, a week before. So, I gleefully embraced the warm weather we were having and got dirt under my fingernails. It was so cathartic. There's nothing like planting things!

So, the weather was ... sorry, I had to pry 2 Legos apart... amazing this past week. Nearly balmy. I came home everyday after work to inspect, water, and generally fuss over my pansies, petunias, and snapdragons. Then came Thursday. Is this some kind of seriously strange joke I don't get? Snow, lots of it. Falling by the sheets. I salvaged all that I could. Pansies are cold weather plants, right? Apparently not mine. My container gardens too many casualties. Looks like it's back to O'Toole's. It's a sacrifice but one I'm willing to make. ;)

So, my dear friend Shelby (a nearly native Coloradoan) tells me via email, "Oh yeah, there's an unwritten rule that you shouldn't plant anything until Mother's Day." Uh, huh. So do the folks at the nurseries just point and laugh at we new transplants as we deliriously leave, thinking "Sucker! We got another one of those newbies!" Oh, yeah, I'll show you! I won't be back again! Until next weekend, of course, when I'm again struck down by Spring Fever and feel the need to nurture something green.