May/June - 23rd

May 12th

June 12th

May and June are the best of our 

produce months.

These are some Japanese Eggplants, Banana

Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, regular

Tomatoes, Blueberries

and Blackberries.

As the veggies ripen, I either dehydrate them

and grind it into a powder for seasoning,

or make it into soup or veggie base

for tomato gravy.

As it cooks down over a low temp,

the veggies soften and then I

use an immersion blender and then freeze it.

The best thing is the taste.

There's nothing like homegrown.

With the fruit, I do almost the same thing.

I make fruit leathers or jams, if

I can keep everyone's hands off!

Ha!

The CEO is requesting a blackberry pie.

So that'll be the next concoction.

😋

Some pictures of our 2025 crops.

Blackberries

Eggplant Flower 

It looks like a black and white

picture, but it is only the small

eggplants in a white dish

on a gray placemat. 

Tomatoes

Bell and Banana Peppers

Cucumbers

Tomatillos

Asparagus

(Purple and Green)

Bay tree

Mint

Onions

Herbs:

Lemon Balm, Thai Basil, Parsley,

Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Cilantro,

Mint and Sage.

We have Potatoes, but they only look

like bushy plants now.

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

The flowers look amazing! 

This May and early June have

been exceptionally wet.

It's rained almost daily and that has

given us beautiful plants.

We have 3 different colors of 

Gladiolas.

The Gardenia's are blooming again.

Mary's Garden

She has Begonias, Coleus and

Dianthus.

Sunflowers

Milkweed

We grow these for the Butterflys.

Zinnias

Phalaenopses Orchid

This is a rescue plant that

the CEO got from a dumpster

at Home Depot a few years ago.

We've been trying to coax it to bloom,

and lo and behold it did!!

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

On June 30th of this year,

my Mom's 108th birthday,

I can honestly say that I still miss you.

A lot.

There are days when I look in the 

mirror and I see you.

Same thing when I utter a phrase

or do a task that you've taught me how to do.

I owe my crafting abilities to you too.

I wish I had repeatedly told you how much you

really meant to me.

I am truly what you gave your life for.

I've matured to be a reflection of you.

Your entire focus became your

two daughters after Daddy died.

You were so young and yet so strong

in the conviction to be both mother 

and father to us.

Being a child of the Great Depression

and having lived through times

that would've broken most

people, you persevered.

You changed tires,

painted the house,

fixed broken shingles,

changed fuses,

made breakfast, lunch and dinner daily

and still made time to 

be room mother or school helper

for both our classes at school.

And as we had our own kids you stepped

in again to help raise them.

What an incredible role model!

I am forever grateful and proud 

to have been your daughter.

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

💗

Yay, Tiger Baseball!!

 

April 30th

This old adage was on target this month.

We went from showers to deluges,

but they did bring on the buds!

The Amaryllis out did themselves this year.

This our biggest bulb garden,

but there are 2 more smaller spots in the yard.

The Peppermint Amaryllis

that's potted in this 

cement urn, has bloomed sparsely

in the past, but this year

we had 6 stalks of 4 flowers each. 

Dianthus

White Petunias

Louisiana Iris

I decided to cut the blooms this year.

We had several very windy days

which made the blooms bend over.

I didn't want them to die so soon,

so, I cut them to enjoy inside.

Adding blooms.

Gardenias

And now the Gladiolas are

beginning to bloom.

I added some oregano and yellow

wildflowers to this bouquet.

The Gladiolas and Irises

really are scentless,

but the oregano was heavenly!

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

The veggies are starting to bud too!

That's 2 Banana Peppers and

2 "Pear" Tomatoes.

Due to a mix up,

the CEO bought what he thought

was a tomato plant.

Nope.

It's a Tomatillo.

So, now we get to experiment

with these flavors.

Japanese Eggplant

(My favorite)

Green Bell Pepper

Cherry Tomatoes

Blackberries.

The thornless vine is covered

in white blooms.

Blueberries.

We have many Blueberry bushes.

I hope to have enough be able to

make homemade jam this season.

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

There are a few projects

going on around the yard,

 some new fence boards,

and a load of mud

to bolster up the lawn.

(Kinda reminds me of Half Dome in Yosemite)

😆

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

This is an old recipe that

the CEO came up with.

It's just in time for the

warmer late spring,

early summer

days.

Asian Slaw

1 bag of Cole Slaw mix

1 bunch of green onions

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 packages of Teriyaki flavored ramen

3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1st, crush the ramen noodles,

cut the green onions into small pieces,

and add the teriyaki flavor packets

into a bowl with a lid.

Then add everything else to the bowl

and mix together well.

Cover and put it in the fridge

to rest for a couple hours.

This goes great with BBQ!

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

An observation...

Some days I feel so old.

Kinda like I might predate the

Roosevelt administration,

or,

the Dead Sea might have been 

just a little bit sick,

or

 maybe I could have been born 

on the same day God created

dirt,

but..

then I get out in the garden for a bit

and I just feel so much better.

Yeah, the aches and pains are

still there, but the mental

correctness of 

planting and 

helping plants thrive

is indescribable.

(It's nice now but I'll get back to you in August!)

😃

💗💚💙

Thanks for letting me share.