Putting the gardens to bed.

We haven't gotten our first frost this year, but things are pretty much asleep, outside. Leaves are coming off the trees, a few tomatoes are lingering on, and my bulbs haven't completely gone dormant, so I'm just itching to do a major cleaning. I haven't had a lot of time or energy to do the regular maintenance stuff this year, so I really need to get on top of that.

It looks like my glads are finally starting to shrivel up. I need to lift them, divide them, and figure out what to do with the corms this year. They've started to overpopulate the area that they are in and struggled a bit this year before it started raining like crazy. I may list some of the corms in my shop, but I'm not sure yet. Gotta see if anyone wants them, before I do that!

Nothing terribly new and exciting, though. I think this is going to be a nice day in front of the fire with my knitting and books.

When it rains, it pours...

Literally! The past couple of weeks have been wet, wet, wet, as you may have heard on the news. We were out of town for the middle of the Great Rains, which was more than a bit worrying. There are some washed out spots, a few soft spots in lower areas of the yard, and a tiny bit of water damage from roof leaks, but I was very thankful to return home to such minimal damage.

One thing that really irked me, upon our homecoming, was a missing tomato. A beautiful White Wonder tomato was ripening shortly before we left, and I couldn't wait to come home and pluck it from the vine. When we got home, it was nowhere to be seen. I looked everywhere, and there's no sign of it. I've been shaking my fist at whatever critter decided to snatch it, and I hope it was mealy, grubby, and unsavory for the beast. Oh, how I wanted that tomato!

I'll be updating the shopping sections over the next few days and may have a tutorial or two to post, if I get a chance. Here's to productivity!

Shopping cart - check! Glass - check!

I have perfected the set up of my paypal shopping cart and checkout, and things are glorious. After figuring out a couple of the quirks, I can set up new listings quickly and without hassle. For that, I must hurray!

As promised a few weeks ago, I thought I'd go ahead and share the magic machine that helps me create some of the fun new planters I have listed in my shop.

I am such a powertool junkie, and this makes me kick my foot with happiness! Love, love, love it. Up until now, I've been cutting my bottles old school, using tons of electricity to heat water or to run a small cutter, and possibly compromising my health a little.

With this machine, I'm able to cut a bazillion times more bottles in one sitting and use a LOT (I can't emphasize that one enough!) less energy to produce them. It's invigorating, and the interesting bottles and containers that have been sitting in the garage are finally being chopped up and used. (That's a good thing, because anyone who went out into the garage before would think we were total drunkards!)

I waste a lot less glass with this guy, and rarely have to touch up the edges so that they're safe to handle. Another benefit that also lops off a ton of energy expenditure!

I've only got two 'boat' listings currently in my shop, but will be introducing more of them, along with more traditional cuts, over the next couple of weeks.

I think summer's almost over!

Not a hurray for most people, but I'm glad things are cooling off. We've had a lot more rain than we have the past two years (thank goodness!), but we've started getting afternoon thunderstorms. I dearly love them, but the cat runs under the nearest couch or bed and the dog sticks to me like glue during them.

In preparation for the fall garden adventure, I've cleared a nice spot in the garden, and have started spreading guinea pig bedding. My fall seeds are in order, and I'll probably get those out in the next few days...if I manage to get my butt in gear and overcome the sapping exhaustion and aches and pains.

I also order 16 cu ft of perlite, joy of joys, and am mixing potting mix like crazy. We invested in a lovely machine for redoing the flooring in a few locations, and this magical machine cuts glass like a knife through butter. I'll post some pictures of the new, green planters I'll be posting in my shop soon.

I've got a couple new varieties of tomatoes that just went off for germ testing, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

x-posted to fluffnflowers' website blog.

Bad blogger syndrome

Things have been very busy here. It's the green season and things are really picking up speed. Of course, in the middle of it all, we had three trips to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

I made my first pumpkin custard last week from this lovely. It's a Rouge Vif d'Etamps -- or the Cindarella pumpkin. I must say, it's delightful orange exterior is nothing compared to the delightful orange insides!

The potato blight is BACK!

