This week I am digging the arrival of summer! And all the pretty flowers. One of my favorite outdoor spots to relax. And the view from the front porch. Everything is so green! Have a great weekend!…
thoughtful thursday: the farmer’s plight
June 27, 2019While we are starting to see the sun here in southwestern Ohio, the farmers in the northwestern part of the state are still facing hardships due to all the rain we have had this season. Forty-five percent of all of Ohio’s corn is grown in this part of the state. A lot of the farmland is under water and unable to be planted, well into June. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer: “It’s already the wettest yearlong period in Ohio since…
garlic scapes are ready
June 24, 2019With all this rain we’ve had here in the Midwest lately, the veggie plants aren’t exactly thriving. My poor tomato and pepper plants are needing some hot sun, and fast! In the meantime, I’ve planted squash, cucumber, and beans. The garlic is coming along nicely. Last fall I planted two types: German Extra Hardy (hardneck) and Ozark (softneck). I’m still a fairly new garlic gardener and learning more all the time. The hardneck varieties produce what is called a scape.…
thoughtful thursday: the high cost of gardening
June 20, 2019This week I am taking a hard look at our household expenses. We’ve done well over the past few years with reducing some costs, while others have gone up. I am “keeping it real” in this post…read on. When the figures were tallied, my eyes were opened when I looked at how much I spend each year on gardening: it averages right around 1K per year since 2015 (don’t have the numbers readily available prior to that). But back to…
thoughtful thursday: plants on vacation
June 13, 2019I was sitting in my reading chair one afternoon this week, looking around the house. My view included living room, dining room, and kitchen (“open concept” floor plan, pretty much the whole first floor), and thought: it feels so barren, I need more plants in here. How can there not be plants in here? What is UP with that? Then it occurred to me, they’re all outside for the summer. D’oh! Maybe it’s been a long week already… Here are…
the gardens at coney island
June 10, 2019Greetings, all! Today’s post is a quickie with some photos from our outing at Coney Island in Cincinnati this past weekend. It is an amusement park with plenty of other activities, including a water park and outdoor live music theater. The man’s company holds their company picnic there. It was nice to chat with some of his coworkers. We also got to paddle boat, hear some live music, and play mini golf. Of course, I checked out their gardens in…
thoughtful thursday: blah!
June 6, 2019june garden activities
June 4, 2019i’m digging – catalpa flowers!
May 31, 2019This week I am digging the blossoms on some catalpa trees we have. They are so delicate and fragrant. The leaves on these trees are huge and they look sort of tropical. When the sun is shining brightly it makes the leaves glow from underneath. So pretty! Here is a photo from a couple years ago. Have a great weekend!…
thoughtful thursday: “nothing ever goes away…
May 30, 2019…until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun. I read this quote recently and it struck a chord with me. Have you found this to be true in your own life? I will spare you the details, but there have definitely been some running themes in my life that seemed as if they were placed there to drive me bonkers. The more I go through life, the better able I am to recognize the…
