November 22nd

 

I love mums, 

but their smell isn't what you 

normally think of, with beautiful flowers.

It's not a stink like some flowers,

it's more of a musky, earthy smell.

It's sad really, 

because they are only lacking in that one aspect.

Our yellow "button" mums

and 

our "rust buttons"

They are putting on their fall show.

Mother Aloe is blooming again.

This time there are 2 bloom stalks

with flowers about to open.

Her blooms are always a peachy

orange color.

In the past she bloomed in the spring,

but...

it's 2020

anything goes.

Right?

All of a sudden the lantana

is growing like crazy!

I've discovered that 

I'm allergic to it's milky sap.

I found out after I cut back some 

dead stems and noticed hives and itching

on my lower arms and hands.

Oh, well,

that'll be a designated job for the CEO

from now on.

😀

Salmon and white begonia

Wild violets that have spring blooms.

Their color ranges from deep purple to lavender.

Paperwhite lilies.

No blooms yet, but they tend

to bloom in very early spring

while it's still cool.

Kitchen succulent garden.

I've had this little turtle ornament guy

for nearly 30 years.

I usually put him in an indoor plant.

Too cute!

🐢

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The veggie garden is still growing strong

This is the broccoli 

and in that same bed

are the beets.

We have some baby cabbage plants

ready for planting in about a week.

This is the time for our fall root veggies,

but

we've never had good results with carrots,

so we decided to forgo trying that again.

In their place we are going to plant our potatoes.

They are almost ready to go in the ground.

Tomatoes are still producing too.

It's only about 1 or 2 a week,

but that's enough to feed us.

🍅

The pepper plant in the early

morning light. 

Looks like it's harvest time.

These will be dried to use in

recipes all year.

I cut them while they are

still whitish,

then they turn a beautiful red orange

while sitting on the sill.

Thai Basil.

Looks like this is ready for harvest too.

On most herbs, I don't allow them to flower,

but on Thai basil,

the flowers are so much more

intensely flavored than the leaves,

so that's mostly what I pick.

Flowering on all plants is the 

reason they live - to propagate.

But, 

with herbs, we typically eat

their leaves.

So, by clipping the blooms,

it'll allow the plant to "bush"

out so much more.

I finally figured out that these

small whitish buds aren't

a flower on my bay laurel.

They are merely new leaves.

Neat!

Found this out....

St Fiacre is the patron saint of gardeners.

Seems back in the 600's,

he became very adept at herbal remedies

and feeding pilgrims from his veggie

gardens, along with healing the infirm

by laying on his hands

to bring about miracle cures.

And.....

he is also the patron saint of hemorrhoid

sufferers. I couldn't find out the

reason for this, but

in the Middle Ages,

a case of hemorrhoids were called

Saint Fiacre's Figs.

Now, I don't care what you say,

that's funny!

*********************************

There's never a time that we are in the 

garden without an escort.

This is Lucy and Ethel.

Pepper and Hazel

Pepper and Nugget

Finally they are starting to lay.

We get 1 or 2 eggs every other day.

Again, 

enough to feed us.

🐔

And you can see those big beautiful,

orange yolks.

Thanks girls.

Ethel, Lucy and Hazel aren't laying yet.

Since the days are shorter,

and they are coming off a molt,

they need to get back in the groove.

Chickens lay about every 24 to 36

hours normally,

but our girls are older and they've

molted, so means that the "bounce back"

time is longer.

Chickens are diurnal, so at dusk, they

"come home to roost",

meaning literally that they go nite 

nite when the sun goes down,

and they "get up with the chickens"

at the first light.

No crowing, but they cluck softly

till we let them out to roam.

************************************

A few tips for stargazing...

Look for these in the night sky tonight.

🌟

I love looking at the stars.

They may be farther apart than this,

but you can still see

Jupiter to the lower right of the moon.

🌙

Saturn will be harder to see because of the

local light pollution.

Mars is visible to the lower left of the moon.

It always burns bright red.

This picture is from the NASA site.

That's a meteor streaking next to Mars.

************************************

My Brother-in-Law was in the paper.

Proud of you, Robert!

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💗