my premier crop and seed storage method

the best method I've found...just store the seeds, the seeds you've successfully dried that is, in a container that rodents cannot breach and keep the whole mess out in the shed..none of this seed in the fridge business for me. Of course the great outdoors is pretty much a freezer so it's all good. If you live in Florida pay no attention.


I challenge anyone to show me a better rock crop..this is the second bunch of stones pulled out in attempts to prep these little raised beds. The rocks get dumped/heaved more or less on the stone walls or in my mini quarry where the little tiny chain gang of my mind is busting them up!

transition time

It's official; time had fallen backwards.
Gathering up enthusiasm for the final push of chores before the ground is covered with snow. The problem is that everything seems to conspire to distract me this time of year. But what an exquisite distraction. I could spend a spare lifetime just looking at frosty milkweed.

If I have learned anything about gardening, at least in northern New England, it is that anything one can do in the autumn to lessen the work required in the spring is a very good thing indeed. Needless to say I don't believe it can be done completely but theoretically one must at least take a stab at it. And, as the old adage goes every little bit helps. Here, where most of the winter we have about 3' of snow, even how I leave things in the out buildings have to have a sort of order of what I'll need first in the spring when things get cracking again. I'll experiment trying some four season stuff this year but for all intents and purposes I garden, if lucky, only two and a halfish seasons. I've yet to estasblish a satisfactory cold frame/poly tunnel set up that truly fits the bill but I live in hope, (at least as it concerns improving my gardening knowledge and practical skills).
If I can claim any success this year it is in the area of gathering data and gettin' ideas. The future: bigger, better, lusher...lusher? is that a word?

what, a nor'easter you say?

Well, we dodged a weather bullet here in northern New England the last few days..so what better time to zip up to Maine to check out the surf? It's always great when the beaches are all yours.

But now it's home again, home again jiggity jig. Normally taking a few days away this time of year might be problematic but one thing about having a lousy harvest is there's less to do at this normally labor intensive time of year. But heaven know there's still a ton to do. Time to hop to it.

last minute mowing and the once & future vegetable garden

We've got some weather coming our way and today, I must admit, was the first time I really felt the cold.
I have alot of lawn to look at...well, alot of grass mixed with other stuff that passes for 'lawn' and that's fine with me except I'm no fan of mowing. I've hayed fields and mown more than my share of landscape and it's not just the noise and using fossil fuels that bugs me. I don't get into the 'meditation' of it. I don't hate it, I'd just rather allocate the time for other gardening matters. Luckily it only falls to me about half the time.
But today I felt an urgency as we are expecting some white stuff and even if it doesn't stick it's psychological impact is strong. Anyhoo, I keep raking to a minimum so the leaves get mulched into the lawn, that's it for my fertilizing. Seems to work. So a final buzz cut. Hope is that much of this area will have vegetables growing on it in the not too distant future. The good news is that it was a veg garden in the past so it'll be relatively rock free. The bad news is it's a very wet area so some serious raised beds would be needed. But whatever is decided my mantra is to not bite off more than I can chew. (Good luck with that one, Randi)
So, the woodstove is pretty much on full time duty now and I find myself hunting down hearty recipes. I've got a fava bean chili going at the moment. Could be interesting.

another day in Vermont

Well, El put a bee in my bonnet the other day when I read her post on legitimately, (that is: knowing what she's doing), foraging for wild mushrooms. I, on the other hand, know nothing about fungi. BUT! I've had a ball looking around the last few days on my walks and have begun at least to read a bit on the topic. Tried to find the variety of that bright orange monster but am still looking. If you know fill me in please. So today, Sunday, a day in nature worthy of worship... here it is.

quintessential aromatherapy

Walking in October with Effie, Egil and Cabot is a treat.
Walking is a treat and breathing in and out is exquisite when the air is so clean and it's about to rain and the earth is fecund and so spicily perfumed that it is not to be described but to be inhaled.

