A Bountiful Blessing

So much to write about here at the farm, but little time to write it since there's so much to do.  I'll have a quiet night soon and I'll try to catch up with my blogging. I promise!

 I'm thankful for today's bounty. We will be eating fresh
squash, aparagus beans, bell peppers, and assorted lettuce tonight for dinner.

What I'm most thankful for is being able to grow it ourselves. Watching something grow and then produce to me is one of life's greatest pleasures.  World, go ahead with your indulgences of cappaccinos, escargo, caviar, and file mignon, but give me a garden that grows from the loving care of a homesteader any day! My indulgence doesn't require fancy china or a crystal serving dish.  This simple pleasure is served up on a jadeite plate with an old red wood handled collectible fork with a freezer canning jar filled with iced tea. (photo soon!) Add all of the above to the garden table laid out with a red checked table cloth under a very aged raibow striped umbrella surrounded by blooming flowers and in my opinion there's magic happening. Friend, it just doesn't get much better than this for this country girl.

Aaahhhh! I AM blessed!

Romeo and Juliette are thriving and growing like weeds.  It seems they grow an inch each day.  As my Granny use to say I may have to "put a brick on their head" to keep them small so the enjoyment of them being young and loving lasts longer. One thing is for certain, we do need to get a bigger water pan for them and soon!

Aren't these sweet faces worthy of a smile?!  They follow me around all over the yard and diligently keep bugs off me when I am hanging out clothes.

Some of the later blooming daylilies are gracing my farm with a showing this morning.  And what a show it is!

This dwarf daylily is a production giant among daylilies.  It never fails to please me and just keeps giving all through the summer. I would have to look up it's true name, but I call this one Baby Face. I like naming things.

I truly never tire of looking at this beauty. It's like it calls to me. I stand and stare at it as if mesmerized by the color that came to be in this one lily.  We are trying now to move it closer to the cottage in it's new home in front of the cottage porch.  Then daily I will be able to sit on the porch and stare for however long I want.

I had a visitor this morning on the large peach lily.  He was a hefty guy and seemed to be enjoying his visit. 

Please pardon my mess, but doesn't it always take chaos before creating order and beauty?  The pot lady still lacks her gloves and boots, but I have to wait until the porch is finished and the bed in front to be prepared before giving her the final touches.  You can also see the many shipping boxes I keep for my online business.  I simply must organize those better and maybe keep them in the loft which will keep them more out of sight. OR I could just put a curtain on the windows and you won't see it. LOL  I will be so glad when the porch is finished, but I will say I already have my garden table up on what is there. I just couldn't wait! 

Just one more photo of the daylilies and I'll be done for today... maybe! I call this one Joli shortened from Rouge de Joli.  

And that's all for now.  I know I will be back soon... the zinnias are about to bloom! 

A Day in the Life of My Garden

Just catching up since last post. So many things are blooming and I'd love to share them with you.

We've got a fair stand of asparagus beans growing with squash and radishes planted around the edges and middle. We used the willow tipi again. I just love how it looks and it's so functional.

Below: The asparagus has made all it's going to make for this Spring, but I leave the tops because I think they are so beautiful and lacey.

The next photos will just be a mixture of what's blooming and making me happy. Although I must mention that this is the first year I've had to contend with snails! My friend Bobbi Chukran has them and was saying how fast they multiplied and now I'm leary of having even one.  I think they must have come with some plant I purchased although I have no idea which one; just know it was an herb.

Tiny little snails! YIKES!

This is my friend Herman. He watches for the thyme to sprout and keeps me a fresh batch of purslane to put into my salads.

The red in this photo is the barn I live in.  We are building the porch onto the cottage so had to move all my plants away from the gorgeous plum color. But... the porch is going to be awesome. It's huge! Stay tuned!

Dwarf Daylily. It's so sweet!

2 yr old Collard Plant and Egyptian Onions

Lettuce going to seed!

This my dear friends is my largest rosemary bush ever! And I cut it back just two weeks ago so it really was taller than this. Now if I could just get my patriotic decor done without catching fire. It's so hot already that I don't do much outside unless it involves gardening. 

This is the smaller rosemary in the front porch bed. Notice the lovely arbor my darling Hubby built for me over the double doors. We put mesh twinkle lights on it and it's awesome at night. My steps are stone and step up every so slightly to help me go off the porch.  With old Arther in my knees it really helps.

This is the only spider daylily I have, but isn't it showy?! I love it!

Ok, don't run! This is not I repeat NOT an alien pod that will hatch and take over the world.  Or at least I hope not!  This was growing on the bottom of one of our collard plants which is strange in itself, but there was another one growing on the bottom of a turnip plant too!  Wow! Sometimes there's nothing stranger or more shocking than nature.

My sweet hubster made me this planter to grow my favorite flower in Zinnias. They've taken quite a while to sprout and hoping I get to see a bloom soon. I love the way the iron stars shadowed the planter.

Part of my watering can collection sits on the front porch on my old timey shelf. I remember my Granny having one of these on her house when I was a kid. Now to find some flags to put in one of the cans. I have them, just can't find them.

We've planted trees AND planted trees for 10 yrs. This little cypress and one lone oak survived the drought last year.  We'll begin again and hope we live long enough to sit under then shade one day talking about how long it took to get that shade and how wonderful it is to enjoy it.  I bought Hubby a peach tree.  He was like a little kid looking at them. He wanted it so badly.  When he gets it planted and it takes on a life of growing on the farm, I'll take a photo of it.  It already has 3 little peaches on it. So cute!

This has been a lengthy post so I thank you for staying with me and viewing my photos.  Now I'll close with how peaceful it is to be on a farm and share with you the way I relax and ponder on more things to grow.  You maybe won't understand my thinking on this being relaxing, but you'll get to see the colors of my milking cloths.  I love color! lol

Now to get the bed planted by the clothes line pole. I put up an old bed frame for the vines to run on.

Until next thyme....