If at first you don't succeed......

 Song - This Land is Your Land by Bruce Springfield

Who knew?  I mean I studied horticulture and botany.  But if you don't replenish your soil, it dries up. Insert (a little late) light bulb over my head!

Some of you that have known me for a while know that I raised chickens (for their eggs) for a number of years.  And while I miss their sweet, sometimes hilarious presence in our garden, I don't miss letting them in and out of their coop every single day.

 

My vegetable garden that was next to their run was just not giving me much of anything over the last 4-5 years.  Every spring I would faithfully plan and plant a garden which mostly consisted of tomato plants, zucchini and a variety of herbs.  And for the last few years it yielded nothing.....not one tomato, possibly 1-2 zucchini and my herbs all dried up.  I blamed the heat waves and the reduced water here in California. 

 This year it was going to be different!  I had the chicken yard area that had become a dumping ground for unused "stuff" cleaned up and I purchased three large tubs for my veggies.  I had the ground leveled and ordered many bags of soil and compost.  The tubs (with holes drilled into the bottom) were layered with logs, dry leaves and tons of fresh soil mixed in with some native soil. Mr. B worked on the watering system so we could travel and not worry about watering.

We had to add a new fence due to deer entering the yard and added some gravel to walk on. I planted my 4" tomatoes in gallon size pots while waiting for all of the work to be finished. 

 

When it was ready I placed them and some pepper and herbs in the tubs.  And while they were getting started I began to replenish my old veggie garden with new soil. That area is for pumpkins for my grandsons and flowers for me!

Mr. B kept bringing home some peppers that he wanted to grow for Chili Rellenos which he loves! Looks like there will be plenty of room....right?

Well I am happy to report that the garden grew and grew and grew....

We now have tomatoes growing taller than me and they are so plentiful.  Yesterday I picked my first real crop.......

And this morning I picked even more that above....I am planning on making Tomato Peach Panzanella Salad for dinner tonight!

So I will continue to add goodies to our soil and enjoy my garden! 

Knowledge = Tomato is a fruit

Wisdom = Not to put it in a fruit salad

Home Sweet Home

Song - Home by Jack Johnson

 

A friend recently wrote to me saying that I left you all hanging back in Paris!  And that would be almost two months ago!  Yikes - sorry about that. But I have truly had my arms full......

 

 Our new grandson Charlie arrived on May 20th to the delight of all! And...

 

Just a few days later Mr. B flew to Colorado to pick up our new Westie puppy - Maggie!

 

 

 

 

So I am now painting in a "puppy safe" zone!!!

The deer recently discovered how to get into our backyard and destroyed my newly planted veggie garden as well as most of my rose bushes. We put in some extra fencing around our property and I moved some of my veggie garden into our old chicken coop area. That area has been a garden dumping place for years now and it's so nice to have it all cleaned out......

 

 

...well, I still have a few pots to clean before putting them back in place.

 

Hope to see you again soon!  I've missed you all.....J

 

 “Life takes you unexpected places, love brings you home.”

 

 

 

 

Patience of Gardening

Song - Harvest Moon by Neil Young

Happy Fall

"A garden is a grand teacher.  

 It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; 

it teaches industry and thrift; 

above all it teaches entire trust." 

 – Gertrude Jekyll

Mother's Day 2021

Song -Tell Mama - Cover by Sierra Eagleson

This was the first year without celebrating Mother's Day with my mom.  I felt my sadness for weeks so I told myself that it was just a Hallmark day on the calendar......but my body & heart didn't listen.....  I could feel myself getting into a funk so I talked with my boys and let them know that I was spending the day in the garden - no fuss, no muss - just a call would do nicely..... thank you very much!

Henry didn't listen.... 

My two year old grandson knows how much I like birds and hand painted two miniature bird houses for me and painted a heart shape stepping stone for the veggie garden that he absolutely decided could NOT be stepped on by anyone!  So it is now leaning against the stone wall in the garden for all to admire!

 

 Of course it is a purple heart because that is his favorite color right now!!!

So just what did I do on Mother's Day.....

....I watched a Clematis unfurl......

                                                                                               .....I pinched back my Sweet Basil.....

