dirtdobber's Blog

Well, I just can't believe it. I feel like a real farmer or something. I have harvested exactly one squash, but there are others surfacing. It looks like I'm going to have enough purple hull peas and butterbeans to send you all some! Oh! And I have a watermelon! pyoung, It finally did happen. I went digging around my vine and found a little baby melon about the size of a large marble. So cute! My corn has the beginnings of some silks coming through. I just cannot believe that I grew these things!  I have some hot peppers that I have grown and eaten also. But I'm giving most of those away. Too hot!!  This has been a lot of fun. And would you believe, I still can't get my pics on my blog. I did everything that Bill told me, and it just won't do. I'm not giving up though. It's probably something very stupid that I'm missing. Guess I'd better get out there and check "the farm". We have had a couple of wonderful rain showers lately, and it is unbelievable what that can do for your plants overnight.  Much better than Miracle Grow!

Ya'll have a great day....and get in that dirt!  Trisha 

Looking out the window, I see the drizzle dance going on. So I got my coffee and came in here to visit with GG. Frankly I'm waiting on the waterfall waltz!  I had hoped to work on my memory bed for a while today before attending a wedding this afternoon. Two days ago I transplanted 3 pieces of antique rose from my old house. It orginated from my hubby's grandmother's garden. It is a gorgeous pink that deepens to a purplish color. The scent is heavenly!  It looks a little droopy, but I'm praying over it.  I also added some of my MIL's flowering almond. She always had variegated vinca in her beds, so I brought some of that too. Just glad it's not as invasive as the solid green vinca vine! UGH! Can't believe I did this, but my FIL gave me some wisteria years ago that never did much due to the shade, but I put that in also. I remember the day he and I went to his woods to get it. He gave me 4 o'clocks also that bred like rabbits at the old house, and I brought that too.  I have daylilies from my mom's garden that I never saw bloom, and they have buds about to burst open. Can't wait! The gaura from her yard is blooming pink all over. And speaking of pink... I had put in some pinks that my mom and I got from a little elderly lady more than 15 years ago. It is now planted on the border of the bed. So pretty!  You can see the silver color from across the yard. And it has bloomed. The iris are standing tall and erect as if to say "Yes maam, We will like our new home. Yes maam!" There is little piece of azalea that has lost all it's leaves but his insides still seem to be green, so I'm holding out hope. I have put a semi-circle low wall around the back side of the bed with the rocks hubby gave me for mothers day. My mom gave me a stone years ago that has written on it " To plant a garden is to walk with God". That's going in the bed also.

Well thanks for visiting my memory bed.  Ya'll have a good day....And get in that dirt!!  Trisha

Well, I haven't done a whole lot of digging lately but I need to. The last few days I have just enjoyed the fruits of my labor. My knockout roses bloomed in a flurry and they seem to be resting now. The poor pitiful shasta daisy that I planted looks like he just wants the hot weather to be over with. I put in a handful of zinnia seeds that are probably 2 inches tall now. I love checking on their progress everyday. Maybe I shouldn't check so often. You know what they say about a "watched pot"! I also planted an asian lilly that had already bloomed. Guess I'll have to see it's majesty next Spring.

The mama bluebird is about to work herself to death feeding her babies. Isn't that just like a mama? Sadly, my little nest of eggs in my old dead fern didn't turn out as well. I'm not sure what kind of bird that was, but one egg hatched, he died, and the other egg never hatched. I guess that also is "such is life" huh? We stay busy trying to keep the squirrells out of the bird feeders. In the afternoons on the front porch there is quite a show watching the birds at the feeders. There is a cardinal that just adds all the color and pzzazz you could ever want! I just love turning on the sprinklers and listening to them whirr. I can do that b/c they are using well water. I couldn't do that otherwise b/c of the water restrictions.  

I have also found a beautiful wildflower on one of my little jaunts in the yard. It's on the edge of the woods. It grows like a vine, almost like a clematis vine. It has a purplish bloom. I took a picture that I'm going to post in the ID forum. I still can't get my computer to post a picture on my blog. Hubby and I are still working on that!

I've been feeling very contemplative(is that a word?) lately. I always seemed to be worried about something with at least one of my 4 children. None of it being any really big deal.  It's either their health, their marriage, something they said , or something I said. Just never seem to be at peace with it all. What's up with that? Probably the devil. Guess that is why I love the garden so much. It's soothing to my soul. All of my veggies and flowers are thankful for every drop of water and every mouthful of food I give them, and then they reward me with spectacular results. Come to think of it, I guess our kids do the same thing.    Ya'll have good day and...get in that dirt!!  Trisha

Well, the heavens opened up and gave us a glorious rainstorm this evening! It lasted about 30-45 minutes. I mean we had the thunder, lightening, the works. Hubby and I sat on the back screened porch and watched the whole show. Best entertainment I've had for free in a long time. After the rain, I walked out in the yard to check things out. My neighbor ( the landscape/gardening neighbor) was also out checking out her garden. I took a wonderful stroll through her yard with her. As I have mentioned before, her yard is gorgeous and slap full of every kind of plant you can think of. Anyway, what fun! Her daylilies are something else...yellow, peach. purplish. She has glads blooming, even an iris is still blooming. There were roses everywhere. A japanese magnolia had such pretty purple blooms. I thought it was a little late for that to be blooming, but I sure enjoyed getting to see it.

