Poppies and other blooms in the Garden of the Wittys

A Garden and the tale of a Suspension Bridge

So you're still with me, huh? Bless you, bless you.

These pics are sort of a continuation of the trips we made to Star in the Fall. We went to town and visited Legacy Plaza and enjoyed the gardens and weather. Not super cold and a bit overcast. Perfect for photographs. The husband and kids loved it -- I'm only somewhat telling the truth (ha!) -- but not as much as I did! 

Garden & Greens 2016

My proudest harvest yet would have to be blueberries. Even though earlier this year, we had a bountiful harvest of broccoli and cabbages. I love spring & summer. So much green and fruits and veggies. 

I took a LOT of blueberry pictures. It was just so cool to see them grow. Every day I would ask Andrew to go pick them and dutifully, he would go. Surprisingly, he ate them. Elena enjoyed eating them too. We have two trees in pots and they are loved. 

One day this summer, while gardening I found some berries. They seemed to be blackberries to me, but what do I know? After posting on Snapchat about it, a friend told me they were dewberries and they were totally edible. These grew on small tiny vines alongside our fence. It was pretty cool to find edible berries on our property. 

I did have a funny video of Elena eating the dewberries. She ate one and made a sour face. Totally adorable. It must have been a video that was lost when I dunked my phone in the water and there was no resuscitating that thing no matter how much money I spent. So just picture her eating these things and making faces. She liked only a few of them, and the rest, I ate. 

This year, I planted one of my two brown turkey fig trees in my yard. And it is doing great after a very poor start in the spring (I think it outgrew its pot).

However, since we left of vacation, they became neglected (they're very young) and most of the figs dried up & fell off. I did manage to savor two of them though. I thought they needed a cute photo op.

Since we've had such a wet summer (so.much.water), we have mushrooms come up every day. You know I have a love affair with these things--at least photographing them. Not eating them. 

Elena wanted to touch them, I'm not sure if she likes them or what. 

This here is Elena touching little mushrooms from last year :) Aren't they cute? 

Earlier this year, without much success, I planted a bunch of cucumbers. At many points I doubted myself because I couldn't remember if I had planted squash alongside the cukes. I never got squash but I couldn't figure out why the blooms were different. I did get about 4 cucumbers and two of them were pretty good since I picked them in time. 

I planted strawberries and no go there. No strawberries that were edible, anyway. My jalapenos are always good. And I finally got more than 2 bell peppers this year!!! I was excited about that.

I had good success with cherry tomatoes. The boys would pick them but not eat them. They do not like tomatoes. I think I must have raised them wrong. I remember pulling carrots & tomatoes from gardens when I was young. They were a delicious treat. 

These are my first two tomatoes. Pretty soon after, I had a bucket full. 

Anyways, I have to talk about my compost. My failing compost. 

You guys, I'm not a good gardener. I'm just ok. Barely getting by. And I know that every successful gardener keeps a compost (thanks Uncle Jackie!) My father in law has never planted a garden but he'll tell you everything about it...it's ridiculous, his knowledge. 

He has told me that my compost does not get hot enough. It's not 'baking' properly. It's more of a raised bed at this point. 

So far, I've found 6 avocado pits growing (I have killed all but one), cucumbers, pumpkin, squash and pinto beans all gleefully and beautifully sprouted. 

The joke around here is if I want something to grow, just throw it in the compost. 

You guys, this is my compost after Andrew dumped half a bag of pinto beans from one of his projects. Such a sight, right?

I hope you liked my pictures and my gardening woes. Help me out if you know anything about my struggles along this green thumb adventure. I did attend a Master Gardener's meeting earlier this month and I very much enjoyed it. So much information that has to be applied. 

Have a good week, everyone! 

this summer + fall in green

hello!

this post has been my baby for weeks now. and if you're not the flower or plant type person, you're more than welcome to just scroll on by :) but i wanted to share with the world how blessed i've been this summer. give thanks in all circumstances, right? 

i started out by planting flowers all around my property, and the only ones who did any good were these gargantuan zinnias. they are hardy!!! nothing could kill them, not even the monsoon season.

something else grew in there, but i'm not sure what it was... the zinnias kinda overtook my raised bed. i'm thinking if i want to put in zinnias again, i'll double re-think my location on where to put them. 

some begonias went in, but the sun killed them off. i mean, how do you plant stuff in your yard according to the sun? the bloody thing changes its course every other month--haha!

i was able to bring home these beautiful lisianthus flowers all the way from DC. the guy said these girls were sturdy and would handle the flight. he also said these flowers were a distant cousin of the blue bonnet. gary the skeptic, researched it further and turned out to be they were related to the texas bell flower...the way people make a buck these days--lol

he was right about one thing, they did last the flight. and they lasted over 2 weeks on my dining table. 

below is my rubber plant: during the summer, it grew its leaves in this vibrant red. it was so strange to watch them unfurl and turn to dark green. this guy is so easy to grow...definitely recommend it if you want something easy to care for.

i often tell gary to pull over while driving so i can pick some flowers. i'm kinda digging the foraging movement going on these days. but i must remember to keep some pruning shears in the car for next year when all the magnolias start blooming again. they're such beauties! 

i brought back some of the flowers with me after little sister's birthday. those lilies were just a bloomin' and i totally want a eucalyptus tree now. i remember them in Mexico, at the front of houses, just as fragrant as can be. gary couldn't smell it because he's been having allergies. 

one day while i had all my new prints on the table to photograph  i asked andrew to clean off the table for a meal and he had propped them all up "to make the table pretty" I absolutely love that about him. the little things that make my heart full. 

Prints are available here if you wanna take a looksy. i'm having a sale on them too!

now, i'm no stellar gardener or seasoned farmer, i'm only learning as i go and just googling things when i need to. i was bummed my blueberry bush didn't provide any blueberries but was stoked when my fig tree produced the most delicious fig i've eaten in years. this stuff is complicated, guys! next spring, i need to finally choose a spot to plant the tree and that makes me nervous. 

mid summer, my crazy compost started sprouting seeds and soon we found out that it was canteloupe. i knew nothing of cantaloupes. nothing. 

so i just let it take over my little square of a garden and then i started seeing fruit. everywhere. 

and finally i reaped my first melon. unfortunately i was the only one who somewhat enjoys melon, so i celebrated it the mexican way. 

and then, the raccoons found my melons. night after night i would come out to see them as empty rines. so after getting irritated day after day and not doing anything about them, i just pulled up the cantaloupe and said no more, coons! 

man i was so frustrated and disappointed with that. i was planning on giving out melons to everyone...but i've learned my lessons and will better prepare for next year! 

 i took a picture of the moon two days after the blood/harvest moon and it was just so awe-mazing...

love finding things in our back patio! and elena loves digging dirt and getting dirty. it's all fine with me though...

and purslane? did you know their little pods are so weird looking and you can eat purslane salad? i haven't gotten the guts to make it...but maybe i will if i find the right recipe.  

thanks guys for sticking around and letting me jibber jabber about my little plants. 

previous posts on my plants here, here, here, & here just in case you're bored :) 

have a fantastic day, everyone!