School is still going on....kids still need three meals a day....laundry still has to be done...
Now that the green growing things are beckoning me, how will I get all those things done AND play in the dirt?
The struggle is real, folks!
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
That's Good, That's Bad
Green things are coming up out of the ground outside!! I've waited many, many months for this to happen! This is good!!
But wait!
School is still going on....kids still need three meals a day....laundry still has to be done...
Now that the green growing things are beckoning me, how will I get all those things done AND play in the dirt?
The struggle is real, folks!
School is still going on....kids still need three meals a day....laundry still has to be done...
Now that the green growing things are beckoning me, how will I get all those things done AND play in the dirt?
The struggle is real, folks!
Eviction Notice
Went out to visit my garden today and noticed a whole bunch of these lovely critters on Marcus' rose bush.
I am not happy! I like a lot of things from Japan, but these beetles are not some of them :-(
Apparently I'm supposed to hand pick them off of the bush in the morning. Well, that will be fun!
Winter Wonderland
Okay, I know it's April, and we in Minnesota are VERY tired of the snow that just can't seem to stop falling, but...
this morning was just plain beautiful! So, while most of the country is basking in springtime, we get to continue to enjoy the beauty of snow-flocked trees. Btw, I am totally NOT being sarcastic here (strange for me, I know).
I love my yard no matter what time of year it is (except, perhaps, when I have to rake leaves in the fall), but snow makes it look downright magical!
this morning was just plain beautiful! So, while most of the country is basking in springtime, we get to continue to enjoy the beauty of snow-flocked trees. Btw, I am totally NOT being sarcastic here (strange for me, I know).
I love my yard no matter what time of year it is (except, perhaps, when I have to rake leaves in the fall), but snow makes it look downright magical!
So today, on April 23, 2013, I am thankful for a yard full of white stuff!
A Little Bit of Paradise
Every year at this time I write essentially the same blog post, telling anyone within two hours drive of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, that they should REALLY go pick blueberries at Rush River Produce! This year will be no different.
You really, really, REALLy should go pick blueberries at Rush River Produce!
I kid you not, they have the best tasting blueberries there, EVER. Not only are the blueberries outstanding, the owners are super friendly and encourage you to eat while you pick, and the setting is positively pastoral! If I could pass a blueberry through the internet for you to taste, you would quickly see that I am telling the truth. They're amazing!
Since you can't taste the blueberries, you'll have to just look at the pictures and imagine what they taste like.
Don't they look amazing?!
Here I am directing the kids to prime blueberries :-)
Raelea's a pro at this! She's been coming her since she was a baby.
Marcus picked several pounds by himself.
Zoe ate several pounds by herself. Literally, she spent the entire time we were there doing this...
Not only do Terry & John grow spectacular blueberries, they have amazing gardens, as well.
Okay, now you've seen it with your own eyes, do you believe me? There are a lot of blueberries just waiting to be picked :-)
You really, really, REALLy should go pick blueberries at Rush River Produce!
I kid you not, they have the best tasting blueberries there, EVER. Not only are the blueberries outstanding, the owners are super friendly and encourage you to eat while you pick, and the setting is positively pastoral! If I could pass a blueberry through the internet for you to taste, you would quickly see that I am telling the truth. They're amazing!
Since you can't taste the blueberries, you'll have to just look at the pictures and imagine what they taste like.
Don't they look amazing?!
Here I am directing the kids to prime blueberries :-)
Raelea's a pro at this! She's been coming her since she was a baby.
Marcus picked several pounds by himself.
Zoe ate several pounds by herself. Literally, she spent the entire time we were there doing this...
Not only do Terry & John grow spectacular blueberries, they have amazing gardens, as well.
As a bonus to this year's post, we will also recommend an ice cream place to go to after you've picked your berries! Flat Pennies Ice Cream in Bay City, Wisconsin, has extremely tasty ice cream to top off your stomach after eating all those blueberries. A special thanks to my friend Wendy for recommending Flat Pennies to us!
Tradition, Tradition
I'm all about tradition around here, and Mother's Day is no different.
Every Mother's Day finds me out in the yard planting my annuals. Living in Minnesota, we're not supposed to plant our annuals until after May 15. Since Mother's Day falls right around there, I always plant on Mother's Day.
I find few things in life more enjoyable than adding summer color to my yard :-)
I hope all you moms had a great Mother's Day doing what you enjoy most!
Therapeutic Gardening
I've frequently said out here that I blog because it's cheaper than therapy. The same could be said for gardening. When my life is stressful and I need to "get away," I frequently take to weeding the garden (or the lawn). I find it very calming for my spirit :-)
Thankfully, my garden is full of weeds, so I will have lots and lots of opportunities to de-stress outside this spring and summer! I'm not sure where this feeling of gardening as therapy came from, but I was talking to my sister this past weekend and she said the same thing. Maybe our parents caused this by all the weeding we had to do as children :-)
The other day, a particularly stress-filled day, I was out in my perennial garden weeding. I have one plant that has a LOT of grass growing in it. My goal was to get all the grass out of the plant that day. As I was pulling the weeds, some of them came out by the roots (good), but some of them broke off and the roots remained in the ground (bad). It occurred to me that it is like that with the weeds in our family and the weeds in my own life. Sometimes we get the weed pulled out all the way down at the roots and it is gone...for good, and sometimes it just breaks off with the roots still planted, only to grow back in a short amount of time.
