An Evening in the Garden

I'm so sorry for the absence.  It's summertime and both girls are out of school.  I'm lucky if I turn my computer on each couple of days. Tonight the girls and I planted some new seeds in the garden and I noticed the lighting was nice so I ran in to grab my camera.  Here are a few shots.  I hope to be back sooner rather than later!

Pollinating the cucumbers....

A topside view of Sophie's sunflower.

The zucchini forest.

The lovely pot that Sophie & I planted.

Red geraniums are one of my favorites.  Look closely and you'll see a spiderweb that appeared overnight.

I planted my tomatoes super late this year but they're coming along....

And my most favorite gardening project of all.  Milkweed.  I hope it works.  Won't you help me help the monarchs?  Seen any so far? 

What's up in your garden?

Land As A Community

I've been reading a lot lately and that's one reason I haven't been blogging much.  So many good books.....so little time!!!  I'm currently reading Terra Nova by Eric Sanderson.  To say that I'm enjoying this book would be an understatement. I'm actually learning a lot and it's got me thinking about so many different things. One of the chapters begins with this quote:

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.  When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.

~ Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949

I really love this quote and I wish more people took it to heart.  I do my personal best to see our small piece of land as a community.  I think a lot about all the species and plants that live on our lot and how I can best protect and care for them.  I mean....they care for me, don't they?  I don't allow fertilizers, won't use harmful sprays in my garden, absolutely forbid Round-Up.....try to maximize green space....grow plants that are good for the animals, birds, bugs that live here with us.  As I finish this book, our land community is on my mind a lot.  What more can I do?  How can I be better?  How do I teach my girls?

After school today, Clara and I decided to spend some time outside in the crisp cool Fall weather.  When we stepped out into the yard, a large hawk took off from one of our trees and flew right over our heads.  Clara gasped. I looked up into the sunshine and I could see all the gorgeous spots and markings on her plumage as she passed over my head.  At the same time, I was overcome with this sudden gratitude for her presence.

Clara and I checked on the onions and leeks that I planted recently.  

Check.

We monitored the buckwheat crop that I planted.

One half of the bed is growing perfectly and the other half....NOTHING!?!?!?  

As I passed by our parsley plant something caught my eye.......  

......yep, looks pretty normal.  But upon closer inspection....

WOW!  Yeah, there's a community alright.  A community of caterpillars living in my parsley plant.  I counted between 10 and 12 of them.  What a gift.  I have no idea what type of butterflies these will become.  I'm just happy they decided to stop by and stay for a while.  

I love our little land community!

PS ~ I wanted to share a photo of Clara too.  She's quite a little firecracker lately.

No matter how many times I ask, she refuses to wear shoes when we play outside.  Even when it's 50-60 degrees like today.  And she won't let me put her hair up.  She started the day with a ponytail but took it out almost immediately upon arriving at school.  In every single picture I take, her face is covered by hair. YET when I uploaded these photos, I loved how she looked.  She looks like a nature baby to me.  Perfectly at ease barefoot out in the garden....with the sun shining on her curly locks. Collecting leaves and digging in the dirt. Still looking for fresh strawberries even though it's been almost two months since the last one.  Yes, I LOVE my nature baby just the way she is!!

PPS ~ Last night I found this note lying on my phone and bag.

From my big nature baby.  I told her it was one of the nicest notes and presents I'd ever gotten. And I meant it!!!

Gardener in Training....

This week I've been working in the garden a little bit....planting some onions, garlic and leeks.

Being in the garden, I suppose, has prompted Clara to ask me about 50 times a day....

"Where the 'matos go?"

"Where the strawberries go?"

Even when we're away from home, at completely random moments, she'll ask,

"Where the 'matos go?"

I love this.  I tell her they're sleeping underground and they'll be back next year.  Clara seems to like this explanation.

Where the 'matos go?  Every time I think of it, I can't stop smiling.

