Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Garden Notes And Photos! :)

 This is the time of the season when it's beneficial to walk through the veggie garden and see the plants at, or near, mature size! It gives one an opportunity to learn from mistakes and make better plans for the upcoming year! :)
Come along, and I'll show you some of the things I'm taking note of in this year's garden! :)
 I must decide if seeing the tomato plants busting out of the greenhouse, is worth being able to grow 8 plants, (4 on each side), or if limiting myself to a total of 6, (3 plants on each side), would be the better choice. :)
 This is the first year I've grown shelling beans and I can see that in the future, the fava beans will do better with support! :)
 I find only half of my walkways remain open now, so I'll need to plan wider walkways next year. :)
 Everything's producing on schedule, and again I will plant Fortex pole green beans that stay tender even if they get overlooked for a couple days and grow too large too fast! :)
 I'm happy with the summer and winter squash, and other than giving myself a larger walkway, I won't change a thing! :)
 Speaking of walkways, ironically, the area that I thought had too wide of walkways to begin with, ended up having no walkways at all! I already know how I can correct this problem next year! :)
 The pumpkin vines refuse to limit themselves to the garden space, and this pumpkin managed to grow outside the fence! :)
 I've been re-training other squash vines back into the garden to keep the produce safe inside, and some of the vines are utilizing the fence itself! One vine is getting some height on it! I'll wait to see if that's a good thing or not, once that vine produces! :)
 The corn is coming on, but right now it seems smaller than expected. It may be the new type of corn I'm growing for the first time, or it could be I grew the stalks too close together this year, or perhaps the cobs will still get bigger as they mature. ... Time will tell. :)
 One of our grape plants is too young to produce yet, by not too young to show it's beautiful Fall color! :)
 Our mature grapes are doing well and their clusters are coming along! :)

 I think the rows of corn look attractive behind the raspberry row! :)
Thanks for walking through the garden with me and being a part of my taking the garden notes and photos for growing a better garden next year! I always enjoy spending time in the garden, and I hope you enjoyed your time spent there, too! :)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Leap Of Faith! :)

 I love mornings! :) They hold the promise of wonders yet to come! :)
 Sometimes one comes to a point in life when they can feel a change must be made. It's not unlike a morning when things are fogged in, and there's a mysterious pull that drifts on the air. It can be both disconcerting and thrilling! :)
 This was the point our son was at when he gave his two week notice to his part time job, and packed up his truck with resolve to drive 12 hrs. straight, in the hopes of finding better employment elsewhere. ... Nothing ventured, nothing gained! :)
We are having to adjust to being empty nesters again, and though we miss him, we are proud of him, too. :)
 It takes great courage to step through that door into the unknown! ...
 But if one's willing to make that leap of faith, ...
One may find great things awaiting! :)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

All The Buzz! :)

 The veggie garden is full of pollinating activity! :)
 The honey bees are especially fond of the poppies I planted to attract them to the garden! :)

 The hummingbirds have found the scarlet green beans I planted for them! :)
It may be helpful to click on some of these photos for better viewing. This hummer was watching a bumble bee that was also attracted to the scarlet blooms! :)
 Soon the hummer was back to pollinating ...
 before it zipped off again! :)
 Meanwhile, I was drawn back to the buzzing of the bees, hard at work! :)








 The poppies are not the only blooms in the garden attracting the pollinators! :)




 The bumble bees seem especially fond of the raspberry and tomato blooms! :)
I love this time of the year when the veggie garden is all the buzz! :)