Random (garden) Friday

sheesh! I hope to get a better routine going for blogging this fall! I always have big dreams, but follow through is not my strong suit sometimes...

So anyway: a happy random post with garden photos!

gorgeous lilys:

corn in our garden! a first in several years. yummmm

Tomatoes... lookin' good, now w/a the recent shower, hopefully they will start to turn a little faster so the bottoms don't get burn up...

watching a bee doin' his thing in the zucchini blossom:

still pretty stoked about how tall the corn got! you can see it from the street over our privacy fence :)

& this is the complete over-view of the garden area, oh the changes & extensions we are making for next year!

How does your garden grow?  What do you enjoy fresh in the summer?

five on Friday

5 things that made me happy this week:

1. a super fun bargain shopping expedition: took 2 littles + my handful of coupons to the store that offers a one day text/coupon special. ended up w/$14.98 worth of groceries for 9.88. by far the biggest percentage off I have ever scored! Free kitty litter (sale stacked w/coupon)+canned soup for Tim's lunch/suppers minus coupon+.99 12 pack of pop= 5.10 savings :)  I have done a much larger shopping trip & saved $10 before but never this much of a percentage.
2. remember me talking about rescuing a boatload of tomatoes from a predicted frost? this is what we brough in the house:

 & I have been slowly

working my way thru them... made some salsa, eaten some fresh, then had to take a break from them.  Early this week they started leaking on the floor. Yea, YUCK.  So I cleaned, sliced, halved & tossed some in my 6 qt crockpot & turned them on low for a whole day.  Tuesday evening, we had a bye from darts so I canned them.  2 quarts+6 half pints (jelly jars) full of stewed tomatoes :)  unfortunately (or fortunately I will be thinking in later months) that didn't even put a dent in our supply.  So today I started in again! I filled another 6qt crockpot & turned it on, that wasn't the bottomof the yellow milk crate so I proceeded to sort red vs green (ones that needed immediate attention vs those that could wait a bit longer) into bowls - ice cream bucket + 4 cup bowl & the milk crate is empty. the white strainer remains untouched but the basket in the middle of the pic, it was leaking too... so it got sorted.. I lost count, I think I have 6 containers from it & it also got a shower. TOMATOES!!!!!!

3. I realized today out beef goes to the locker on Monday! that means we will have a freezer full of fresh beef again in 2 weeks! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS working up my list of cuts we want.

4. I had an interview w/a prospective childcare family this week. it was fun (albeit a bit stressful) to have that process over again but a good sign that all is not lost.

5. Looking forward to lots of family time! Attending my soon to be new nephew's baby shower tomorrow afternoon after spending the morning w/my mom & hosting lunch here @ my house w/her & my aunt!

What made you happy this week???

5 on Friday

today: 5 photos of our pumpkin carving session from this morning!

When it came time to clean out the giant pumpkin this morning, the ones that were the most excited about it yesterday, skipped it today. but we still had enough to get it done.  I decided that since the pumpkin was on the front step & it was nice out, we'd just go to it & do the messiness in the front yard.

 

 it was even so warm, we quickly shed our jackets!

then we called everyone over for a group shot of the masterpiece.

 this one is minus the fussies & w/Sam (which they thought was hillarious. :)

and a bonus shot of all the pumpkins/ornamental gourds we grew in the back yard this summer!!

have a great halloween weekend!!

How does your Garden Grow?

sick of my updates yet? I was giddy getting out & seeing the growth this week & documented it again in photos. (again)
English Ivy:

today:

Astilbe (I think)  that I bought @ the Downtown Farmer's Market in May








the zuchinni & pumpkin(?) seeds we planted inside the cinder block have gone from this:                                                       to this:

to This today:









this crazy mystery plant sure is happy! even in the middle of all that grass!
2)                                                      3)                                                      1)

the tomatos have finally turned colors!

 the zinnias I didn't think would make it after the flooding they endured!

 a mystery vine pretty-ing up the corner!

another tomato plant w/babies! need to dig in & read the name stake

 multi colored pepper blooming! pretty purple blooms! can't wait to see what color the peppers are!







same basic angle in order

 LOOK how the cucumber has taken off!! 

this surprise lil baby in that monster vine in the middle of the yard, any guesses? pumpkin? watermelon?

the peek-a-boo mystery vining plants

 from this <~~~ to this ~~~~>>

I want

to make one of these! here's the tutorial: http://lifeonthebalcony.com/how-to-turn-a-pallet-into-a-garden/ how freaking cool!!! it would add a lot to our little space!

what's left on your summer 'to do list'?

July 8th garden update

<~~~~~~~7/6/11 & 6/26/11~~~~~~~>

the wysteria vine, finally bloomed this year so now finally has pods on it

 my gorgeous english ivy very slowly moving its way up the trellis

 plants we started from seeds in the cinder block

 same angle of the long strip of 'garden'

 surprise squash plant... or maybe watermelon but I think pumpkin/squash, something Sammy pulled from the compost layer of the lasagna garden.  I put a cage around it to save it from the mower :)

 more surprise squash plants growing from the compost :)

 grass I put around the tomatoes & peppers to help w/the weeding

 surprise plant blooming, shouldn't be much longer until we learn what it is :)

 the banana peppers

 TOMATOES!!!!!!!

 tomatoes, peppers, onions & zinnias

just a peek @ our garden areas & what a difference in a couple of weeks!