All About the Plants

 So, all the vegetables are in and coming along nicely.

We've been eating the kale and the fava beans and radishes as they come. And hope for snap peas before too long.  Everything is still looking fine and the inevitable insect and disease troubles haven't really begun yet. Ha! 

Honestly, though we've attacked the weeds much more seriously this year and have kept pushing back a lot of "volunteers" that shoot up perpetually like wisteria and English ivy and jasmine and nandina. So far, so good.

Iris' of all colors are opening everywhere.  More varieties than I have pictures of.

And big washes of orchids are everywhere too.

The peonies and roses are opening. And even the clematis on the gate has blooms this year.

The hostas have come up an unfurled. We have so many varieties! The area here in the picture looks so good now, but fern comes in and takes over by summer's end. Right now, I can keep it tamped down more or less, but each day more little fern ends poke up.

The frogs are out in the evening (along with the mosquitos!), and there are little green or brown anoles hiding out in their favorite plants along the brick work on the patio. The fish are happy in their (FINALLY) functioning and clean pond. Today I saw a pair of goldfinches pass through and a big flock of cedar waxwings. So, late spring is here full on. All the early golds have turned to green. I've brought the hibiscus back outside and now they are even out of the shade too. Most of my seeding  is finished. I've only some zinna and marigolds to sew here and there.

Such a pleasure! I hope you are enjoying spring as much as I am.

Warm and Cold Spring

 Typical of spring, some days this week were wonderfully warm and some were seriously cold. Like sleet in April cold. That was yesterday. We were talking to someone outside when suddenly, the sky opened up and freezing rain was falling on us!

I don't mind cold weather, but I had hoped to plant my garden and get the bulk of the annuals in during my spring break.

Well, no worries, because today was warm as ever and we got the vegetable garden planted.

Every year we add a few more vegetables it seems. Last year we had incredible yields from the poblano, but the plant began to die before the peppers were mature. This year, we put the poblano in his own pot like we have traditionally done. We hope this helps the fruit mature. ??  Gardening is fun for me because each year I never know which plants will do well and which won't, and I love problem solving and trying to fix mistakes from one year to the next.

The fava beans are all finally taking off (some people call these broad beans) since the weather warmed up. And the sugar snap peas are coming up alongside the kale (Nero di Toscana). The kale seeds were free!

I also put in a ton of flowers, but half of those are seeds so I didn't take any pictures. Someone gifted us some amaranth--which grows like 5 feet tall. I sewed a few of those seeds and we shall see what results!

On the cold days, I was able to read and knit. I knitted a pretty simple colorwork hat. It is called the Nordic Fair Isle Slouch Hat. I made it with Cloudborn Fibers fine highland wool I got on closeout last year.  The weight of the yarn was an exact match for that in the pattern which is why I bought it.

I loved making a cable cast on and knitting the corrugated ribbing! I made this in one day and never had to tink back even once. I guess I am getting better--finally--at knitting. Hooray!

I also started a sock using self striping yarn from Turtlepurl in the color Bob's Camping Trip. This yarn is so soft and delicious!! It is a bit more costy than some other yarns, but when I got it out to drape over my swift, I fell in love with it. I LOVE these saturated colors. I got the pack that has the alternate color for the cuff, heel, and toes.

I am using the sock pattern from Winwick Mum. I have 2 pairs of socks I made from her pattern, and they fit me better than other socks I have made, so I am using her pattern again. It is a straight forward top down sock. So nice to knit a sock and listen to an audio book on a rainy day!

Tomorrow is back to school. I am looking forward to seeing all my youngsters again and hearing how bored they were on break and yet how boring school is too except that now they get to be with their friends. Ah! Teens.

Have a great week!

In the Garden

 So, the vegetables:

We got lots of peas before the powdery mildew and heat did them in. I just pulled out all the plants yesterday. We'll plant cowpeas there next, which should go good for the rest of the summer.

The cucumbers exploded. We've been eating them every day. I canned a few jars of bread and butter pickles and my husband made some jars of half sour spears. There are still plenty to put in salad and give away.

We've also got a bunch of eggplants coming and pablano peppers and bell peppers and jalapeno peppers too. (We love peppers!) If we can find them, we will add some shishito peppers. We love to pan roast them in olive oil, salt them, and eat them as a snack.

And of course we have tomatoes. We just picked the first one yesterday. This year, we are trying the string between posts method to keep them upright. Last year, they were huge and out-of-control. We hadn't anticipated that. The plants quickly grew out of their spiral tomato cages and I had a mishmash of garden frames and stakes holding them up. So far, the string and post method is working well.

And then, the flowers:

Well, everything is just happy as ever.

Lace cap hydrangea. We have loads of these in white and purple.

I had to stretch and hold my camera up over these six foot beauties.

Gorgeous ones like these only last a day or two!

Cat whisker reseeds itself

and grows like a weed. This year, I am letting some of them stay in certain areas of the garden.

We have few plants growing in the pond this year. Last year they were sucking up so much water we felt like we were refilling it nearly every day.

I had to stake these hydrangeas this morning because they were blocking the gate. We've also go an incredibly huge patch of blue one.

I know it's not for everyone, but I am so happy to work outdoors nearly every day. I love going out and pulling weeds and smelling gardenias and listening to the birds (or my audio book). I love staking overgrown plants and de-heading and trimming back and fertilizing. I love that bees come here and butterflies and hummingbirds and dragon flies. I love all the many bird regulars who nest around here. I love to see (or hear!) the occasional frog.

I hope you have a great rest of your week!