Busy Spring Day

Such a busy day. I'm making a bunch of stuff for the bathroom and burning up as we are trying to only use the air conditioning in the hottest part of the day and simply leave the windows open and fans on during the morning and afternoon. To refresh I've been drinking an infusion from one of the herbs in the garden!

Spearmint!

This stuff grows rampant in my husband's grandmother's garden and is trying to take over the space where her ferns are at. Normally she just has my hubs or his step-dad mow it down (they come in smelling like grass and mint and it smells great but they're not big fans of it) OR I come down and pick a ton of it and whatever I don't drink in the next day or so I can dehydrate it for later. This tea (below) was so refreshing! Just what I needed after being so hot today. My fingers smelled like mint for hours after I got done picking too, which was an added bonus ^_^

For the bathroom I've been making my witch hazel and tea tree oil combo that I use on everything from piercings to acne to bug bites. I love it and it makes a great toner as well when its diluted with fresh water or hydrosol. I've also been making my shampoo...I actually made enough for me and my darling friend Fen and a sampler for my friend Alysheba. Fun stuff!

Farmer Chic

Not too much of an update today, just wanted to say I've been helping out int he garden today.
We had to re-plant, I think it was 12 rows of corn. Moles got a bunch of the corn and beans so we've replanted and hope the mole beans that were planted will mature quickly enough to do their job.
Also planted: cabbage, lettuces, parsnips, squash, zuccini, peas, cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries.
Cherries will be ready to harvest this weekend for canning and freezing.

I'll try and take some pictures of the garden and of Kitty's flower garden, which looks absolutely amazing.

Mushrooms are all over the yard adn around the gardens. I wonder if any are edible? I'm not about to try it but it would be something good to know, considering how many there are.

Featured Garden: Kitty's Wildflowers

I have been wanting to show a feature on this blog for some time that focuses on beautiful local gardens. Finally I grabbed the camera and ran down to my fiance's grandmother, Kitty, and with her permission took dozens of photos of her beautiful flowers and pond and statues. Here are just a few of the best I took.

Here is the entrance, once you pass through. I love it when all that climbing plants creep over the trellis.

One of my all time favorites, Black Eyed Susans! These grow next to the gate like a warm, sunny welcome.

Here the Black Eyed Susans and the Cacti get along nicely, showing the variety in Kitty's garden.

Here is a view of the garden from the gate. Everything sort of slopes uphill towards the fruit trees in the back.

In her little man-made ponds are dozens of lily pads for the frogs to play on (they all hopped off at my arrival). This gorgeous Lotus peeps up through the murk for a photo-op.

I said all the frogs hopped off, however, this big fellow stayed to represent them ^_^

Here is another favorite of mine, Blue Thistles! They remind me of Fairies and mythical creatures.

Here I snuck up on a Butterfly feasting on some Echinacea and was so excited I took a dozen or so pictures before it flew away ^_^ Echinacea is a lovely herb with many healing properties including being an aid in remedying cancer (I see a future Herb of the Month).

This is Kitty's little bird haven with bath and house. Sadly, my cat, Halloween, loves to hide around here an look for her favorite bird snack, Dove. Here is also an overhill view towards the garden gate. You can also see some of the Mole beans that drive off the burrowing pests that like to eat bulbs and the like.

This little fellow was brought home from Germany (you can sort of see where the sphere says Wilkommen). He's the gnome who guards the bridge (much nicer than a troll) which connects Kitty's garden to the outside world (aka, the side yard).

I wouldn't do Kitty's garden justice unless I showed some of the plants that grew along the front and side of her house for they are just as much a part of her garden as those in the back.

I love the wild, tropical look of this flower and was sad to see that it was the only one growing from the leaves of the rather large plant.

Here are more brilliant flowers! These lilies are lovely and seem to grow all over the front.

Thank you Kitty for letting me stalk your garden for an hour or so!

Do any of you have a garden you'd like to share? Send me pictures! I'd love to see them ^_^