Life According to Plan

When we were young Mr. Wonderful and I lived 

the Big City life and it was great.  But we learned

after a few years that it was not what we wanted

forever.

We didn't write up a plan that sitting on the deck 

or in the gazebo of our back garden while enjoying

an iced coffee was going to make us happy but that

style of living was certainly part of the plan.

It has turned out that those little things in life have 

made us so happy.  Enjoying nature in our garden

can make us giddy with joy.

The happiness we get from watching the antics

of the birds in our garden is incredible.

We fill up the feeders and the show begins.

Melissa, do you remember this behemoth of 

a feeder from your visit all those years ago?

It is still in use, though a bit worse for wear...

We do have a thief though.  Some fairly large

animal is raiding the feeders at night.  He crushed 

one of our purple cone flowers.

And smashed this sedum autumn joy.  What can 

this animal be?  I think we will have to do a 

night watch to see.

The working side of our back garden is our little

farm.  It is so nice to run out and grab some fresh

veggies for dinner.  When I travel on trains in Europe

I can see little veggie patches in all the back yards.

What has happened in our country that so many 

people never do this anymore?  When I was young

it seemed like everyone had a little garden out back.

We love sharing our photos and stories on

facebook with other nature lovers.  This

simple life has brought us so much joy!

It's A Start!

Weeks ago, I ordered some seeds online.  They

are varieties I can't find in my local shops.  There

is a lemon cucumber, an interesting eggplant and

a tomato that is the size of a red current.  You may 

ask, why would you want a tomato the size of a red 

current?  I found this tomato plant a few years ago

at the annual plant sale of a local master gardener.

She always tries new things but last year she didn't 

have any left by the time I got to the sale.  The tiny

tom packs alot of punch.  I would snack on them as 

I was working in the garden and found they were 

great to throw into a pasta salad or couscous and

they were an absolute surprise in egg salad.  What 

is great about them is the small size, the taste and

the fact that they are added whole to the salad and

they then do not add extra moisture to the dish.

Back when I had more time, I had my own 

potting trays and grow lights, I would mix my

 own potting soil mix, oh, those days are long 

gone...  So, I am trying one of these store bought

trays filled with peat pellets.  I had to gradually

add 10 1/2 cups of water to make the pellets

enlarge.  Then you drop the seeds into little 

indents in the pellet and cover with the peat.

I thought they seemed awfully water soaked.

Well, I'll let you know if anything grows.

Fingers crossed.

The Month of May

 

I love the gardens at my American Homestead,

Avalon.  And... those gardens take a lot of work

each year.  This year we were away the first 18

days of May ~ prime planting time!

 

 

I knew I would miss the blooming of the

lilac, one of my favorites.  My sister knew

I would be disappointed so she emailed

me a photo of it in bloom while I was in

the Netherlands.

 

 

She also sent me a photo of the stunning

bloom of this crabapple.  I bought this tree

years ago at the end of the gardening season.

I felt sorry for this poor neglected tree, it was

sort of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

I took it home and planted it in the front garden

and it stayed there for a few years and pretty

much remained a twig.  I wasn't sure if it was

going to live so I transplanted it to the back

garden and it has been there for many years,

growing very slowly.  Over the past two years

it has really started to thrive, there are many

branches and it is filled with leaves.  And this

year, it bloomed!  It bloomed magnificently.

My sister called me in the Netherlands to let

me know since she knew I'd be so excited.

I was!

 

 

Today, these beautiful roses bloomed.

They are a delicious deep pink and smell

the way roses are supposed to smell, just

like the old roses I remember as a child.

 

So, if anyone is looking for me for the next

week, I'll be in the garden.  I just wish Mother

Nature would co-operate, everytime I put on

my gardening clothes, the raindrops start...

 

 

 

Primrose Lane

Many years ago when I had two 1 year olds,

Mr. Wonderful & I moved into our American

Homestead.  We bought our house on Sept. 1st

and through the winter months I started planning

the gardens.  At that time I was going for an

English Cottage Garden style but no matter how

hard I tried, an English garden just didn't want

to live in a Midwestern Prairie landscape...

 

That first summer I bought a flat of primroses

at Frank's.  (I miss Frank's Nursery & Crafts)

I planted and divided those primroses for many

years until I finally gave up on the cottage garden

in the front gardens and went with an evergreen

garden.

 

I wish I had transplanted them to the back gardens,

but at the time I just had so much work to do with

the landscaping that I didn't think of it. 

 

 

The back gardens are much more colorful, with a

butterfly garden and perennial beds.  So, today

since it was so nice I stopped by the garden center

and picked up a few primroses.  I think they will

go beneath the fairy roses in the pond garden.

 

The garden dreams are never ending...

 



Murphy's Farm ~ First Harvest

We had a few small but ripe tomatoes on July 1st

 thanks to starting early and using frost jackets. 

The zucchini were tiny earlier in the week and

after a few good rains, they went crazy.  We'll be

eating alot of zucchini in the next few weeks.

Garden Tour

Early June 2012

This rose is new to our garden this year, it

is one of the roses I planted our first summer

here in 1995.  It is in the back of a large perennial

bed and I thought it had died off but this year it

has come back as a nicer, prettier rose.  I guess it

reverted to its original rootstock, which is what

happened with another one of our roses, sadly this

one is not fragrant...

The border in our butterfly garden is wild

with yellow blooms.

We have tomatoes on the Early Girls.

Using the frost jackets was a big help.

These toms are quite high for early June.

This bed has mini pumpkins and gourds.

Here are the zucchini, peppers, eggplant

and cucumbers ~ we are desperate for rain

around here.

Hurry up zucchini!  We have big plans

for you in our Vegetarian Summer.



The Light in my Garden

I love the dappled sunlight in my garden

in the morning.  The garden is alive with color

 and birdsong and it brings peace & happiness.

The billowing tumble of living
Through vaulting halls of trees
In the dappled light of sunshine
And green corridors of breeze.
The exquisiteness of living
When senses soar in the air
When the colours of being are rampant
And we savour each moment with care.

The Winds of Life ~ Marshal Gebbie

Be sure to savour each moment...

Murphy's Farm

Planting Day!

Yes, I know our last frost date is not

until May 10th but it was either plant

and take the chance or maybe not have

a garden at all this year.

The Early Girl tomatoes are peaking through

the tops of the frost jackets.  I planted them

on March 25th.

I made a trellis from some scrap

pieces of wood.  I had to give up one

of my raised beds this year because a

cat decided to use it as a litter box and

since I grow food, that icked me out...

So this year it will be for ornamental

gourds and mini pumpkins.

Today I planted tomatoes, zucchini,

eggplants and cucumbers.

I'll actually be home for most of the

summer this year ~ that hasn't

happened in years.  I look forward

to the watching the progress and

the harvest!