I should not consider it, (daily long tramps), an indulgence. I should and do consider it my health care insurance. We did our 4 mile loop along the river and I dillydallyed today, taking time to stare at the shrooms, lichen, leaves, fungi and on. But deep breathing was at the root of it. I noted that were I able to bottle and sell said aroma I would be wealthy. So, another day, more gratitude, woodstove going, baked squash and apple pie from the fallen apples. Not for a second today will I not be conscious that Life is indeed good.

end of's and were they thinking what I've been thinking

At the end of some things now. Basil has it's finale. Still smells great..the last hurrah to fresh pesto for the season. Hurrah!
And putting seed away...which means drying and separating seed from chaff..here's where I got to wondering if 'they', (by they I mean the thousands of generations before me of mostly women performing some version of the same task), thought as I did while seed cleaning. My crude, no machines except me, method requires alot of shaking and blowing with assistance from the prevailing winds. It's sorta fun, sometimes meditative and occasionally induces one to involuntarily inhale clouds of stuff should you get distracted or the wind gets the rascal in her.
My seed harvest is pretty measly this year, not much atall in the way of veggies but I've managed a few odds and ends and already am mentally cheerleading my way into next year with some 'the odds must be with me' calculations. Calculations means hope. Ha!
But hey, autumn provides the most scenic backdrop for deep thinking. Double HA!

day tripping

some days in the autumn are just for roving about...

light frosts, reflections, gettin' ready

I've not posted anything for a bit because, like everyone else, I've been busy. Unlike the many I admire here I've found nothing terribly instructive or amusing to yak about. I am still very much a student and glean what I can from those who've been immersed in the 'gardening/farming sustainability game' longer than I have.

We've had a few light frosts that've killed off the leaves on things like the squash plants but have left other things still struggling on. I check them out and work around them. I gather seed and from all the wonderful blogs I read I also gather priceless info. If for no other reason I will be forever grateful to the interwebs for such a cornucopia of knowledge.

Additionally, it's also the time of year to do alot of other chores, i.e., painting/staining things that the literally endless rains of summer prevented me from tackling earlier. So it's hurry up time now.
Anyone who lives in the country, or even quasi-countryish living, especially this far North, knows how much lugging, lifting, storing and preparing for the weather to come entails, even for me who is still lightyears from true sustainability. One is forced to think ahead...maybe that's the crux of the whole philosophy of sustainability, thinking ahead, what a novel notion! Wouldn't it be a kick if our politicians did such a radical thing?!


After this rather unsuccessful season growing my own has taken on a tremendous significance. I suspect that for many of us it's a stab at counterbalancing that utter feeling of powerlessness one has with every glance at the headlines. There is an undeniable political aspect to this notion of self reliance and in my daydream world I fantasize all those wasted suburban lawns and vacant city lots turned to healthful production. Where kids actually got the connection about where their food actually comes from..ah me. Unlike many I read who are naturally more optimistic than I, I don't envision such a thing happening until the trucks that roll no longer do so, and the shelves where the twinkies calcify are empty and the fryers of MacDonalds are cold will we see true change. And though I'm a world weary cynical old crone in my more even moments even I dare to hope a little.
Imagine this country not chronically ill from eating garbage and sitting sedentary all day. Can you? If so please let me know, I need a lift.

Euchaetes egle, I presume

aka milkweed tussock caterpiller or milkweed tiger moth...........in any event some serious munchitation is taking place....no frost yet but there's a nip in the air, leaves begin to turn and chore lists shift to autumn mode.

