Potpourri #1

Here is my first potpourri mix and I definately need to dry some more Eggplant leaves because I ran out already, and they do curl nicely in the mix. Here are the ingredients for this blend. It contains Eggplant leaf, Pineapple Quava leaf, Echanacea flowers, and Chase Tree berry clusters.

I haven't dabbled in the fixatives or the essential oils yet to embellish the potpourri. I did read where it is important to use a chopped root fixative and not a powder because the powders will trash the appearance of your potpourri, definately not the look I am going for. The idea of using essential oils is vexing too. I know myself and I end up getting overwhelmed smelling all of the fragrances and dabbing a few of them on, waving them about in the air (you are not supposed to drink them btw.) Anyway, I'm tampering with the balance of my Vata Dosha, so right before that goes completely out of whack I finally end up leaving smelling like a garden and affirming my love of vanilla.

My first instinct is to have everything smell like vanilla, and I also love myrrh. Vanilla, myrrh, but not everything can smell like vanilla and myrrh, and I don't even know if those two fragrances even go together. Oh this is going to be interesting! I will keep you posted!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening freinds, carry on and hurry back!

Potpourri

I have been collecting everything that I can think of from my garden for potpourri. It's spread out across the table and I am sure it is going to start taking over my house.

Today I gathered Cucumber leaves, Lantana flowers, a tiny peach rosebud, Echanacea flowers and seedheads, Sunflower seedheads,

Yellow Purky Sue flowers, Chaste Tree Berries, Crape Murtle Blossoms, pink Lambs Ear leaves, Penstemmon blossoms, Garlic Chive seedheads, Butterfly Bush seedheads, Chocolate Mint, Calendula Petals, Eucalyptus, Zinna flowers, Blue Salvia flowers,

The items on the glass plate will fit right in, they are interesting seedheads from a tree during a walk in the park, Blue Hawthorn berries, Statice from a bouquet from hubby and a dried Zinna flower. The California Poppy seed hulls might be a stretch but we will see, there's dried Catnip seedheads, and Catnip leaf bundles which should work pretty nicely as a base.

On the kitchen table there are materials that can be used for the base. There is Tulsi, Sage, and Lemon-Lime (mixed) Basil.

The grow shelves have been repurposed as drying shelves and they contain Genovese Basil, and Lemon-Lime Basil.

The available horizontal surfaces are all taken, so in the garage are Apple slices with fresh and dried Zinnas. Once everything is dry I am going to start assembling combinations and maybe consider adding essential oils to the mix.

I enjoy collecting items for potpourri. It is just another way to be surrounded by the colors and textures of your garden.

Thanks for visiting! Garden on!

Circle Bed

It was time for another garden bed to be added to the garden. In this photo you can see the design when it was just beginning to take form. This one is called the Circle Bed. I have wanted a garden bed right in this particular spot for some time. I have been contemplating all of the different building materials that could be used for the wall support, wood, rock, a large ceramic pot, but none of those materials inspired me to action. I have just enought wood element, and just enough rock element in the garden already, and I didn't want to disturb the balance.

Then I saw this flagstone brick product and it adds just a touch of refinement to my wild, nature inspired garden.
Using the pickaxe I removed about 3 to 4 inches of dirt and rock out of the base of the design so that I have a depth of at least 6 inches of Tomato Lady Soil when I am done.

This bed will be irrigated using the same valve as all of the vegetables. I decided to tie it into the Bevel Bed line which was tricky because it had been planted with root vegetables already and I had to find the irrigation line and tie into it. I was able to remove 3 of the plants, set them aside, tie into the irrigation, then replant them and it worked out perfectly.

This bed is now planted with 25 cloves of Ichelium Red Garlic from my garden that I grew last year.

And here is the new Circle Bed from the patio!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back.

Black Eyed Susans

I pulled out the Zucchini a few weeks ago along with the Sunflowers, and hauled in a load of Tomato Lady Soil and was working it into the edges of the paths (which are typically neglected because the center of the beds have always been the center of attention), so I thought I would work in reverse and take care of some of the details. It is nice to have lots of rich black dirt on hand because then you feel you can garden with it generously.

While cleaning up I was intrigued by the Black Eyed Susans and their post flowering form. I have not had Black Eyed Susans before, they have always grown wild along the roadways in Missouri where I grew up. I don't recall if they will eventually explode into a tuft ball of seed fluff but until something like that happens they provide some rather interesting form in the garden.

Thanks for visiting. To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Jonesin' for Yellow

I have been making Garden Tool Belts lately. Here modeling their Garden Tool Belts are my lovely niece Tallie, and sister-in-law Stacia. Garden on Girls!

I have made 6 Garden Tool Belts in the last two weeks. Some of the fabric patterns are so awesome that I have to tell myself that I cannot start the poppie floral fabric until I make 4 of the striped rose patterns just so that I finish with the ones that I've started, otherwise I would make a poppy one, then that purple floral one and then I'd be jonesin' for something yellow I am sure. I will post the poppy one the minute I get one finished!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Toxic Green Melon and the Flavor Bland

The Melon was ripe and friends came over for a garden walk and then we sat down to eat and it was time to break into the Melon. So I cut into it and I had no idea that it was going to be green inside. (Yes, it was the gift pack of seeds in the seed order that came in the mail and I planted it without knowing what to expect, beautiful vines all over the yard, huge melons, like about 7 still on the vine, all good.)

There is nothing like expecting a Cantelope Orange and finding Lime Green. So for a second I doubted everything. Am I awake? Is this the right city? Is this thing Toxic? Needless to say the color reminded me of Toxic Green, but I tasted it, and my friends were up for it, so they ate some, and maybe it wasn't "Toxic Green" that I was thinking of but instead it was "It Doesn't Really Taste That Sweet Green".

This brings me to the subject of bland. I recently read where bland falls under the classification of sweet, and that there are organs in our system that are nourished or supported or assisted by things that are bland. This crossed my mind while I sauteed Patty Pan Squash and ate it with leftover meatloaf for lunch today. Sauteed Patty Pan Squash with olive oil and sprinkled garlic and herb spices tastes pretty good, but not too much spices as to not overwhelm the flavor of it's blandness, for blandness' sake.

Green Machine Melon is subtle like the flavor of Patty Pan Squash. It must be appreciated for it's subtleties in order to be enjoyed. I would go on, but I hear the wind calling.......

Thanks for visiting, To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Visiting Leslie

This post is for my good friend Leslie Doyle who is traveling about Wyoming with her husband Bill. She is the one who gave me the Melons, Peppers, and Watermelon in this photo.

I have told the Watermelon story a few times, how Leslie gave me half a Watermelon, that her husband loaded it into the car and I didn't think anything about it, until I had to unload the thing, but this thing was huge and I struggled to get it into the house. I couldn't believe it, this is half of a 40 lb. watermelon! She is an amazing gardener and a true inspiration.

I love to go to Leslie's house because I come home with lots of great things to eat. Thank you Leslie, enjoy your trip, hurry home!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry on and hurry back!