Harvesting Dinner

This is the reason I work so hard to grow stuff...well, fresh garden tomatoes are reason enough, in my book.

Butterfly garden is buzzing

Another May update that I'm just getting around to is my butterfly garden. It's filling out, blooming nicely, and I've rearranged the plants. I didn't like the height and color organization and it needed a few new plants. Clover was digging in the garden fairly often during May, but it's now recovered nicely. It contains a butterfly bush, lantana, gaillardia, Shasta daisies, sage salvia, Tequila Sunrise coreopsis (one variegated), and a bee balm that isn't blooming yet.

Another stunning lily

This was a gift from my neighbor Ann, who didn't know which plant was what when she dug them up from her former house's garden. Her house was slated to be moved to a different location to make room for a building in Raleigh, and her gardens demolished, so she salvaged what she could. Now that it's blooming I'll have to ask her what the name is. I love this shade.

Stinkin' Day Lillies....

Not only do they take a ton of space, but they bloom for ONE DAY. OK, they're stunning for that one day, but geez! Here's one called Ruby Spider, a gift from Ann Adams, my lily loving neighbor who recovered lilies from her former house, and over-ordered from a catalog. The catalog ones have names, many do not because she had no idea what plants she was handing me.

Status of South Garden: Squash and tomatoes!

I bought some zuchinni and cucumber plants at the Clayton Farmer's Market. They were in four packs, which is three more plants than I need. After the "squash garden" was tilled and dirt was dumped on and mixed in, I stuck the plants in the ground. There weren't 4 seedlings, there were 7. Each. Last year we survived fine with one plant each. But I have space now, so why toss the young healthy plants when I can give the produce to the food bank or a community garden?

We have yet to finish the string support system for them--that's on the to-do list for Vacation Week, when I get caught up on all overdue projects.

The squash garden is still short several plants: Jordan requested spaghetti squash, and I want patty pan but the first seedlings didn't make it so I started over. Those seedlings are now healthy enough to stick in the dirt. Yes, I know I'm months too late for all this, but I'll manage.

So the photo seems full, but those tomato cages on the right are really Dog Digger Prevention devices, so I can squeeze a plant or two in there. I was hoping some of the cucumber plants wouldn't survive a recent heat wave, and didn't water two of them, but they're so happy & flourishing that I can't just rip them out of the ground now.

No clue where I'll put the new plants, but they'll get shoved in somewhere! If I didn't have so many lillies taking space in my east garden I'd put some there. The lillies just need to find a real home....

Status of "cool" vegetable garden: struggling but alive

I have to summarize May...in a nutshell: WORK! The two side gardens were tilled and needed dirt, plants, and TLC. Dan helped build wooden sides to hold the dirt in. After he gets a job we'll invest in brick, but we were long past planting time and I wanted to get something started.

The cool side of the house has lettuce, spinach (which isn't going to make it) and carrots. The lettuce is doing well, despite the late afternoon sun and heat. The carrots that haven't been dug up by the dogs several times are doing well. I actually glared at the burned up spinach buds and said my mother's threat out loud to them: "Perform or die." It might work. The tiny spinach has new leaves at the center!

The side gardens all got started small, with plants shoved together in a corner. Thanks to Mom's birthday check for letting us get that far! Then a few paychecks later I brought home 12 2 cu.ft. bags of dirt and compost in my Prius and everything got RE-DONE. All plants had to be pulled out, while topsoil and compost were mixed thoroughly in the beds, filling them. Then the plants got replanted with more space, and with my seedlings added. Yes, in May I was planting seedlings for more lettuce and carrots, when I should be harvesting them!

On one particularly hot day I stuck a large golf umbrella in the dirt to shield the young carrots. They're now large enough to handle the afternoon sun, but I still give them an extra drink.

Garden doing well, but tough to stay distracted

As most folks who know me know, my garden projects are not just a way to stay sane by playing in the dirt, they're also a way to distract myself from our adoption. Our first adoption with Vietnam failed after we made all deadlines just fine (long story there), and the adoption agency filed for bankruptcy after trying to run for over a year with no income. We're on our second attempt, with CAS, as a pilot family in a pilot program with Mexico. CAS is waiting for a certificate of approval from Mexico before they can start sending dossiers, and most of our documents were ready last fall. Our documents are starting to age-out, as they must be apostilled within 6 months of submittal. Doubts start to creep in.... But this isn't an adoption blog that gets frustrated with government bureaucrats and the lack of a good domestic adoption option....

So although there's good news that makes me happy, the overhanging bad news that our adoption may fail as the documents age out, the program fails, we could have trouble re-doing every last doc in a timely fashion. It's tough to stay positive so I cling to small things, like the first day I could smell lilac in the air without having to walk over to the tiny shrub and lean over. Or the first use of the tiny lettuce plants that are "temporarily" planted in the flower bed.

I spend a lot of time on the patio, reading and watching birds come and go. They're starting to use the young pine as a escape point when they're kicked off the feeders by someone bigger. It's nice that the young lawn finally has some greenery they can use!

The salvia, money plant, and lilac are frequently buzzing with big fat bumblebees. A few butterflies have been out in warm weather. It's currently 94 according to our weather station, and I've been watering more heavily. One rain barrel is drained already!

Time to go back in the yard, hope you're having a good weekend!