Pumpkin or Squash?

The berm is chock-full of goodies and in time I'll find out just what they are.

I remember planting squash, pumpkins and cantaloupe, perhaps even a watermelon or two, so now I wait for them to identify themselves.



Lets hope the roving bunnies keep their distance. I'm not so fond of the chew-marks on something I'm about to harvest.

A blooming Berm

It all started when I was looking for places to store upturned chunks of sod.The less lawn the better is my motto. I love to let it rot for a season, then mash it up and voila--great soil.

I figured the middle of the back yard wasn't doing anything so it could contain the masses of sod and to make it more genteel, I'd call it a berm.

I had the "aha" moment when the pile got taller and taller and figured this was the moment to plant vine-type veggies and here we are today.

I did over- plant, I admit that. There were some rogues there to start and we've had enough rain to float the ark so I'm not sure how it will turn out but I love the look.

Hidden in that jungle are beans--they're climbing up the ladder, that is, when they're not beating their machetes to get through the vines.



Another winner this year was the many-holed pot that usually ends up empty, hidden away. This year I was in a mothers and chicks mode and the result is pleasurable.

Bird Watching

Garden tour Season is Over.

It's mid-July and the garden tour people have shooed us all away so they can stop weeding on a daily basis. Imagine the pressure when you know masses of strangers are going to judge your little patch of paradise.



I thought this garden entrance to the back was the loveliest of many,in St. Marys.



I look at beautiful window boxes like this and wonder--do they just toss it all in and hope for the best or do they start with a plan? Kind of tells you what my philosophy might be.


I'm a huge fan of no-lawn frontage and this one was well done.



On my home front, the lupine and lavender are co-mingling very artistically and I think--maybe some day I'll open the gate and let the viewers in. On the other hand, that means serious weeding and mulching.

I'll think about it, very very slowly.

The Swamp Revisited

It's been a year since I visited the swamp and the growth is rampant--- that goes for the mosquitos as well.



We've had an abundance of rain so the creek comes right up to the pathway.



The wild blooms are always a gorgeous sight.






I must do this more often.

Cool Cut

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This was Max only yesterday. Sixteen pounds of hair and attitude.

What you don't see is the mass of tangles built into that hairdo. Impossible.

I sent an SOS to Chris the groomer, who makes house calls.


It will all be back in a short time, Max, so relax.
Then we'll start all over again and by that time his dignity will be restored and our scratches will be healed.



Too bad I can't market the remnants. A little spinning and weaving and we can open a fur coat market for moulting squirrels.

New Garden Junk/Art

We drove sixty miles in search of the perfect soft ice cream cone and happened on a shop full of metal stuff for the garden.
Eventually we found the ice cream and by that time the hummingbird and I had bonded.


In the picture above is another find;this metal ladder-like thing was leaning against a wall in a junk/art place and it was calling my name. See, it has the pull-down shelves on either side. I'll figure out what to do with this.
Really.
Since I don't have a live-in guy who knows how to fasten metal to stuff, I use twine for everything and it works very well.



I found this rake at an auction and actually thought I could use it--like, in a teeny tiny make-believe garden. In the real world, garden dirt is often mostly cement-like clay and this little guy would have been crumpled. He is sitting there until I get inspired and cleverly attach him to the fence.

Now I now Max could handle this job if he wasn't so lazy and myopic.
Anyway, it gives him something to aspire to.

Old Man In The Tree

Invader

Once you fill the feeder full of good stuff, then the buffet is open to everything with wings.
I hadn't counted on squirrels though.
Oh well.