One of the good things about

sweet annie, love lies bleeding, edamame
pole beans
an only slightly disorganized tableau

from an only slightly disorganized gal

One of the good things about getting old, (I'm 57 to put it in context), is that you care less and less any rodents ass what others think of you. Truly it's one of the few blessings of waddling toward decrepitude. So while taking these snaps I felt none of the 'if only my projects weren't such a mess' feelings. I'm gathering seed, drying stuff and potting tenders up. It's messy.
So I got to thinking about housekeeping and design and that led me to thinking about the sort of aesthetic I've always admired. I love spare, uncluttered, simple motifs in most things. I have always pretty much held this sort of appreciation and YET I live as most others do who find themselves in what passes for the country these days; overflowing with interesting doodads, aka cluttered. Stuff accumulates. Some of it is useful or might be useful down the pike. Or there might be an object that is aged and deserves respect simply for making it this far despite the dings, nicks or long faded patina. Am I talking about an old metal rake or am I talking about me?

since it's raining anyway

Unsettled weather. Moist. Again. What else is new?

It went into the high 30's here the other night so I'm already holding my breath to see how long we can last before first frost. We certainly deserve an Indian Summer but who knows? I've managed to do some freezing, canning, seed collecting, blight bagging as well as some dreaming and scheming for next years foray. I've made a tomato curry chutney inspired by Grow The Change, Calendula Lip Balm inspired by Fast Grow The Weeds, jalepeno blueberry jelly inspired by 'What to do with all these berries?'.

Truly that's the beauty of growing one's own. It's so dashedly hopefilled. Dashedly? (I also use an over-the-top fakey Cockney accent when addressing one of my neighbors who I affectionately call 'Guvna'. I think it's hilarious EVERY time. He is of old Yankee stock and remains, I believe, nonplussed.)

But back to the gardens. So much beauty, so many small dramas. The blue jays begin their annual Bacchanalia on the blueberries. They wait all year for this chance to get even louder as they tie one on. Apples on the old trees fall for the deer. And everything scrambles to go to seed. Who can not be moved?

the everlivin' gall

Several goldenrod plants were so blemished I noted on my walk today. Seems there are parasitic critters who enjoy a bit of boring and breeding, I'm thinking Gnoremoschema gallaesolidagnis. I'll inspect further tomorrow.
But hey! Good news citizens! There are some days that are so deliciously exquisite in their simple beauty. Today was such a day for me. Quiet, lovely, relatively productive but with a large helping of free time to wander and ponder and sing Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day'.
What a great day!

blueberries and blight

I have yet to resort to making a castor bean stew to end all my travails!
this 'thing' is a melon, that, if it reaches maturity before first frost, will stun me!
antique blueberry/cranberry rake...don't use it on my bushes but am sometimes tempted to speed up the process.
one day picking
blighty refuse to be bagged

Yes, we've been hit with the plague and it's not pretty. I hold at least some scant hope of a bit of a harvest but the longer I wait to pull entire plants and bag them the more the spores spread, especially with the humidity we are experiencing. The tomatoes themselves are secondary to my fears of what may lurk in my soil for ever after so I research and hope the cold of winter and a less seasonally insane summer next year will take care of the problem.
How did the funk get here? Clearly my bad. I grew 90+% of my tomatoes from seed here but did buy a few heirloom varieties from small, local nurseries where I was assured the plants were grown on site. But I work in a nursery and we, along with all the others buy in ornamental plants from other states and I know that some of trucks that delivered to us also delivered to box stores so the epidemic spread like wildfire. Of course I, along with all other growers, would have loved to have known earlier but Pandora's box cannot now be closed. Argggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
I do have some tomato plants that haven't been hit because they are some distance from the main growing area. My left overs, default plants...Snort!
(Randi takes a cleansing breath).

However crappily most of my efforts have been this year there is one thing that remains carefree and abundant. The highbush blueberries here are over 30 years old and produce happily for us as well as the birds! I've been living on them for a couple weeks now and I begin to take on a slightly bluish tinge. I'll be freezing most and making some sort of jammy jelly stuff as well.

homegrown anguish

Edvard Munch eat you heart out ~ just makes you want to scream!

It's August Already!

Digitalis ferruginea has become a favorite of mine, begun a few years ago from seed. Once established they make a terrific upright stand. Group 10 or 15 plants together for impact.
Finally harvested some of the default cucumbers, actually it's been a fun experiment growing these other than reminding myself to water and fert regularly.

