Thinkin' Spring (already)

So...it's in the mid 50's and sunny in late November...so we take the new bulbs Uncle Paul gave us this week and put them in the ground...hope they come up in 2010...

----20 mixed crocus
---15 mixed rock garden allium
--10 sky blue lilies
-4 striped tulips

CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SPRING...

a HUGE harvest!!!!

LUV the heat of August...it brings out the red, yellow and orange in our garden!!

--it also provides for a nice pre-lunch snack as I eat them 'hot' off the vine!!! --I tell you that is the best way to eat them...brings back the sweet memories of doing the same at Grandpa Mueller's garden... thanks Grandpa!

might be time to make some homemade salsa again...w/ all fresh ingredients from our garden...tomatoes, hot peppers, onions and cilantro...great stuff...

now we pray for some refreshing rain...thank you God you all your goodness...

1st Tomato!!

Lauren picked the 1st 'red' tomato today...it is supposed to be orange and small...a cherry-like tomato...

We had two of them and split them for dinner...good eats...!

take out the grass!

a New major effort in the front yard...removing this large patch of lawn, relocating some bushes and planting new native plants... a mjor WIP...

Awesome fruits of the garden...these lilies were planted in our yard last year after they came off the Easter alter at my Parish...the house smells so good!!

A special thanks to Deacon John L. for being ECO friendly and letting parishioners 're-cycle' these gorgeous plants.

EE's are up in Springfield...

---but not in MP...weird, but understandable ...

Paul--they look great there with the canna ... nice!

Weeds...why?!

L and I spent about an hour on a perfect Sunday summer day...weeding and her catching worms. I filled a refuse bag with weeds from the garden and creeping charlie...

Also planted two more basil and hot pepper plants near the others that did not seem to be doing all that well...noticing lots of green small tomatoes and lots of green vine...where are the fruits!

just now spotting the ee's at about 6" high in the garden...way late!

----weird year for gardening...

July check-in

PIC from last week--L pointing to the one green tomato
...not much blooming here... cone flowers and new black eyed susans...my day lilies are 'sparse'...not sure why...the newly planted pink ones did not bloom this year...maybe next year...
some of the ee's are finally starting to peak out of the ground--way late...have not had to water the garden...plenty of rain...rain barrel still full

installed...kind of

the two new rain barrels are on-line and ready for rain tonight

PS...they filled up the 55gal pretty fast...maybe we need more!

finally...veggies are in

well, mostly tomato plants and not much more
planted 30 tomatoes on Friday!

lazy Sunday...

after a high-grass tiring mow...I felt the urge to plant after all ... :)
so L and I planted:
the basil plants (2)
the hot pepper plants (2) that I've had in the MB this winter
lots of wild flower seeds in the same bed/side yard as last year
Paulie's canna's (2) near the garage entrance
one of my canna from last year near the wild flowers
the EE from the MB over the winter... in a new area...we'll see if it likes it...started with one leaf last fall, sprouted another, the 1st died as the 3rd sprouted...so there are two leaves now.
some marigolds near the veg garden--supposed to keep animals at bay?
the veg-garden will wait another day...gotta make a trip to the nursery to get the lot of t-plants etc...

planting with Lauren

"I love to plant with you Daddy." --Lauren said today as we were planting annuals around Christine's tree...

Mother's day w/e...

I finally made it to the native plant sale in Lake County... a great one!! --will certainly go back each year as needed...
bought 17 plants:
some ferns for the north side of the garage where the patriot hosta does not do so well...will more them to the fence-line replacing the wood pile there now... (loads of work there--ugh)
some monkey flower?
some baptisia--ceam, white and blue/purple
some black-eyed susans (& sweet)
some brown eyed susans
more prairie dropseed grass (planted it around the red oak in the parkway--painful diggin up the old grass)
and maybe a few more...
lots to put into the ground now -- oh boy

other:
finished the side walk edging...1st time in 7- years when the put in the new sidewalk...what a major pain!
dug out/edged the front beds this w/e and laid down all the pine mulch (12 bags)

finally...the new rain barrels have been purchased

the most precious...

with the peak of the pink...

getting started...in '09

We all spent most of the last two days in the yard!! Yahoo! Weather was in the 60's and sunny for once.

This w/e we:
-picked up the flats of annuals from L's preschool fund-raiser... marigolds-mix, petunias-purple/plum, impatiens-pink, and a few spikes at the last minute
- bought 15 bags of pine mulch for the front landscape...have not done that in easily 4-5 years...needs it!

- bought cow manure (4)
- bought some orange and purple annuals for the front
- bought some onions
- bought some basil

- planted the flowers for the balcony


- began to clean up the beds, and instead of using the new mulcher/shredder, found it easier to burn the old Christmas tree and front landscape brush... (boys will be boys)

Buy, Buy, Buy the native plants

Today we drove to the Wheaton Native Plant sale...arrived at 9:20, after an 8:30 open time and lots were already gone :(

Next year, get there earlier.

Still was able to buy:
-prairie dropseed grass (to plant the 4 around the parkway oak)
-various types of black-eyed susans
-and a plant that Linda P. told me about...Salmon Seal

Will need to plant when the ran stops and it's not so wet out...

Celebrating Earth Day

My office building promoted Earth Day in the lobby with a display on saving energy and they gave out packets of wild flowers. At prechool, Lauren made a small planting pot and today we planted the seeds in the pot... picture was taken a week later when the 1st sprout was spotted...spring is about to really spring...yahooooooooooo

not spring yet ...

This morning, as Lauren and I were out and about today, I noted that it was a nice and sunny day...she said, 'maybe we can plant some flowers'... well, it was 56 yesterday, about 40 today...but sadly a long way from planting... :(

So, she wondered if we could plant in Cayman... :) -never cold there... love the 'kid-mind'

PS: 2nd leaf sprouting on the EE in the master bath--nice! so cool to watch it 'unfold'!

ya gotta take what God gives ya... am I wrong?

~in this bitter cold and snow-filled tunda, ya gotta take what God gives ya... am I wrong?

I just took a few photos on this sunny/cold/snowy day and captured the drip of the icicle....aaahhhhh.

the joy of winter...

Ahhh...another major snow storm...(12")

Some call us tunda-land, others think we are just nuts for living here.

I say, enjoy the beauty and relax.

Today, Jennie's 40th birthday, we took down the Christmas tree and stuck it in the back yard to enjoy further...the snow was coming down for 21 hours (since last night) and so the tree looks like it should be there all covered in snow. It still has a useful life...and when it does not, it will become mulch (with the new chipper) and firewood.

This w/e is the Baptism of the Lord and so we are baptised with 12" of snow on Jennie's birthday...what a gift.

Hope Springs Eternal, Nurturing new growth from life's soil

The moment I start to think about hope this last week, I get an idea about making hope-cards and then I get an article about hope from someone who most would think has little hope these days...

what a great read...thanks!

Bringin' a bit of the ourdoors indoors each year

I have:

- always saved my vines from the cold (in pic)

- always saved some hot peppers from the cold (in pic)

- sometimes saved a canna...but it never bloomed, but it survived...none this year (bad year for cannas :( )

-but I have not ever tried to save an elephant ear from the cold...it's doing well so far....started out as just a 2-3" sprout and it popped out one leaf...the experiment continues.