~Veggies Are Ready~

We were wondering what we were going to do for this Saturdays market since we sold almost all of our plants last week. The good Lord provided. Our Broccoli is ready to cut, pea's are producing like crazy, and a lot of the Beets are ready.

We only grew 100 heads of Broccoli this spring, and grew a different variety. It is very tasty, and we'll probably grow it again. We'll put in 200 heads this Aug. for fall.

I also had one of my perennials bloom yesterday that I grew from seed two yrs. ago. It did bloom a little last year, but this year it has doubled in size and has buds all over it.

Amber Wheels Gaillardia -

One of my container plantings. I need to take a picture of the whole thing because it's planted in an old seeder. I love to use old farm stuff in my garden.

That's about it for now!
Happy Gardening!
Terry

~A Nice Surprise~

While walking through my garden tonight, I spotted my first Swallowtail Caterpillar in my dill patch. He's already pretty big, so I'll see a beautiful butterfly flying around my garden soon.


I also had a few more blooms open up today. I love this time of year when I go out to the garden and something else is blooming.

Japanese Iris -


Nigella -


Sante Fe Yarrow -


Today I got my bed of Everlastings planted, and tomorrow I'll start putting the 60 Zinnia plants in the ground. They're getting so big they are budding in the greenhouse. We're expecting some rain so hopefully I'll get them planted before it starts. We really do need the rain. It's so funny, a couple of weeks ago, we were getting so much rain, I was praying for it to stop.

Till next time,
Happy Gardening!
Terry

Lots of Blooms

It's amazing what rain followed by a warm spell will do. We came home from market this afternoon and my double Knockout Rose buds were opening up.
It was sure a nice surprise.


Plus, a few other things too.

Gaillardias -



Geum - Mrs. Bradshaw -


I also got some of my annuals planted. Calibrachoa is a favorite of mine in containers. They are self-cleaning and easy to care for.

I have two of these buckets hanging on my shed fence. They are both planted with Amber Star Calibrachoa, and Snowstorm Bacopa.


And a hanging basket of Amber Star and Red Calibrachoa for my hummers.

I have taken my camera to market each week, but we've been so busy I haven't gotten any decent photos to share yet.
We have sold just about every extra plant we grew this year. I've heard that more people are growing a home garden this year because of the ecomony, and I can certainly believe it from what we have sold. All we have left are about a half dozen of pepper plants, basil, dill, and thyme. Hopefully the rest of our broccoli will be in next week so we will have something to put out to sell.

Last of all, I'll leave you with a picture of my gardening pooch. She hates to have her picture taken, and always puts her nose right in the lens. What a girl!
You can tell she was tired and had sniffed everything out there she could find to sniff. She was so ready to head to the house.

Till next time,
Happy Gardening!
Terry

~Spring Blues~

It seems most of the first perennials to bloom every spring are blues...in my garden anyway. I love blues in the garden, especially next to yellows and oranges. But right now seeing these first blooms makes me realize that pretty soon my garden will be in full bloom.

Lupines -


Johnson's Blue Geraniums -


My Nigellas are getting heads on them so they will be opening up soon too. Another plant I adore. I dry the seed heads for arrangements and baskets.

Now, I know this isn't blue, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of the Blood Grass with the light shining through it.


Our second market was a success. We sold really well, in spite of the winds that caused a disaster. We decided to put up one of the side curtains on our tent to block the wind from the tomato plants we had for sale. We knew it was suppose to be quite windy, but didn't realize that our county would experience wind gusts between 55 to 60 mph. The side curtain acted like a sail, and as the tent flew up, my husband grabbed the center of it to keep it from tipping over into our neighbor. That saved the tent, but the table with tomatoes flipped over, and what a mess! We lost 10 of them. I'm just glad nobody was inside our tent at that time so they didn't get hurt! We have 6 in. pvc pipes filled with cement that we attach with bungy cords to each leg, then they are strapped around the leg so they don't 'bounce'. That's 35 lbs. on each leg, and the wind still picked it up like it was nothing. It was pretty scary!
What was heartwarming though was that several of the vendors came over and helped get the table back up, get the tomatoes that were okay situated, and help sweep up the dirt that came out of the containers. We'll have to figure something else out next time the wind is a factor.

Our garden is coming along. Today we got the cucumber trellis up, and we'll get the cukes in the ground tomorrow morning. We're a little late in getting them planted, but with all the rain we've had, it's been impossible. In fact starting Wednesday, it will rain 4 days straight again.
That means the dry days are full and long trying to get things in the ground before it starts up again.

Till next time,
Happy Gardening!
Terry

~What's Blooming~

Happy May!
I guess the old saying April showers bring May flowers is really true. Once the rain stopped, I had a few thing bloom.

This started out as a small clump of Columbine, but this year it has spread and filled the area in nicely. Besides Lilacs, they have to be one of my favorite spring bloomers.


Blue Flax -


Forget Me Nots -

And a beautiful Iris which was a gift from a gardening buddy a few years ago.

Our first Farmers Market Saturday, and was a success. We sold all of our Gourmet Salad blend, all of the Spinach, lots of herbs, Tomato plants, and several of my husbands pickled peppers. Compared with last years first market we sold 40% more, so we were really happy about that.
I took my camera, but we were so busy, it didn't get out of the case, so I don't have any pictures to share. Hopefully next week I'll be able to take a break and get some shots.

We've had 4 days without rain, so we have gotten more beds ready for planting. We're hoping to get some tomatoes in tomorrow.

Here's a picture of the pepper bed. Since this has been taken we have the other rows done and ready to plant.

We have 17 bales of straw being delivered Thursday for the pathways, and hoping the rain holds off so we can get it done.

Till next time,
Happy Gardening!
Terry