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Monday, June 9, 2014

Someone hand me my cane!

I limped off to bed last night, slept like a boulder and then took 15 minutes to get out of bed.  Geezloueeze.  I would like to think that the worst is over, but I'd be lying out of my nose.  After all that planting, I still have three tomato plants needing pots, two pepper starts (of the 'surprise' variety, since the labels fell off) and eight sunflowers that I couldn't turn down.  And that's after giving away two dozen tomato plants and another half-dozen pepper plants!  Would someone please come down/over/up here and intervene?  I need an intervention!

Even with all the whining and moaning and groaning, I still felt pretty good this morning when I surveyed the garden.  I felt even better when I awoke to the sound of rain.  It was a light shower, but I'll take it.  The forecast for the rest of the week is chance of rain/thunderstorm/showers every day and night.  My lettuce will be happy.

The previous owners of my house apparently were into collecting tires of all sizes and sorts (among other flotsam and jetsam that I am still unearthing).  I have adapted the old adage - "When handed tires, make planters".  The Hillbilly Garden Grows!  Since my original 'tires' for flowers are now filled with potatoes, I built on another section (read: less lawn) and planted Cosmos, Zinnias and the empty planter is now filled with sunflowers, as of this morning.  And, since I was on a roll, I seeded Nasturtiums and more Cosmos around the plants.


 
New in the greens bed this year is a beautiful, peppery mustard green.  Since the snails, slugs and creepy-crawlies seem to have a leg(less) up on me this spring, I have dusted the bed liberally with DE.  I hope to eat more of my greens than they do.
 

My horseradish flourishes - and I discovered that the leaves smell faintly of horseradish, too.


 
The weekend wasn't all planting.  I also hauled out my treasured tobacco cloth and draped it over my currants - there is plenty of fruit, but the goshdarn birds are even eating the green ones this spring!  A PVC frame is in the works to hold the cloth further off the bushes and to incorporate the blueberries to the right.


I had a delightful visit with a new-to-me nursery on Saturday.  I had passed it many times, but it's one of those - Whoosh!  You're by it before you can focus on it.  This time I was focusing, as I wanted to supplement my lettuce bed with plants because I am too impatient to wait for the seeds to grow.  I pulled in - I was the only car - opened my door, and was greeted by three large, moist noses attached to three beautiful, friendly (thank God) German Shepherds!  Needless to say, it is now my favorite nursery.  The woman who owns it is a retired nurse with a passion for plants and a penchant for rescuing senior GSDs.  And she has TONS of highly unusual ones.  Ergo, the Amethyst Basil.  And many, many more.  I am such a sucker.  She has a whole rack of Chinese medicinal herbs and I'm planning on setting up a separate medicinal herb garden.  Because I NEED another garden bed.  Right?

10 comments:

Fiona said...

Basil....oooohhhh! We need an intervention too! We have Cinnamon Basil, Lime basil, Holy Basil, Genovese Basil and my New favorite Bolloso Neopolitano Basil! Oops I forgot Mrs Burns Lemon Basil! Oh then there's the Orange Mint! Sigh. I am so enjoying following your planting adventures! It will be so worth it though when you use those wonderful fresh herbs when you cook your wonderful fresh vegetables!

Unknown said...

Wow, that's a lot of planting! I'm going to the one really high end nursery today, as they have lots of unusual plants. I still have some space to fill!

Michelle said...

Have I mentioned lately how much I like you? ;-)

Susan said...

Nancy - I was very surprised that her plants were not pricier than the other nurserys around - PLUS there's the dogs!

Susan said...

Michelle - The feeling is mutual... :)

Susan said...

Fiona - I asked at the nursery about orange mint, but she didn't have it. However, she wrote it down and will have it next year! Oooh, those basils sound wonderful!

Daphne Gould said...

Doesn't everyone need another garden bed? That would be fun though - a Chinese medicinal bed.

Mama Pea said...

Geesh, your plants all look so healthy! Maybe I need to find some old tires. I know they supposedly hold the heat and, heaven knows, I could use some of that in my garden! If my opinion matters, I say you should go ahead and plant any and all things your little heart desires. What other creative endeavor do you know of that provides you with food? GOOD food!

Susan said...

Daphne - Yes - the more, the merrier! I just have to figure out where to put another bed, although it can be small. I am fascinated by herbal medicine, so this will be a great way to do some hands-on research.

Susan said...

Mama Pea - I do know that they retain heat, which helps when it gets cloudy and cool (often, here). Now that I have your permission, ahem, there will be no stopping me!