Gardening and Life Documented

   So the gardens are in and I think we've made it past the late 

Spring frosts without losing anything.  For three nights last week I had to 

cover tomato plants and baby cucumber seedlings with buckets and flower pots.

Other tender seedlings were covered with a thin layer of old hay.  

The biggest concern was my Mommas peonies that are full of big buds.

My other peony bed had already been flowering... and hard as it was... I made the 

decision to leave it all uncovered.  In times past I always tried to hang sheets over them but 

because of  rain and our cats I figured covering with sheets would do more harm than good.  

Thankfully they seemed to fair just fine.  

I would really kick myself if they had been ruined.  

At this point in life, I'm usually telling myself less is more.

Myguy also reminds me... because he thinks it's getting too hard on me 

doing so much tilling etc.  But... because of this  pandemic he agreed this year 

we should grow an even bigger garden.  Our grocery store shelves are often so bare

and we just don't want to keep having to go there even.  So, he helped me plow 

a bigger garden where my angel mother used to live in the front pasture.  

Once again a path will be worn to this bit of earth.  

I smile thinking of it because of my grand girl.  

When I was not much bigger than she, I remember walking with my own 

grandmother to her big garden spot.  It was there I first fell in love  

with the sight, sounds and smells of gardening.  

Now it's my turn to walk  a worn path with my own grand daughter this Summer to tend to it.  

We have corn, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, potatoes, green beans, sunflowers, watermelon, and cantaloupe planted.  One section is still empty and waiting for our tomato seedlings to get big enough.

While we were up there I ...  

 peeked inside the bluebird house.  

Mama Blue had been busy.  

 I walked up to the garden  today to see if anything has come up yet. 

I  peeked once again  and found these.  

 I snapped two photos and that will be it now because I don't want to 

keep bothering things.  

I saw MamaBlue  perched on the electric wire up above the garden.   She always flies

out of the box when I climb the gate. The chain rattling  is her alarm.  

 The little garden in our backyard is all planted too.  

Where you can see fresh dirt is now indian corn, and else where is mostly flowers, and 

cucumbers and a few tomato plants.  In the raised bed, we have  carrots, onions, lettuces, peas, and 

more cucumbers.  Almost everything this year was started from seed.   

I still have a whole basket full of seed I need to find place for.  

Once things come up I can start filling in any  bare spots with flowers. 

When ordering; I bought two packs of milkweed.  

We have some that grows wild in the back pasture so I planted these pink 

ones near them.  I hope they grow and I hope they will be full of monarchs.   

 Blake is growing flowers in her little garden next to her mudkitchen too.  

She's so funny; she planted them one day, and went out the very next and looked sad,

saying, "They didn't grow."  

 This year as fruit, veggies, and flowers grow, I'll be looking at them through new eyes.  

"color"  

I'm learning there is a whole new beautiful world 

in the art of dyeing.  

These bits of lace and cheesecloth were dyed this morning

using old blueberries.  

 These fabrics and papers were dyed boiling red cabbage, blueberries, and avocado pits n peels.    

 It's often such a surprise... and sometimes you can change the outcomes with vinegar

or baking soda.  

This  cheesecloth was white and dipped in blueberry juice.  

 This was cabbage if I remember right.  

I wish I could chat  with Lydia of Thyatira.  

I have so many questions I would ask her. 

One day I will.    

Well, I sign off with a collage of sweetness  over the weekend. 

--a little wren wanted  pink frosting with sprinkles.  

It's the little things.  

xoxo