There are sloping perennial islands here created in areas where ledge had nudged it's nose above ground making mowing around them impossible. Planting perennials around the stone has been a great solution. The beds have grown through the years without much thought to design. Over the last couple of years I've had a bit more time to move things about and shovel prune to my hearts content. That being said my perennial beds are still packed. I have always planted tightly so I begin to seriously cut back/deadhead this time of year. If I waited any longer I'd have to be doing it into January. A few things are allowed to go to seed, some are left for the much ballyhooed 'winter interest, (which is pretty meaningless here as we have 3 ft of snow through most of the six months of winter),' and some years I am neglectful and wait until Spring. But I've learned the hard way it's best to begin clean up in a timely fashion.
Add to that a year where the plants have stretched for non existent sunshine and been beaten down daily by rainfall and the flopping has reached record proportions.
So I'm weeding/cutting back yesterday and suddenly it felt as if someone dropped something on my back. Not painful, just distinct. I keep snipping away at the daisies until I discover a nest with three eggs. I put it together and felt terrible for exposing a gaping hole in what used to be a pretty well disguised jungle. In all my years landscaping I'd never come across a nest like this. Later I come back and discover mom on her nest. I give her props for divebombing me, what instinct! I don't even want to think of the odds for survival especially with the feline population hereabouts.

When Will I learn?

Flash Flood Watch in effect....apparently even mentioning a few hours of sun or heat tempts fate. I waddle over another philosophical gardening hurdle. I settle in. Let's not call it resignation let's call it achieving a sort of zen. Yeah, that sounds good. Zen.

Apres Moi, Le Deluge

16 year old Shamus getting stoned in what's left of the catnip patch
wood finds it's place
daylilies finally have a bit of sun


Ceci n'est pas une pipe - it's my homemade cuke holder upper, don't think I'll be marketing this design right away
And hall of loojaws, those are my peaches! Now mind you two Reliance were put in this Spring and only this one has fruit, and no, these peaches will never be as sweet, large and juicy and those south of here but I am tickled just to have any. Coincidentally I visited a long established orchard a couple days ago not too far from me and they were selling these very same peaches and I checked out their mature trees. Seeing is believing.

The good news is that though we have our daily rains we finally have some heat to go with it AND there seem to be longer stretches between each downpour.

So here I sit, chased in by freshening winds turning the leaves inside out and the increasingly greying skies BUT at least it's not cold! I hear rumbling too, just a matter of time so blog quickly before the power goes out.

"Ain't No Sunshine When...."

this sums it up
blueberries looking great but require sunshine for true sweetness
do I have to say anything?
black pearl peppers from seed I saved last year
a soggy view

I suppose a good portion of blogging might be about kvetching and bemoaning one's situation because, after all, it is essentially keeping a journal. The difference of course is that it's 'out there' in the ether. Those blogs I most enjoy reading are, not surprisingly, those that impart some info. The well written and witty part is just about as important.
It's been about a week since I tried to jot something down but I have indeed been thinking about what to say without whining and have come up with squat. This is the longest stretch, in my recollection, that such a weather pattern has stalled above me and it has taken it's toll. Mom told us that if we have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all, and yeah, I get that.....but.......
So we play games with ourselves, in many ways my head is already jumping forward to tasks non gardening, even wintery. And I cannot describe this season as a total bust as it is not yet over. So, I'll hold my breath, keep my pinkies crossed and stack wood.

Default Cukes and Fresh Seeds!

I once talked to a guy from a big seed company who divulged their less than stellar practice of mixing old seed with new to stretch seed and achieve an 'acceptable' germination percentage. I've often noted and actually come to expect shoddy germination rates from many seed companies but that certainly cannot be said of the lovely seed I received from Mike. This is day 3ish above ground for these guys. I started them inside mostly because the torrential, constant downpours we've been having would wash out any outside sown seed. At least this way they have a fighting chance and judging by their vigor it's looking good.

