Garden goodies

Garden goodies have arrived, some more abundantly than others. We have had great success with tomatoes and squash. The cilantro grew well but the precious bunnies ate it all up and they chewed their way through most of the pepper plants.
I have made two batches of tomato salsa and one batch of squash relish. By this weekend there should be enough tomatoes and squash for more of the same. I took a few jars to work with me and they sold so fast my head was spinning. I left with orders to bring more of each next week. I am hoping to put up some Dilly Beans as well this weekend. I found some nice looking green beans at the store.

Love those bunny rabbits!!!

Bunny rabbits are so cute and cuddly and... menacing!!!
They have found an all night diner and it is my garden. The first time I saw a bunny in my garden my reaction was "Oh, how cute. The bunnies like the garden." I have realized the destruction in their tiny jaws. They are garden vampires. They started with just a few nibbles on the cilantro, but then then came the serious eating. My husband kept finding his pepper plants chopped down or stripped of leaves and we wondered what could be happening. We have a couple jalapeno plants left but I don't think hot matters because they ate the hot cherry peppers. I was beginning to think they did not like sweet basil but apparently they do. It is hard to believe they eat marigolds, but it is true. When they get started they super size and take down the whole plant. My garden is taking on the look of a gypsy encampment with things we have put in to scare them yet the bunnies continue to snack. I think the best investment for the next garden will be a fence.

A weekend gardener

It does not take very much sunshine to drive me away from the outdoors. I am truly only a weekend gardener. Despite my wimpyness we have harvested fresh onions and cilantro for blender salsa. Yum! The tomato and squash plants are loaded so it is only a few days before we gather a bumper crop and the sweet basil is growing like crazy. If you have never grown sweet basil you should try it. I don't know if another plant smells as wonderful. Besides, it is yummy as well. Spaghetti on the menu for Saturday!

I'd rather be fishin'

Out of desperation I forced myself to go shoe shopping yesterday afternoon. I went to the first store and let me tell you it was no carnival. There were many choices but none that were just what I needed. I wanted a dressy casual, which means I am more interested in comfort than beauty. But I don't want plain old ugly either! My one hard fast rule which I will not break, the shoe must be comfortable. I do not want to grow into it or break it in. By the time they are "broke in" they are ugly and I have had all the pain for nothing.
The very nice young lady who was helping me (bless her heart) showed me a pair she thought were dressy yet comfortable. Just for a moment I felt my eyes glaze over. I had to bite my tongue, it is still a little sore. Okay, maybe a sixteen year old would have considered them nice dress ups. But truly they were nothing more than high heeled black tennis shoes with a white heart on the toe and a white racing stripe in the side. Please, please, puhleeeze!
I did find some nice looking dress shoes, the problem is they had four inch heels. I am not interested entertaining the masses as I fall and possibly break something fragile, like my neck. They did have in stock several pair of very comfortable sandals which generally looked like something John the Baptist has worn for a tromp or two through the desert. Something made from the very latest in camel hide. Which of course does not go well with dressy black slacks.

I gave up on that store and went to one of the big mall stores, one with an outside entrance so I would not have to walk a mile to locate the shoe department. I picked out three pair and waited for the overworked salesperson to acknowledge my very existence. "I would like these in black size seven and a half please." When he returns he says none of those come in that size but I brought them all in size seven and eight. What a surprise, the sevens were too tight and the eights were too loose. "Well, you can buy these little insert things to take up the extra space." Again with the blank stare and the tongue biting!
I tried several pair of a brand with the word "comfort" in it. Who are they trying to kid! Okay, more comfortable than walking on nails perhaps. But until my pinkie toe is surgically removed with plenty of anesthesia I prefer not to torture it.
Finally, after an exhausting marathon I finally settled on a pair which I did not actually like but which are fairly comfortable. You could also say they are only slightly uncomfortable, depends on how you look at it. Of course they were not the ones which were on sale but at least my toe is not bleeding. One pair down now I just need a pair of John the Baptist's hand me downs and I will be set for the summer.
Now you know why I had rather be fishing!

~~~ Peanut the Pomeranian~~~

Peanut came into our world as a birthday gift for our child. We called her Peanut because she was just a tiny little thing. The first day we brought her home she would not come out of her carrier she was so frightened. That is until she smelled dinner cooking! What a nose!!! She would do anything for a fruit loop. Peanut was a bad one to look for candy and cough drops to hide away to save for hard times. I would never claim she was a perfect dog, for one thing she barked way too much But, as humans do we became terribly attached to our pet and loved her in spite of her faults. For twelve years we had her company and now she lives in doggie heaven. I miss her. Every year when the daffodils and iris bloom on her little grave I stop for a moment and remember how much fun we had with her.

From the garden.

The boundary of the garden has increased by inches. I have not measured but I would say it is about 12'x15' at this point. We turned over enough soil to accommodate maybe three to four additional rows and set up two small beds for herbs. We planted two rows of beets and set out several pepper plants. In the herb beds we sowed sweet basil seeds. It may be a little early but I don't anticipate a need to cover the garden more than a couple times. I paid $1.99 for the two packets of beet seeds but only .2o each for the eight packets of sweet basil. I don't know much my husband paid for the pepper plants but probably not too much. The onion sets were $2.49 per bundle for three bundles. I expect we will have more onions and peppers than one family could possibly use! But as most gardeners know, a large part of the "joy" of gardening is sharing the bounty.
Stay tuned for more "from the garden"....

The saga of the veggie garden.

We decided we must have a veggie garden. It has been at least three years since the last garden which was small and mostly tomatoes, peppers and flowers. This year we are ambitious the onions are in the tomato plants have been purchased and are waiting for me. Going to the store and purchasing seeds and plants was the easy part. Getting the soil ready was another story. Let's just say by the middle of the day I was questioning my sanity and by the end of the day I was amazed I could still walk!
I would say I look forward to gardening again this weekend but when I remember the pain I am not so sure. Maybe later when I am enjoying a juicy ripe tomato perhaps I can forget the pain?