The weather's mixed blessing

We've had rain and thunderstorms daily for about two weeks now. The 10-day forecast going forward is much the same. Some days I think, "will it ever end???" and other days I think, "Wow, look at my garden grow!" The peas are out of control and way over the top of my trellis. I had to insert a makeshift stake in the middle to try and give them a little more support. The aren't weighted down with peas though, because my little guy picks them clean every chance he gets.


Yesterday I saw some tiny beginnings on the purple bean plants and the tomato plant on the deck. The pumpkin plants are growing very quickly and I'll be thrilled if we really get pumpkins. It seems almost too good and magical to be true :) Ahh, the wonders of gardening.


I'm reading a book now about composting (several months after I started the compost) and learning all sorts of good things. If my compost works out well I'm going to try and make some serious efforts on the flower gardens next year. I have to figure out how to stay on top of the weeding. There's always something :)

How does Martha do it?

he kids and I picked a bouquet of these beautiful flowers from the garden today. I'm an idiot and can never remember what they are called, but they are in full bloom in the front garden and absolutely gorgeous! Anyway, we brought a handful in and put them in a vase on the table... then I spent the next few hours squishing ants that were falling off the flowers! People always talk about beautiful bouquets from the garden, but how do you get rid of the ants? I doubt Martha has ants running all over her dining room table! Yuck! But they seem to be gone now and the flowers are still aromatic and lovely.



I also failed to mention, on this blog anyway, that we have peas in the garden! We've been picking the ones that are several inches long and eating them, pods and all, and they are very yummy. Not sure if I'm supposed to be letting them grow bigger and shelling the, but oh well. They are tasty and the boy gets very excited about eating them, so I'm not going to change a thing!

The rest of the garden is growing really well too. I'm very happy with things this year. I'll be psyched if I get carrots and pumpkins. I've given up again on the cucumbers. There must be a secret to them that I don't know. Maybe I'll do some research and try again next year. But overall a good garden!