Yeek. The late blight is taking no prisoners this year. It's not here yet, but I'll definitely take the rain over the drought!

Green things

By now, word has probably leaked around that the EtsyOrganicTeam is temporary closed for redirection, recentering, rebuilding, and a bunch of other re's. I've been working with Brenda, of NaturalStar, and Maura, of GreenWorks, and we've been making leaps towards a new, fresh start. Make sure to check back soon for an announcement that we're open and ready to roll!

Now for a few garden shots.

This is a flower on my asparagus pea vine. Look at the flower closely. Think. Giggle to yourself. Move on. :)


Here are some greenies. I believe this plant is a Black Zebra tomato, but I can't recall for sure. The hail didn't keep these guys too down, and they're putting out flowers and little tomatoes like crazy. With my luck this year, a hornworm will come along and gnaw them down.


This is a spontaneously occurring pumpkin. The vine put out this 10 lb (and growing!) beauty in a week. It's actually the variety of pumpkin that the Cindarella coach was modeled after, which is kinda neat. Can't wait for pumpkin custards!

Bounce back!

We just got back yesterday after a week at the Mayo Clinic, and oh my how the gardens have changed!

In a week's time:

• grass has done some damage in my flower beds
• my asparagus peas are podding
• my pumpkin vines spontaneously produced a 10 lb beauty (still needs a few more days on the vine, but it's lookin' good!)
• little green tomatoes are showing their faces
• my compost caught on fire
• my lone hydrangea is in full bloom
• the first fig of the year was picked

Tomorrow, I'll take some pictures of the upcoming bounty. It rained like the dickens today, so I just took a quick run through the raindrops to check things out.

I may also see about getting my butt in gear and putting together some new kits for my shop. I've been dragging my heels on that, but I have some plans and some inspiration fresh and ready to go!

I've been a bad, bad blogger

My little world has been pretty wild for the past couple of weeks. My health and now my man-thing's have been keeping us on the run from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital. I hope things will settle down in another two weeks and programming will return to normal.

Things are green here and the Tomato Plantation is up and rolling!

Some pictures from my back gardens:

Modish interviews greenthing

My last post mentioned resellers in the plants and edibles section on etsy, and Modish published an interview partially describing the situation.

Check it out here.

And now for something completely different! Flowers. Here's an amaryllis that I got from my mother. They're everywhere around her home, and her beds are always overflowing with the lovelies. Sadly, I have to dig them up every fall, but I wouldn't be without them! This prized specimen was 8.75" across! I was impressed.

Rain, iris, and snakes.

The past couple of days have been a great break from the rain. We had one day of high winds that took down part of a dying Bradford pear, so I'll have plenty of mulch this year for my beds. My flowers are blooming and I've had a lot of visitors.

My iris are blooming for the first time this year. I've got a couple of yellows and possibly a couple of peaches that are budding out, and I'm very excited! Here's one of the purples:


And here's a little guy that visited last week. He was only about 12" long, but he gave me a start when I saw him sunning himself on the patio. I think we positively identified him as an East Midland Water Snake. He was completely non aggressive (but very slippery!), so we picked him up and carried him back across the street to the pond.

Plant Profile - Mazus reptans

My gardens are waking up for spring, and I've been captured, again, by this lovely groundcover.

First, the down and dirty. This little plant is hardy from zn 5-8, and does well in most conditions. I've got some growing in full sun, but I have a couple of plants in shaded areas. The full sun plants grow faster, but the ones in the shade do pretty well, too. It likes it wet, but it's taken the recent drought years like a man and made significant progress.

The leaves are small, usually less than 1" long, tear shaped with scalloped edges. The leaves grow in little clumps and send out runners in all directions. The foliage, here, in our warmer climate is actually evergreen, which is very nice when my perennial beds have quieted down for the winter. Due to its 'running' nature, the plant is very easily propagated. Cuttings take readily, and it naturally layers itself as it crawls and spreads. Even better, it can take light foot traffic, making it a great choice for area where you've got stepping stones or occasionally have to trek.