Okay, this is my default cucumber. I have 2 hanging cuke containers and 3 hanging tomato containers in the shack as my back up and considering what's been going on I'm glad I did. The outside cuke disaster is killing me especially as I made two trellises out of old metal bed frames with wild expectations of bumper crops. Harump!
A love-in-a-puffy-mistball nigella

Today, like yesterday, threatened repeatedly to crack open and pour but I chose to ignore and forge ahead with much needed weeding and cutting back and prepping ground for my my next round of seedlings. I'm glancing at the sky right now and ominous does not begin to describe so I'm glad I got 'er done.
Feelin' good now old girl? Check.

afternoon wander

these are the magnificent leeks I thought were goners a few months ago
single 'black' somnifera poppy
Mom tells me the name of this rose is Dorothy Perkins, it's a reliable old climber
Macy's Pride, I sniffed this at New England Grows a few years ago and was sold. Not only terrific fragrance but seems to withstand the cold as well as my negligence.

a surprisingly pristine daisy
oh man, these tomatoes WILL ripen!
another poppy
oh yes my friends, that is actually a green bean!
can't resist showing the sky...I check it a million times a day to reassure myself there is actually some blue going on up there. The sweetpeas have loved every moment of our unseasonable season.
hyacinth beans
cheerful, undemanding daylilies.


Today I did no work in the gardens but did manage a little walkabout to graze on gooseberries and even some ripening raspberries. Tomorrow I'll carve out some time for garden chores but that's tomorrow.

Kangaroo Apple

Happily I can report somehow managing to rid myself of several vices over the decades but one addiction remains strong and growing; trying new plants. I seek them out. I even work seasonally where I do the lions share of plant ordering and have great range to try new stuff in the form of seed,plug,bareroot, what have you. That being said I can't get everything so when I do get time to hit a few of my favorite nurseries I scan continually for, well, something NEW!
This Solanum laciniatum is from New Zealand, gets about 5' tall and the fruits promise to turn orange. It says it then can be processed and made into jam. Ha! I planted this guy a couple months ago, when it was much smaller, in a pot, thinking ahead to when I might have to drag it back into the shack to escape frost. I may sink the pot in the ground in full sun now that it's showing some production. In any event I'll definitely be saving the seeds of this monster so if any of my 3 readers have any interest let me know.

Did you notice I mentioned the sun? It's been a very tentative week...cool, some sun, plenty of clouds and still lots of rain. The bugs still feast on with great drama and no signs of stopping. Sheesh.

I also managed to sow in some very special seeds from the West. I am so excited to extend my season especially from seeds grown for we who are zonally challenged in cold mountains. Many, many thanks to my pal Mike from Subsistence Pattern.

This coming week I'll be turning my attention to beans and tomatoes, perhaps i can coax them on a bit. Hmmmmmm.

a patch of blue

Something new. The first day in a long time without rain. Of course the day is not over yet but the blue up there keeps trying to share the sky with the seemingly permanent residents known as clouds-that-threaten. But hey, we'll take what we can get. And what we are getting here is an unwinable scenario. They'll be no 'catching up' this year. Our best hope is to just hold ground.
Anyway, the rain and the rot and the slugs and the cold and the vigorous weed growth keep me humble. These past few weeks have found me 'thinking'...rut ro that's trouble! I've made the not so momentous decision to work on those gardening things I can and limit the energy spent bemoaning that which I have zippo control over..For that matter, what do we have any control over? Another post.
I've sprayed the fruits with kaolin finally as today was the first that could be described as dry enough to apply anything..and just in time as I squished my first four mature JBs. I was reading a post somewhere where someone was saying that the whole Japanese beetle season for them was 2 weeks from beginning to end..hmmm..not the case here.
I believe, since I'm still digging them up daily at every possible size, that they like it here, enjoy it so much they stick around the better part of two months. They are not fly by night residents, their attendance can be relied upon.

