I was home from work early yesterday and apparently had things to do! I have been mulling over how to get the front yard to look a little looser vs. the straight edged look of most suburban front yards where the focus is on the lawn and a row of bushes up against the house. Not that I don't appreciate grass but I have a half acre of the stuff! My house is gradually making progress toward achieving a cottage look and the suburban lawn just isn't helping that transformation. It was hot but breezy outside so I decided to take the next step and use the rototiller (I am lucky to store it in my garage -- it belongs to my friend and fellow shopper / gardener, Bob) to dig through the grass and fine-tune the gardens in the front. It was like riding a bucking bronco! This morning my whole body aches. Apparently I have not used the rototiller muscles in awhile. I like the softer edge that I gave my two front gardens. Plus, now I have more room to putter around in!
The backyard vegetable garden is looking fine for a Saturday in June. It's been dry here but I've been watering every other day to keep my soil less like concrete!
Beans, radishes, cucumbers, beets, eggplants and peppers in this center garden. The huge clump of beans in the center right was the result of tossing the beans on top of the soil. No need to be fancy with beans I guess!
Tomatoes. I think they are looking really good. Maybe adding the horse manure mixture to the soil is helping. I am, of course, encouraged but that's how I feel every year when it comes to these guys.
Zucchini, carrots, more tomatoes and greens at the top. I'm hedging my tomato bet by planting them in three separate areas of the garden. I had too many to concentrate them in just one tomato garden. I also found that it doesn't matter, at least in my garden, where I plant them. If there is fungus or bacteria flying around, it will find them no matter if I rotate them between three separate areas or not. In fact, last year, I threw some into a garden that has been used for stray tomato plants every year for the last six years and they were the only plants NOT to get the blight! So go figure.
This is the most fragrant bush anyone can have. I think it's called something like a Minnesota Mock Orange. I bought it because my daughter lives in Minneapolis not realizing that the fragrance is amazing and can be smelled as far away as my house!
Mock Orange on far right and fragrance wafts up to the house wayyyy over there!
The foreground, middle garden is half eggplants and half pepper plants. The beets are above and the crazy beans are at the top of this garden. To the left is the main tomato garden at the top and the bottom of that garden is an assortment of squash. Or something like that!!! My garden plan went out the window early this year.
The last thing I did yesterday was completely wash down my Honda Odyssey in preparation for a trip to Minneapolis next week. I shampooed, vacuumed and tried to get it back to it's 1997 best!
Is it strange that three people in my immediate circle of friends / family drive the same vehicle?
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