The other thing that happened, when I was not being careful about my weeding, is that sometimes I would pull out some of my healthy plant along with the weed. This happens too in real life, doesn't it? We aren't careful about our approach to the "weeds" in our children's lives and we do more harm than good in our poor attempt to help them.
I do know that the longer the weeds were allowed to grow in my plant, the harder they were to remove, sometimes intertwining with the roots of the real plant.
I do know that my plant will be happier and grow better without all those weeds in it. (Yes, my plant can be happy if I want it to be!)
Thankfully, my garden is full of weeds, so I will have lots and lots of opportunities to de-stress outside this spring and summer! I'm not sure where this feeling of gardening as therapy came from, but I was talking to my sister this past weekend and she said the same thing. Maybe our parents caused this by all the weeding we had to do as children :-)
The other day, a particularly stress-filled day, I was out in my perennial garden weeding. I have one plant that has a LOT of grass growing in it. My goal was to get all the grass out of the plant that day. As I was pulling the weeds, some of them came out by the roots (good), but some of them broke off and the roots remained in the ground (bad). It occurred to me that it is like that with the weeds in our family and the weeds in my own life. Sometimes we get the weed pulled out all the way down at the roots and it is gone...for good, and sometimes it just breaks off with the roots still planted, only to grow back in a short amount of time.
The other thing that happened, when I was not being careful about my weeding, is that sometimes I would pull out some of my healthy plant along with the weed. This happens too in real life, doesn't it? We aren't careful about our approach to the "weeds" in our children's lives and we do more harm than good in our poor attempt to help them.
I do know that the longer the weeds were allowed to grow in my plant, the harder they were to remove, sometimes intertwining with the roots of the real plant.
I do know that my plant will be happier and grow better without all those weeds in it. (Yes, my plant can be happy if I want it to be!)
It's Time
You can only hold on to sumer for so long. Eventually, you have to admit defeat and give in to the inevitable fact that it is OVER! This is something I resist every year, as I am not a fan of winter, but even I must admit that my hopes for another Indian Summer are probably in vain.
I turned on the furnace this week.
I brought my winter clothes out of storage.
I evan wore a winter coat a few days this week.
Now, it has come to this as well...
The basil is being harvested. We've fought the good fight: planting, watering, pruning, covering up on cold nights - but it is time to let it go. :-(
The killing frost most certainly is only a day or two away. So, I will make a couple more batches of pesto and leave the basil to fend for itself out in the garden.
I'm sorry, Basil, I've resigned myself to the inevitable. So long!
I turned on the furnace this week.
I brought my winter clothes out of storage.
I evan wore a winter coat a few days this week.
Now, it has come to this as well...
The basil is being harvested. We've fought the good fight: planting, watering, pruning, covering up on cold nights - but it is time to let it go. :-(
The killing frost most certainly is only a day or two away. So, I will make a couple more batches of pesto and leave the basil to fend for itself out in the garden.
I'm sorry, Basil, I've resigned myself to the inevitable. So long!
Introducing....
I've had her for many, many years; probably around 20. This is an accomplishment because, despite my fondness of plants, I am not particularly adept at keeping them alive. When I was younger I used to over-water all my plants and their roots would rot out. Because of this, I've developed a habit of under-watering them. This means that the only plants that survive at my house are the really hardy kind; the kind that can survive drought conditions.
My beautiful rubber tree plant is one of those hardy pieces of flora.
Now, we live in Minnesota, so the dear plant cannot be outside year-round. It can, however, be brought out over the summer months. During this time, my plant is VERY happy. It gets the heat it desires, it gets watered more than once every two weeks. it gets lots of fresh air. It's so happy that it grows and grows and grows! This makes me happy :-)
This makes my husband unhappy :-(
You see, because we live in Minnesota, my dear rubber tree plant cannot STAY outside most of the year, so it stays in...my dining room. Well, technically, it takes over my dining room because my rubber plant measures about nine feet wide, five feet deep and six feet tall. In a dining room that is about 12 by 14, THE plant takes up....more than it's share of space. Especially considering that we have a table in there that seats 10, as well.
About this time every year, my dear, sweet husband nicely requests that I "cut back" the rubber plant. This is painful for me, as I hate cutting beautiful healthy branches off of plants. It makes me...sad. Most years, I cut back a teeny-tiny bit on the plant hoping to placate my wonderful husband. And, bless his heart, despite the eye-rolling, he has never taken a knife to my tree on his own (I love you, dear!!!).
Well, this year my plant has done extremely well outside. So well, that even I can see that it is NOT going to "fit" into the dining room in a few weeks. So, this morning I steeled myself and took a knife and pruned my lovely tree down to a truly manageable size. Sniff, sniff.
Here are the finished results...
You're welcome, Chris!
Planting!
Oh!! I Am Livid!
Grrrr!
You know that beautiful yellow daisy that I posted a picture of on Saturday?
You know that beautiful yellow daisy that I posted a picture of on Saturday?
Yes, this one. It has such a pretty combination of yellow and purple. Isn't it pretty? Well, it's GONE! Yes, some sort of little furry creature has eaten it right down to the dirt!
Now, I love furry little creatures as much as, maybe more so, than the next person, but right now I could string that furry little guy up by his toenails!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!
Looking Forward To Flowers
I am anxious to get my annuals in the ground and start seeing my perennials bloom! For the time being, I will have to settle for pictures from last year...
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