From early spring to late summer, the plant blooms with small (~1" long), unusual little flowers. The plant pictured is the white variety, but I also have a purple variety. A small amount of greenery can produce a huge number of flowers, and pollinators flock to this little lovely all year.

Now, we all know that a lot of groundcovers tend towards the invasive, but this little guy is very friendly. It grows dense enough to act as a living mulch, but it doesn't choke out plants, which makes it a great companion for areas where my bulbs are. It spreads readily, but it's not so fast that it's difficult to control.

Petals and puddles

Spring is here! For the past three days, all we've had is rain. It's great, since we've been in a drought for so long, but I wanna go out and play in the dirt! This is putting a bit of a cramp in my style, and I've had a few babies damp off.

My cherry tree is in bloom, and the pink 'snow' is piled up next to puddles. The petals look so lovely blowing across the yard.

And a picture of the cherry cuddled with one of my Japanese maples. I wish the forsythia would have held onto its blooms longer this year. That would have made a lovely combination.

So far...

I've been obsessively checking my babies for germination, and I've got a few heads popping up. I'm very, very behind this year and just finished my tomato sowing a few days ago, so the list will get longer. So far, here's what's up and leafing:

Amish Paste
Azoycha
Big Rainbow
Black Prince
Black from Tula
Black Sea Man
Brandywine
Caspian Pink
Cour di Bue
Dinner Plate
Early Glee
Esther's Cherry
Fuzzy Peach
Green Bell Pepper
Green Zebra
Hank
Heinz 1439
Kellogg's Breakfast
Marianna's Peace
Schimmieg Stuffer
Supper Beefsteak
Transparent Yellow
White Wonder
Yellow Brandywine
Zapotec Pleated

I also have a handful of eggplant and pepper varieties that are going strong, but I don't have that list entered yet. I haven't started my corn, squashes, or gourds yet.

I have an illness. A serious, tomato bourne illness. I can't wait for shredded Jerusalem artichoke, chopped tomato, fresh basil, and parmesan salad! Spring is here and the madness has begun.

Signs of spring

A chunk of catnip. Every year I get to dig up the new plants that pop around the 'mother' plant and send them to cat lovers around the country. This chunk is already potted up and ready to go wild in a pot or in your garden.

Good morning, Spring!

After Sunday's 3" snow of the year, I think we can say that Spring is officially here. Things are starting to come to life, and my list of tasks is longer and longer. I've got seeds out of my ears and little plants everywhere. So much work to be done!

We've still got a lot more work to do on the new Tomato Plantation, but it looks like we're approved for a water meter on the lot! We haven't gotten the permit yet, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Gotta get moving.

Spring is officially here! Only a couple more nights are expected to be below freezing, and I've got soooo much stuff to do. I'm a bit behind this year, but that's what I get for always finding a new way to get sick.

I've got a handful of seed orders that are still in the mail and I want them NOW! I said I wasn't going to do any orders, but I broke down and decided, with the newly expanded space, that I must have new stuff to fill it in. My tomato trading group seeds should be here Tuesday, and that's what I'm most excited about. I'd love to top 90 varieties grown this year, but we shall see.

Now for the master list:

- clean up property; bricks to the back, unusable corner, hay raked in
- start more seeds!
- get a roll (or two!) of concrete reinforcement wire for more tomato cages
- get water hooked up

And back by popular request...

More pictures of the demo for my destruction loving viewers! :D The demo is now complete and the site has been crudely graded, so the fun is pretty much over and we're looking at this:



Boring, right?

Demo, baby.

Progress is being made on my future mini farm! The demo will be completed by the end of the week, if all goes well, and I'll be able to start cleaning up and preparing for spring. I was hoping I'd be able to go out and chart light this week, but my poor toes are in too bad of shape to even think about that.

And no, I don't get to keep the awesome yellow machine.

It should be spring!

All around the garden, I'm seeing new things pop up. My daffodils are peeking up, my fig tree is starting to bud out, my forsythia is sneaking out a couple of blooms, I've got a crazy sedum, and my japanese maples are starting to look alive.

I also got my new toy in yesterday, and I hope to be introducing some new upcycled plastic creations to my fluffnfixings shop soon!