Otherwise, still plugging along: weeding, staking, propping, cutting, spitting, muttering, apologizing, smirking and wondering.

Adzukis and me

Ok, let's get this right out in the open.


Unlike most of you, I am not much of a cook. My excuse is that for much of my life meals have been left to those in the household who have some passion for the process, that special quality reserved for those I called 'intuitive' cooks/chefs. I've been a lusty appreciator all my life, been exposed to many wonderful cuisines, but have seldom been the one who actually does the work.

I guess you could classify my ability level as a capable maker of pesto, hummus, salads, spaghetti sauce, omelets and your basic chicken dinner.
However, I could not bake my way out of a paper bag.
But I find myself doing alot more experimenting these days as both my diet and my interest in vegetable growing has shifted.

Yet I have been making my own sprouts for nearly 30 years, admittedly the bulk of which have been alfalfa...what can I say I love alfalfa sprouts. I'm growing alfalfa just for the seed.

So where do the adzuki beans fit into this story? About a month ago I found myself at a high end nursery/garden center many kliks from home and caught myself staring at packs of sprouting seeds from Thomson&Morgan. Adzuki? What is this? I'd come around recently to mung beans and love them so hey, here's something new to you Randi.
Fast forward: Back home..hey, why not put some of these tiny beans in the ground? OK, let's.
A few weeks pass: I'm strolling along and notice these things..oh yeah..I should find out something about them. I do. They take about 120 days! haha! I'll have to build a plastic hoop over them in early September as I understand they don't take kindly to frost.

I'll keep you posted.

Old Bag Gets ProActive!

Considering the measure of moisture out there describing today's activities as 'dusting myself off' is sort of, well, laughable. However I have completed the metaphorical dust off and have set my stubborn little noggin in an onward and upward direction. Good grief, what a sentence.

In any event today involved purchase of Surround, the kaolin clay spray, as suggested by her Wonderfulness, El. That got me started off properly with a game plan of attack for the despised Japanese beetles. I am excited to try it.

Add to that donation of about 30 lbs of frozen blueberries to food bank, (not so much true altruism as I need freezer space for the one thing that have never disappointed here, blueberries. Lots of them/Always). This years crop looks to be magnificent and right on schedule.

Add to that a new grape vine,
Catabwa ,tiny grapes included. Please don't ask where I eventually planted it as the future pergola that will support it is as yet only a figment of my imagination. But it's in the ground and I heard it go 'Ahhhh' as it shed it's plastic pot.

Add a bit of re-stocking of some pumpkin and squash from 'work' where they've been growing on unmolested in big greenhouse and I righted a bit of my cockeyed Vermont veggie world.

So, today's lesson...Never Give Up.


oh, oh I also wanted to add that I'll be making a list of seeds I'm happy to share with anyone interested, mostly flowers but we'll see what happens with the plants as the season progresses. Pinkies crossed.

entering week 3 of daily moisture

And it's not so funny anymore. The vegetables, without sunshine, seem unable to mount a decent defense against the onslaught of insect predation. The usual suspects are having a field day on the potatoes and what laughingly are referred to as 'squash seedlings'. The squash business really steams me as it was the ONE thing I wanted most to harvest in abundance. Now I'll feel happy to get a handful of butternut. I know there's always next year but I constantly think of those who lived long ago who did not have the convenience of grocery stores and a failed crop was serious business indeed.

So, speaking of predation, mine has just begun...just came in from a 'they'll be emerging any minute now' photo shoot. As if things weren't grim enough the Japanese beetles are about to make the scene and unless the weather changes and my vigilance isn't in the category of super power I'm pucked for sure.

Oh, and my momentary reference to heat the other day was just that, momentary. We continue to have below average temps, which wouldn't be bad for somewhere that has the luxury of a couple extra months on their growing season but our window of opportunity is so short lived under the best of circumstances..(Gee, even I am beginning to feel sorry for me now!) Sniff, sniff..