I walked back over to my garden. The veggies needed a little repair. All of my corn was laying flat on the ground. I had to help them stand back up. They may have come back up on their own, but I couldn't just leave them there all night! I staked up my maters and propped my pepper plants back up. I think they will all be fine now.

There is just something about a good rain that does a person good! Hope the rest of you southerners got some water too! Have a good night....and tomorrow...ya'll get in that dirt!   Trish

It is so hot here that you can hear the grass crunch under your feet. Yesterday I cut he grass (all 3 acres). I was absolutely spent when I finished. And I was on a riding lawnmower! It's just the heat. Really, I think I'm just getting old and can't take the heat as well as I once could. I watered the lawn for a little while b/c it just felt like a desert. Thank goodness we have a well, so the watering restrictions don't apply. And we would go broke trying to water with the county water that we have running to the house.

My new little flower bed looks pretty good except for my shasta daisy. It is really pitiful looking. I thought they liked sun, but I think this heat was too much for them to be planted in. I don't know, I'm not giving up on him yet.

I have 6 tomatoes growing on the vine! So much fun to watch their progress! My squash is blooming away, but I'm not so sure that I don't have one of thos male/female plant problems. The blooms don't seem to be doing anything after they bloom. I heard on the radio that sometimes if they are not getting pollinated that's what will happen. I couldn't really tell which plant is female or male. They told on the radio program how to determine that, but I'm stumped.

Oh well, at least it is a little cooler to day. It is bearable when you go outside. 95 degrees today and a slight chance of rain. You people pray and do a rain dance for all of us thirsty folks down here in Ga! And ...get in that dirt! Trish

Today is my day off from work. I got up, got my coffee,and sat on the back porch reading the paper. I had turned the sprinkler on my azaleas. As I sat there, I could hear the chirping birds, the swish, swish of the sprinkler and the buzzing of the hummingbirds. The life, huh? The hot summer weather hasn't turned the grass yet to a parched brown. It's all nice and green. I have a second family of bluebirds in my bluebird house. My ferns are also housing second families of birds, but I'm not sure what kind.

A walk through the yard gets me going. I planted a new bed a week ago. I put in 2 different kinds of daylilies, knockout roses, verbena, purple salvia, sedum, coneflower, some zinnia seeds, shasta daisies, and a plant that I was unfamiliar with and have now forgotten the name. It is all coming along nicely. My hosta bed looks ok but the hostas are just kind of sitting there. I found about 5 clematis vines on sale at Lowe's and planted them here , there and yon around the yard, and they are all putting out new growth. One hydrangea has blooms, but the one that I bought last year has no signs of blooming. It is supposed to be a better and longer bloomer than Endless Summer. I so want that one to make it! The gardenia by the garage is blooming...smells great. My litttle pieces of Rose of Sharon are doing great as are the cuttings that I rooted in water. Had no idea that it was so easy to root. And my memory garden is looking great! Most of the plants that I brought pieces of from my mom's old house have made it and some are even blooming. I feel like my mom is saying good job!

Well, hope you all have a good day in the garden. There is no better therapy...is there? Ya'll get in that dirt! Trish

I posted some new pics of my veggie garden in the photo section. It looks really good as a whole. I haven't gotten any vegetables yet, but there are lots of blooms ,so I know they are coming. SOMETHING ate my strawberries though! I didn't have but one plant...just to experiment. I had a little strawberry to appear and then it was gone as fast as it arrived. I think a rabbit got it. I'm going to try to put some chicken wire or something over it to see if I can save the next few little berries. The butterbeans are going crazy, and I have some little bitty okra even though the plants have been a little sluggish growing. My peppers are puny and yellow. Don't have a clue what ails them. Only one of those looks really healthy. I don't see any bugs though. The purple hulls are coming along too. Plenty of blooms on the tomatoes too. Maybe soon I'll be able to scrape together enough out of the garden to have at least one sit down dinner! 

 P.S. Is anybody missing any hummingbirds? I think they are all at my house....bunches of them. When I am so tired at the end of the day, I just sit there watching them, marveling at their energy! Ya'll have a good day...and get in that dirt!! Trish