Poppies & Pole Beans

Cathy Rohde called today and said her poppies were as big as she's ever seen them and that I should come over and take pictures. So this evening I put my camera backpack in my bike basket and rode around the corner. I was so tired when I left, but came back revived and rested; which is usually what happens when I get a camera in my hands.

The grandkids dropped by. I asked them to plant the pole beans. So much serious concentration!

Estate Sale Find

Cathy and I met Joanna this morning at an estate sale in Farmington. We left work for a short time to see if we could find some treasures. We all left with some great stuff.

I was excited to pick up a Gorilla Ladder for $45.00. It sells for $199.  It can fold into 28 different positions. It can be used as an A-frame, extension ladder, step ladder and scaffolding.

Today I Smelled a Skunk...

...and was happy. Guess the weird loss of taste and smell yesterday was just a one-time thing. No longer will I take a zinc cold supplement while trying to go to sleep. I think that the residue probably stayed on my tongue all night long and affected my sense of taste, which, in turn, my ability to smell.

What's Up With That???

I woke up this morning with a metallic taste in my mouth. Eating breakfast was like eating cardboard. I have not been able to taste or to smell anything the whole day.

Toes in the Grass

Oh how nice to be outside. To paint my toenails and wear sandals. To feel the sun on my face.

Square Foot Garden

An orphaned garden (weed) spot for a number of years was the perfect (hopefully) spot to create a square foot garden. I've wanted one for many years, but finally quit asking for assistance in building one. Until this year. It only took a day to build. 

We used redwood for endurance. I hope it won't be too long until it looks weathered.

A few years ago I bought the All New Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Bartholomew. He has step-by-step instructions that are very easy to understand. IFA now carries his garden soil mixture, Mel's Mix, which is the perfect combination of 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite. Purchasing the ready-made mix in bags was well worth the time and energy it would have taken to mix it ourselves. 

I was delighted to find brown weed barrier material. It won't show up as much when bark is put down.

Wood lathe was an inexpensive material for marking the square foot measurements.

I planted both seeds and plants: corn, radishes, beets, bush and pole beans, Sun Sugar (cherry-size) tomatoes and a few other tomato varieties, basil, crookneck and zucchini squash; pansies for some color. In SFG, several crops can be planted in one square. For example, one cabbage would take up one full square; bush beans - nine plants per square; whereas radishes would be 16 plants.

Amber's Birthday..a Day Late

It was sweet Amber's birthday on Saturday, but they had plans so we visited today. They've done a remarkable job in all their remodeling. Matt's a very lucky guy!!