Optimistic is not a label I can say has been used frequently as a way of describing me but I have made a conscious effort to keep the beat at least nominally up...however Three Weeks of this has finally taken it's toll. The solitary plus has been the spectacular perennial flowers this season, of course they'll be chewed to smithereenies by the JBs. And yes, I've tried milky spore but I have yet to find a definitive article touting it's true reliability in this zone and I've yet to see any diminution of their numbers. ack!

Url is in the driver's seat!

OK,ok...I get it. It's been insanely hot and humid everywhere but here until today.
So today I got to reclaim those fond memories of sweat running down into my eyes, (note to self: wear sweat band of some sort). And yes, somewhere I find a sleeveless t-shirt and shriek when I 'see' the farmer's tan I've been working on the last couple months. Don't worry, my cruelty does not extend to you Dear Reader, I'll spare you a pic.

So we are pushing up against July already and I make mental calculations as to the likelihood of my miserably stalled seedlings making it to the 'bigs'. We'll see. A couple of 'perfect' months would be OK with this old gal. I try not to go to that dark place where I am overtaken with envy upon hearing of my comrades having already put up half a years larder.

On the plus side I grazed on fresh peas for lunch..on the minus side I planted very few this year. Strange considering it's my second fave veg. My first favorite you wonder? Spinach. But my lack of success for the second year in a row gets me fired up for 'trying' to grow it when it's much colder, under hoops or in cold frames. I am determined.

Yep, I've done some succession seeding, certainly with the lettuces, asian greens and chards and have harvested great salads thus far. This year I planted alot of the greens and brassicas kind of off-to-the-side and, knock wood, they seem to be thriving. Not having any fences makes me a tad skiddish this time of year but with the dogs and other applied stenches I hope to keep the deer at bay. Again, we shall see.

Here's hoping for a couple of dry days!

ouch, that big yellow thing hurts my eyes

,

strawberries, finally

first time trying to grow tomatillas

the currant situation, this is a black currant...now, how do I make juice when the time comes?

and a fancy ant on a fancy peony

driving home from work

My eyes have lovely scenery to behold the whole of my work commute. Those whose gardens I can see will catch me rubbernecking, making benign little judgements, a throwback to my landscaping days I'm sure. I'm heartened to see an upswing in veggie gardens even in a 'greenie' state such as this.
So today I spy a guy weeding a newly installed veg patch, on his knees, smoking a cigarette. I don't know, it just made me snort-laugh out loud. You know what I mean?

In any event I check the weather and discover we've potentially six or seven days of moisture and below average temps making us all jittery about our crops rotting or just becoming so stunted they lose the will to carry on.
I'll think positively and hope the temps climb enough to prod things along and maybe a few rays might penetrate the gloom.
And if I had any doubts about the exquisite balance of 'things' I learn today that my best friend's daughter delivered a beautiful, healthy baby while at essentially the same time my 98 year old great aunt shuffled off this mortal coil. Life/Death.

it's that time of year

jack in the pulpit
iris in the japanese maple
rubber duckies in shed window
a pear appears
physocarpus diabalo
leeks host web
my handmade teepee for beans..behind is is one huge honkin' angelica
water in the rows
first sighting
oriental poppy
may this peach make it to adulthood in Vermont!
gotta admit everything covered in raindrops makes for photo drama

The blogs are all ablurr with beautiful photos of, well, everything growing.
So not to feel left out I took a few minutes between rainfalls and horsed around with the new camera...(here's when Randi inserts self deprecating remark about her techno-cretinry).......................Cretinry? Did I just make that up? Checking Oxford Dictionary, yep, looks to be totally made up, opportunity wide open here for clever snap.

Anyhoo, no actual outside labors today and a good thing too when each step is a squish and I again thank myself for making my rag tag raised beds,(reminiscent of a Boot Hill graveyard), since there is standing water in the rows. So a few more days of grey and cool and moist and then maybe we'll get some sunshine and the cucumbers might decide to get crackin'.