Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s been a couple months since I’ve participated in Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day so I figured I was due for a post! Amazingly despite a summer of neglect the garden has quite a few reliable blooms to share. If you like to think on the positive side you could consider the neglect as a test of what thrives with or…

Within a mile of our home lies a beautiful pastureland divided by an old country road. The pastures are separated in a way that doesn’t diminish their beauty but rather enhances the quaint rural scene. This is my preferred route to take to and from our neighborhood when I can. In every season it has something breathtaking to observe. Whether…

The next step to putting the arbor together after we set the posts was to assemble the top. The top section was made from 3 45″ 4″x4″ pieces set in a diamond position. The arbor top was designed to fit the 4″x4″ pieces into the notched ends of the posts and they would also go through the front and back…

With summers in Tennessee you never know exactly what your going to get. Usually you expect dry and hot. That’s a pretty safe bet.  But lately the temperatures have reminded me of fall. The scents are on the wind.  Fall blooming plants like goldenrod and ironweed are beginning to flower. The smell of fall is in the air – but summer isn’t over yet. When…

Every year I try something new in the vegetable garden. When I was selecting seeds back in the dormant season I ran across this small melon called ‘Tigger’.  Of course as a parent with three children anything with the name ‘Tigger’ catches my attention. The ‘Tigger’ melon was described in the Baker Creek catalog as “vibrant yellow with brilliant fire-red,…

I really like plants that decide to take the work away from the gardener and sow their own seeds! Of course even the best plant that self sows could technically become a weed if planted in the wrong place, but since most are easily moved I really don’t mind.  Today’s Seed Sowing Saturday post is all about the self sowing…

http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/2010/08/garden-blogger-posts-of-week.htmlWelcome to the second week of Garden Blogger Posts of the Week. Last week I highlighted two posts that I thought were interesting, unique, or stood out in some way (cool pictures etc.). Today I’ll mention a few more. Please pay them a visit when you get the chance! I thought Nancy Bond’s pictures of the eagle were very cool….

It’s that time of year when the fall blooming plants begin to start their show including Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora). This non-native clematis grows prolifically through the summer and gladly will climb and overtake any structure it meets then will bloom in the fall. I picked up two of these on the discount racks and even though I know…

In posting yesterday about my mulch (that I got for $1.34 per 2 cubic foot bag) several people left comments about what mulch they like to use. I thought that maybe today it might be good to take a look at the types of mulch and what’s good about each one. The main purpose behind any mulch is to retain…

For a quick, easy, and cheap stocking stuffer gift idea try a homemade seed packet! I learned how to put together these seed packets that use a technique of  paper folding from Nancy Ondra’s blog Hayefield House. Go take a look at her post titled Origami for Seed Savers to learn how. The only thing that you need to do…

The other day I posted about the next evolution of my garden on its way to becoming a more formalized vegetable garden. Today I’ll show you the layout of what I hope the vegetable garden will eventually become. There are some distinct advantages to the layout changes that I am planning on making that I’ll share with you below the…

Recently I ordered plants (which I’ll cover in another post) and while choosing the plants I used a few criteria to guide my selections.  I wouldn’t rule out purchasing plants just because they might miss one or two of these characteristics but I do know that when all five can be found in the same plant I’ve got a winner!…

I just posted another greenhouse update that includes pictures of the new trim that is enclosing the eaves and along roof line. It’s progressing nicely and the roof is all enclosed! Post: Greenhouse Roof Finally Enclosed

My recent fascination with the snowy owl visiting our town isn’t something new, I’ve always been interested in birds and wildlife. Gardening and nature to me are so closely woven together in the tapestry of life that you don’t get one without the other, and if you do you’re doing something wrong. Nature in all it’s glory ultimately controls what…

In case you happen to not be in cicada territory and don’t have the joy of listening to their “soothing music” here’s a video of our backyard with our local cicadas from brood 2011 blaring in the background. The sound in the trees is deafening and after 45 minutes of being outside your head begins to throb. Turn up your…

Fall is definitely at its peak here in Middle Tennessee! Rhonda at Adventures in My Garden has some great fall color in her own backyard. The view from her back porch is spectacular and would be envied by anyone who likes autumn leaves. Is there really anyone who doesn’t? And the quote she picked out by George Eliot to start…

OK gardeners and garden bloggers I need your help. Years ago I bought our first video camera to help film the antics of our children.  I bought it just before our oldest was born and many things have changed over the years. Essentially technology has made my old mini tape video camera obsolete. I can’t even hook it up to…