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| After a hard days work and a long commute home, the last thing Matt wants to do is stay in the car longer. But he gets trapped by well-wishers the minute he pulls in. |
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| They thought they would thrill Ineke with a petal shower... |
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| Ineke didn't quite look thrilled. But it worked for some others! |
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| a cow hoof in the garden is never a good sign |
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| FINALLY! I canned up the freezer stew meat. It took the hottest day thus far and many months to finally get it done. It isn't exactly a pretty picture (looks more like dog food) but it makes me happy looking at it anyway. |
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| Homemade maple yogurt with the few strawberries we'll be able to harvest here. And mint! Lots of mint! |
I don't know how it happened but the peonies came and went without a single bouquet being brought inside. What?!?! The irises too. Where was I?!? Between vacation, garden, health stuff and raindrops, this month has pretty much disappeared in a blink. It is a strange thing indeed to not have had any flowers brought indoors though- very unlike me. I saw a small late-blooming peony the other day with a swollen bud. I'll be sure to get that one for my bedside.
The garden took a lot longer to get in this year for some reason but it is finally in. I am probably most excited about the carrots- I planted carrots in containers this year to see what would happen. Carrots have never done very well for me because of all the stones and clay soil. They come out short, squat and curly from trying to grow around stones. With deep containers and NO STONES, they should be beautiful. (I hope!)
Probably 90% of the beans were eaten by something as they came up so I had to replant them yesterday. This happened last year too. Sprinkling cayenne peppers on them helped so I'll be sure to get that done as soon as I see some growth.
The weeds are crazy because I couldn't get my hands on any hay mulch this year. I am trying to get cardboard down to help out but I am fighting a loosing battle. Thankfully, I have many hands helping me fight.
The worst pest to the garden? Our cow Ellie who, the other morning when we all got outside, was found wandering around the yard. We got her back in the pasture just fine and I was thankful that getting her back in the fence was uneventful. Good girl!
But then I started looking around at the damage she had done while on her freedom adventure... and I could have turned her to beef right then and there. She ate blueberry bushes and trampled a few (of the very few) good strawberry plants I have. She destroyed my cabbage patch and brussel sprouts (they may not recover) and ate the tops off of 97 corn plants. 97! And it is probably too late to replant some more corn. Nothing more destructive than a cow in a garden.
It's funny how gardening keeps you humble. No matter how hard you try, you inevitably are at the will of forces outside of your control. It's a good lesson~ a needful one albeit a bit painful too. We are so not in control. We are so dependent. The sooner we realize this truth, the sooner we can find joy and gratitude in the gifts.
Because that is exactly what they are.
Gorgeous photos!Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought the deer were bad! Clearly cows are worse! But you have a very healthy perspective of how little we actually control. Hoping the rest of your garden thrives!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I commiserate with your garden woes. I feel like it is such a fight to just get produce from the soil! It seems like daily there is something working against you in that endeavor, pests and critters and weather and blight. Thankfully we don't have any cows to contend with, but the weeds are already out of control in our little patch! Sometimes the whole thing requires more perseverance than I care to give it with everything else we are juggling--but then the fruits of that labor are so sweet when they come! so many good lessons learned in a garden. <3 so jealous of those peonies! can't wait to plant some in our yard someday!
ReplyDeleteAll the photos are Awesome, but the one of Ineke and the cow... And the baby deer nestled in the long grass.. They make my heart swoon <3
ReplyDeleteOh, oh, oh. Those corn pictures pain my heart. I still am laughing about you counting them all, though. I told Millie, and she said, "That's just what YOU would do!" which is true, which is why I find it funny. With each corn stalk tallied, my rage would grow until the final proclamation, "NINETY-SEVEN! She ate NINETY-SEVEN ears of corn!!!!" In a weird way, knowing the actual number would make me feel better.
ReplyDeleteHoping along with you that the Father of all things green and growing brings about a bounty in all other areas of your garden harvest this year, so much so that the pain of the cow's feast diminishes. (Still. Ouch. That corn. And brussels. And cabbage.)
On a happier note, the pictures of Ineke in this post are some of my favorites you've ever taken! So beautiful. And the one of her in the tub? And the ones of your girls by the peonies? Beautiful, too.