You Know What This Means...

Great burlap coffee bean bags, full of 'fresh' compost...thank you Whole Foods!

50 lb. bags of Whole Foods own compost!

Raised garden beds, after the long Winter...

Last years garden yielded so much in joy, and herbs, and color and the wonderful hum of bees...looking forward!

Well, this week was riveting to say the least. Edward made his way to Boston on Thursday, and much to his surprise, wound up on lock-down with the rest of the City on Friday. The stories of healing and heartbreak keep rolling in all in the same breath. Sweet Caroline. I have stopped watching for now. Edward flies back in tomorrow night.

Last year, I 'happened upon' a 50 pound bag of compost, a gift from Whole Foods and my garden was happy happy happy. I was not going to miss that opportunity again! Following the Colorado Springs Whole Foods on Facebook, I saw that yesterday was the day! Jimmy high tailed it over there, and we picked up 3 bags of, might I add, free, compost of their own making. So, you know what this means, this is a great sign, a hopeful moment, that re-planting is in the air, that I can start playing in the dirt once again. Planning a new garden is always exciting and this year is no different. I am wondering if the earth worms I bought lived through the winter, do they need to be replaced. Maybe I'll go digging later and see if I can spot any. Will the Greek Oregano actually come back, will the Honeysuckle bush start to sprout? They should. The work will be easier, as we will not be building the raised garden beds, although I did enjoy the process. I did discover that you can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and purchase wood pallets for about $15, and they are multi-purpose, multi-functional, already nailed together pieces of wood. I might make a potting table with 1 or 2 of them. We'll see. In the meantime yesterday was a start, a joyful, hopeful moment, exactly as Spring should be!

The 'Big' Experiment...Update!

Remember what everything looked like 2 months ago...

Four varieties of basil, honeysuckle, sweet red peppers

Greek oregano, sweet green peppers, purple basil, dill, cilantro, honeysuckle, clematis

Beautiful, plentiful basil

Greek oregano growing low and spreading out, purple basil, sweet peppers, dill, cilantro, honeysuckle, clematis

One of 4 lavender plants..in big terra cotta planters..

A MOST welcomed guest...

Look @ him/her!!!!

It was an experiment. I was compelled to plant, to grow things, to somehow replicate 'a garden'. I had no soil to speak of and it bears repeating, (as I still can hardly believe it), we are 6000 feet in the air. The discovery of the raised garden bed was my only hope. So, w/ a 50 pound bag of mulch from Whole Foods, many many many many cubits of soil later, earth worms (yes, I actually went to Petco and bough a container of about 50 earthworms...no laughing), full sun and water, I would say that the garden has been 95% successful. I now have 4 kinds of basil, and have been enjoying the flowerettes this year as well. There is nothing like fresh dill on baked salmon. Cilantro...I have found that w/ the cilantro as well, the flowerettes are not as strong as the leaf. Add the cilantro (leaf or flowerettes) to some roughly mashed avocado, chopped tomatoes, a pinch of Kosher salt, a dash of lemon juice and some olive oil...oh my goodness, what a burst of flavors! My Greek oregano is a gift which keeps on giving. I had enough from last years' garden in Rhode Island to bring to Colorado, and now, I can see that I will have my fill once again...hopefully to taking me right through the winter and into next years' planting. I have planted red and green peppers which are now starting to blossom, along w/ tomatoes which are also starting to flower. The honeysuckle vines are growing up the trellis, along w/ the clematis, which has blossomed. I did loose one clematis and the strawberries just whithered. I also have 4 lavender plants growing which I will cut back when the weather cools and dry for their calming aroma. It is wonderful to wake up every morning to the sight of all this green, to touch the soil, to see how everything has grown overnight. Next year, maybe 2 more raised garden beds...in the meantime, 'whew'...really grateful!

There'sThere's More Than One Way to Skin a...to Grow a Garden!!!

So, here we are in Colorado Springs, 6000 feet in the air. It is beautiful...however, the back of our house is all stonework. The research began almost immediately...how on earth was I going to grow anything, let alone an entire garden. Well, enter the web site, Pinterest. It is here where I saw hundreds of images of gardens in every way, shape or form which you could possibly imagine. It is here where I realized that if you want to grow a plant or a flower, that just about any kind of container will work....from a wooden wine box to a plastic liter bottle...anything. It is here where I saw raised garden beds. Basically, a raised garden bed is a large bottomless box which is hammered into the ground and filled w/ soil. It separates your herbs from your veggies or flowers, or whatever your plan may be. It is very neat looking. So, my thought was, if I get a raised garden bed, I will have to put a bottom or floor on it and actually raise it. A good thought. Lo and behold, there I was @ Lowe's one day, and they were selling raised garden bed 'kits'....cedar...affordable....and it had a trellis! I looked @ Home Depot and this one was much nicer. I bought 2. Putting it together was easy, but I needed help w/ the floor. We went back to Lowe's and bought double thick flooring, literally. The garden bed is 4'x4', so thankfully, cutting a large sheet of the flooring in 1/2 was a perfect fit...again, thank you Lowe's. I called in help to actually put the floor on...enter Michael Steiner. If I could have done it myself I would have, but, he's got the power tools. Construction 1-0-1. The floor was on and the drainage holes were drilled. (Someone will be the recipient of some fresh herbs before summers end!)Finally, we were @ Home Depot just last week and I bought 2 wood pallets to  'raise' the garden beds. It was a perfect match. After 50lbs. of compost, 8 bags of 2 cubits of MiracleGro, I was ready to start planting...which I did, yesterday!!! I'm just getting warmed up, but I did buy Honeysuckle for the trellis, Greek oregano and Greek basil. It looks beautiful and I have room for 2 or 3 more raised garden beds. This is a mighty good start. The bottom line is I am thrilled and hopefully, everything will actually grow!!! The learning curve continues...more to come!!

Wordless Wednesday

'Ev’ry honeybee.... fills with jealousy

When they see you out with me

I don’t blame them....goodness knows

Honeysuckle rose'

Louis Armstrong
Pawtuxet Cove, R.I., June 2011

The Sweet Honeysuckle

It happens every spring. I catch of whiff and I know I have just been blessed. The life of the fragrant honeysuckle lasts but only a short time. I wish that I could bottle the sweet aroma of the honeysuckle and keep it close by. Some of the flowers produce an edible nectar.

There is a wild vine which grows by the Stillhouse Cove. I plan to bring some cut vines home, root them, and grow them in my yard.
This, my friends, is a slice of heaven.