summering

i might like tomatoes now! we cut into one from the garden and it was slick and juicy and really deep red, not at all grainy. there was none of the white, mealy, spongey middle part that i hate so much, and only a tiny bit of that seed-slime. i ate a whole plain tomato sandwich and it was great!

no squash yet, but there are tons of flowers. and i havent picked any bell peppers yet, but there are 6 growing on one plant.

here's kyle working on his half of the lashing for the bamboo bench we built.

most of it was held together with the twine, but we did use some screws.

(i even let kyle use my drill...)

and while we built, keller got a haircut.

born in a summer storm

it has threatened to storm every day since we got back from vacation, and there for a few days it was coming through with a shower every 6 hours or so. some rains were so heavy that our ceiling leaked again, some came with low thunder that lasted all night, and some that were so unexpected but welcome in the heat that we kept our game of catch going and got soaked.

not only has the rain been great to cool things down in the afternoons (we still havent turned our air on, and we're nearing a breaking point), its also making the garden go crazy. yesterday i brought in our first baby handful of grape tomatoes, and there's one roma that should be ready tomorrow. i was even more excited, though, to find cucumbers growing! they aren't even an inch long yet, but i found a 3 or 4 already. then, even MORE exciting: i went to look at the corn and found 2 tiny ears growing!

cows

oh wait, i do have a couple of pictures

we were gone for 13 days. among other things, we got to watch momma and baby cows find each other in a cow crowd by mooing, we got to canoe down the Potomac and watch bald eagles fly around dive-bombing each other, we walked around Cary Street in Richmond and bought some really fun stuff, and in Chapel Hill we discovered how great the new super mario brother for wii is. it was all pretty great, even if i did forget i had my camera and never took any pictures... we fit a lot in, and it was all a lot of fun, but thats about as long as i ever want to be away from home.

the whole time i kept thinking about the garden and wondering if things were okay, wanting to go look and watch and check and pamper everything. i felt like a mother cat who compulsively and methodically noses each of her wriggly kittens to make sure they're all accounted for.

when we left the little lima sprouts were just breaking through the dry, crumbly dirt, and the peas hadn't begun to break the surface yet. we came home to plants 6 and 8 inches tall. and the tomato plants grew about 16 inches while we were gone!

april 30

today



peeeeeeeeas!

tempo di vacanza

vacation preparation today. more mulch, more twine, more water.

cowpeas

it was sunday, only 4 days ago, that we planted the pink eye purple hull peas. i went out to nose around today, and noticed the dry ground cracking apart in the space where we planted them. i was going to get the watering can, and i noticed that the cracks were forming in 5 neat little rows.. it was all the little pea heads trying to break through already!

go adventurous little plant!

garden pictures

scarlett and i put out a few bags of mulch.

we dug up zinnas to make room to plant the pink eye purple hull peas next to the cucumbers.

the corn and the tomatoes are each about 30 inches tall.

construction

after i had a wind induced corn casualty, i had to get bamboo out of the woods and make stakes. now everything's all strung up and safe (i think).

instar killer

i was trying to show the cadbury egg style goo that squirted out of this guys' back.

i'm very sorry, mr. cicada.

'to earthward'

that entire giant bush/tree in front of the house is entirely honeysuckle! i thought it was just a honeysuckle vine growing in some sort of privet or crepe myrtle, but flowers are sprouting even on the thick trunk. i've never seen it so big. with minimal research, i think its called a Red Rum Honeysuckle Shrub.

here's what else the internet told me:

"Honeysuckle is for people who live in the past instead of the present. They feel that their best days are behind them and that there is little to look forward to, and as a consequence they prefer to dwell on past happiness (or past misfortunes). In a more minor key, homesickness and nostalgia are also Honeysuckle states."

I was intrigued to find that paragraph; i wanted to leave it at that, let the sad words simmer and set with my head swimming in its own nostalgic and homesick thoughts of kid-summer. but those words actually describe what honeysuckle can be used to cure, according to this homeopathic theory that also includes cures for things like fear of the dark (mimulus), recieving bad news (star of bethlehem) and lack of faith (sweet chestnut). i tend to think the cure has to do a little more with the strong brandy that the herbs are suspended in, but maybe thats just me...

mary mary quite contrary

so here's the front yard garden: onions, lavender, tomatoes, bell peppers, zinnias, and cucumbers. i've planted marigolds between all of the bricks. it looks so dusty and barren; the bright hot sunlight in the pictures seems to suck all of the lushness out of the scene. i guess thats what i get for only using the camera on my phone for all of these photographs.


the leaves are getting bigger and i think the plants are okay. there are a few brown spots on the leaves already though.

the back garden has the corn, more squash, and hot peppers. when it was planted, the corn was no taller than my coffee cup.

its a beautiful clear day today and just 70 degrees. everything outside is glowing green and golden from the sun. the wisteria is finally gone and the thin petals fallen from the vines blanket our sidewalk, yard, and cars. it flutters down like a snow of greyish purple mulch and its impossible to win against, so i'm letting it gently cover and protect the centimeter-tall cilantro. the trees are now thick and green and loud with leaves and when the wind blows the oak sounds like waves at the ocean.

sew day

i've had this stretchy gray fabric with black vines and red flowers on it for years. last tuesday i pulled out my sewing machine and set myself up to the task of finally using it. i was wearing this comfortable plain teal dress and decided to try to make something like it. there wasn't much fabric - maybe 2 yards - so there wasn't much to play with. i did it hastily, but its not so bad. i did manage to raise and gather the neckline like i needed. and of course, keller helped.

cuatro momentos

patience

the seedlings have finally started developing grown-up leaves. these are leaves that, unlike the rounded baby leaves that first sprout from the ground, actually look like miniature versions of the eventual grown plant. i get excited when they develop because not only does it reassure me that the plant is healthy enough to keep growing, it also reassures me that the tiny seedling i've been nurturing is indeed the plant i want. until the grown-up leaves, i could easily be gently mothering any old weed. tiny cilantro leaves! and tiny squash leaves! oh, and it doesnt hurt that i love tiny things.

and if'n it dont rain

i made a watering can because the ones at the store were too plastic and tacky to spend money on. i have my own plastic and tacky stuff for free. so now i can stand on the porch and slide my giant watering can along the railing while it rains on the corn below.

if with only tent

it is so cruel that the weather ever has to be anything other than what its like right now.

lickimal

keller led me around the yard for a while. his favorite part of being outside is flopping and rolling over and over and over on the sidewalk. he's covered in dirt and pollen now. all of his white parts are tan and all of his black parts are yellow. good cat.