This is one of those things that I don't want to forget.  Hence this post.

(These photos have nothing to do with this post but they're nice and Fall-like.  They're part of my sprucing up of Hubbell's Garden.)

Because Nature Is Just So Awesome!

Tonight Alain and I were out weeding a couple of beds (yes, I know you're jealous of our exciting Saturday night!) when Alain found a cicada shell lying on the ground.  Shortly after one of us noticed a cicada shell that was left behind on the branch of our tree. Then, of course, we noticed another....and then another.  I was amazed.  Mostly because I never heard the cicadas.  I thought they were only North of us this year.  How could I not get my camera and take some pictures?  If you haven't seen this cicada video, PLEASE WATCH IT and let your children watch it.  I may or may not have seen it about 10 times.  As I uploaded photos from my camera tonight, I thought they were gorgeous and wanted to share....

I went to change out the water in the bird bath and found some feathers floating around. It's nice to know the bath is being used. (It's not located in a spot where I can see it from the house.  We had to put it there because Clara was always messing with it and the top is not super secure!)

Only three days after my "deadheading" in Hubbell's garden, I went outside to find this tiny little Coreopsis bloom about to bust out. Amazing. It was so quick!

My basil plant has totally gone to seed. I can't even keep up anymore.  But I leave it because it attracts LOADS of bees.  And we all know how much I love my bee pictures!

My summer veggies are all dying out now (as you can see from the lovely brown leaves in the picture above).  Aaah, but the marigolds.  They are as large and vibrant as ever!

During a playdate last week Sophie and her friend took some birdseed out of the feeder and planted it in a pot.  She only told me about it a few days after when I asked why she was sneaking outside each day with a cup of water!!!  So far, six sunflowers are sprouting.  Now that's some good trouble to be getting into!

The little bloom that could!

And now for some cicada action....

  

Am I the only one who is so fascinated by these creatures?  (Well, at least I know one other person.....the guy who made that incredible video!  Did you watch it yet?)

I thought I'd part with a shot of one of my daylilies....from tonight at dusk.....so lovely and perfect.

Hope you're all having a lovely, peaceful, happy weekend!

Music To My Eyes....

The past few weeks have been insanely busy (which included a week with Alain away).  Not all of the past few weeks has been happiness, chilled white wine and roses but I don't feel like typing about that today.  Instead, I'll share some of my favorite photos I've taken when I was inspired to pick up my camera.....

Do you remember the SuperMoon?  Wow, it was bright and insanely beautiful.

We made our very first trip to Overlook Park at the Charlotte Airport.  That was kind of fun! 

While my parents were here visiting, I also invited my cousin and her boyfriend over for dinner.  Since Alain was gone, I actually cooked.

I'd checked out Meatless, the vegetarian cookbook from Martha Stewart and decided to try out a few recipes.  I had tons of zucchini and eggplant from the garden so my choices included those.

The dishes just looked pretty and I wanted to take some photos to prove that I really do cook sometimes!

My Bee Balm plant is such a show-off.  I can't stop taking pictures of it!!!

My homegrown cucumbers always make me happy!

This year I bought a flower plant called WhirlyBird.  I love the flowers but, even more so, I love the leaves.

We took this photo to show just how large our zucchini leaves are!  Massive.  We call them elephant ears!

One night Alain and Sophie played Quirkle.  While it's a fun game, I just really love the game tiles!

The first blueberries from my garden.  One of my happiest gardening moments, for sure!

Alain made stuffed peppers/zucchini one night for dinner.  Who wouldn't be inspired to take a photo with all of these gorgeous colors???

More "Whirly" flowers.

These Marigolds are HUGE!

Sungold Tomatoes.  One of my favorite things to grow, for sure!

Turn baby, turn!!!

I took this one a recent nature walk.  Mother Nature's perseverance is always an inspiration to me!

One day's harvest.  There is nothing quite like summer gardening, is there?