I set up my grandmother's ravioli table as a potting table and a old wicker chair from my mom to sit and relax in the shade.

 

 ....I watched a Spotted Towhee trying to hide in the oak tree.....

 

 and I listened to the water flowing from our fountain that Mr. B had just cleaned out the day before.

I thought about dead heading some roses but they were all in the sun and it was 92 degrees!

I planted a Hosta and some Impatiens in the shade and added a water saucer for the birds.....

 

 

 Henry and I had planted some strawberries the week before so I watered them for him....

....I gave two of my large ball box woods a much needed trim.....

.......and Mr. B helped me dig up some volunteer Japanese Maple seedlings and I potted them up on my new table!

 

And as the warm day began to cool down a bit Mr. B brought us both down Gin & Tonic's to sip by the pool......the first since last summer....

 

 I watched a Black Phoebe capture a Damselfly and then he pondered what to do next....

As the day finally drew to an end I thanked my mom for all she has done for me and continues to bring to me daily - especially the joy of a garden.  Thank you mom.....

 

 "We are born of love; love is our mother."

--Rumi

 

 

Beauty and the...........Beast

Song - Beauty and the Beast - Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson (Cover by Poppert Bernadas & Gimbey dela Cruz)

 In the shade garden my Helleborus are so happy but you can't see their little faces as they tend to hang down so I picked one to show you their subtle beauty.

Yesterday I walked around my garden looking for some relief to staying indoors these last few months.  I have had some awful bronchial crud that has hung on forever so I have been trying to take it easy.  Finally I just had to get outside and breath some fresh air!

What actually brought me outside was this little wren that flew into our house and refused to leave.

I threw open the back doors hoping he would find his own way out and he finally did.

Besides the Helleborus several other plants were showing me that spring is just around the corner.  Above are some Forget-me-Not's.

And the Daphne bushes are ready to let me take in their heady fragrance.......

I have several plots of Daffodil's that I pick daily.

And the Grape Hyacinth's are coming up like pretty little weeds as every year they multiply!!!

So you have seen several beauties in my garden....

....are you ready for the BEAST?

Another face that only a mother could love.....

I think there may be something dead near the creek as there were five of them in the tree and have been there more than a week.

Since I feel compelled to leave you with a happy image....

 

We have been having the most amazing sunsets lately!

"Unlike many raptors, vultures are relatively social 

and often feed, fly or roost in large flocks. 

A group of vultures is called a committee, venue or volt. 

In flight, a flock of vultures is a kettle, 

and when the birds are feeding together at a carcass, 

the group is called a wake."

Constantly Evolving

Song - Changes by David Bowie

Back in 1996 we purchased our home and this is what the garden looked like at the time.  But Mr. B and I could see the "bones" of the property and fell in love. So the guy working in the yard then is the same gardener working in our yard today.  Every time I ask him to move something that he put in twenty years ago, he just shakes his head and laughs.

Once the yard was cleared of ivy & pyracantha we began to plan.  And gardens are constantly evolving because hey trees grow and a once sunny patch becomes shady so the plants that used to thrive in the sunshine, now need to be changed out.

This week we are tearing out the plants in our "island" (it's not really an island, more of a peninsula). It became a beautiful rose garden but it has seen better days and is a little too busy for my taste now.  As I searched through photos to show you the before and after, I realized that I rarely took photos of the island because it was not a beautiful focal point.  Yes I enjoyed the individual roses, most of which were David Austin fragrant English roses but I failed to enjoy them in a mass.

I kept eight of my favorite ones to replant elsewhere and closed my eyes and tossed the rest.  As we pulled the plants away from the stone wall we realized that the wall has begun to lean over time and needs to be restacked.

This is the corner where the island meets the vegetable patch and was fairly straight three years ago.

Two more Japanese Maples will be planted in the back, the stone wall rebuilt and raised higher at the bottom, a fountain will be placed where that stake is and the rest of the area will be filled in with white Iceberg roses so it will feel cleaner and less chaotic.

I'll keep you posted as long as my gardener isn't laughing too hard at my changes!

"Nothing happens unless something is moved."  

--Albert Einstein