Even with our cool and wet weather lately, our garden is showing signs of life. We have the cutest little zucchinis and cucumbers popping out. The tomatoes are finally blossoming, and I picked some radishes for a salad. Some strange volunteers have also appeared. I picked a potato (didn't plant them), there are two tomatoes growing where they ought not, and we have peanuts popping up in the compost pile. I don't think you can grow peanuts in Northern California, but there they were.
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| Squash vs. Snails, squash winning |
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| Baby grapes! |
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| Apples, thanks to the bees | | |
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Our yard has been a work in progress for 3 years now. Between Ernst's heart attack and dealing with getting the inside of this house in shape, our yard was the least of our worries when we moved here. It was one huge mass of knee high weeds, a few trees and bushes, and that was it. It had some great brick borders, but nothing in them but weeds, weeds and more stinking weeds.
My sister Janice helped me pick out some bushes to purchase and plant, and then I just got a bunch of freebies. I am great at "appropriating" plants. Agapanthas? From a dumpster. Pink geraniums? Um, well I kind of snipped a few from a business down the street that has since burned down, so really I was saving them from being charred. A great red flowered geranium that is spreading? From geocaching in Santa Barbara after Becky H's wedding.
The rest of the yard is donations. My friend Cindy says it wasn't her, but I KNOW it was her, anyway Cindy gave us a huge amount of iris rhizomes when we moved here three years ago. They are purple and spectacular and make the spring garden look fabulous. I also got some bulbs from our neighbors that came up so pretty this spring. I am a firm believer in the cheap packages of flower seeds, the miser in me wins out over the impatience I usually have for instant results. The death of a plant is easier to take if you aren't still paying off the credit card bill from Home Depot.
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| Geraniums that I unknowingly saved from getting torched |
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| Smuggled home after Aaron and Becky's wedding |
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| Gotta love those seed packets |
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| Not quite there, but the Battle of the Weeds is winding down |
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| Free flowers, the best kind |
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| Doing her part to beautify the yard, Molly, the Dog with OCD |
