Sweet Sungolds

Yeah! We just got 10mm of rain in about 20 minutes. The first rain since I planted the garden. Like a little kid at Christmas, I ran out to see how the plants were doing after their first rain shower in their new digs. Our first Sungold tomatoes!

Work in Progress

I'm still here! Lots of outside projects in the works. This is the greenhouse my brother is building for me using old recycled windows and doors. I'd say he's about half way done. It's looking a little junky down there now but I know it will be fabulous when it's finished. I've got an old cast iron kitchen sink to put inside and will put a load of pea gravel in for the floor and a potting bench down one side. I'm not sure what we'll use for the bottom - maybe siding - maybe glass. It may end up being more of a natural light potting shed/painting studio. Who knows?



We had a bunch of dead limbs cut down and a HUGE oak tree that was dead and leaning over the barn. I failed to get a photo of the whole tree but this is a piece of the middle section to give you an idea of how large it was. Lots of loud equipment and guys with hard hats and chainsaws running around for a few hours.


We made good use of the pile of chips left by the arborist. I now have paths leading to my new kitchen garden. Woo-Hoo! Finally a place to grow a few tomatoes, peppers and herbs.





Oh my sad sad tomatoes. They were struggling on the back deck planted in random containers. Finally they have room to stretch out and get some sun. I still need to cover the soil with a little mulch. I've got a pile of half decomposed leaves from last fall piled under the magnolia tree. I hope I get to that tomorrow. There's always something to do around here. My project list keeps getting longer instead of shorter.

The rough plan has been to get lots of work done around the house and yard this summer so that we can sit back and enjoy it in the fall. Maybe get back to some artful jewelry type creations and pottery.


Check out how the potato vine grew up around my squirrel feeder! Next year I'll plant those along the fence but I sort of just plunked a handful in the ground at the base of the post a few weeks ago. I've added a few more plants around the yard. 4 dwarf gardenias near the lower deck with newly mulched paths and 10 autumn ferns along the driveway by the trash corral.

Here's a sweet smellin' bloom on the guacamole hostas I planted last month. I was amazed at the bloom - it's so unlike the other hostas I planted earlier in the year. I've really enjoyed being outside, nurturing my plants and seeing how everything progresses. It's very difficult to water though. Since we are still in a "Level 4 Drought Restriction" I can only water (by hand, one hose, one person) from midnight to 10am on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.


I'll end this post with a photo of "Bandit" our resident raccoon. He's in here every night to snack on the cat food. I know, I'm going to have to take the cat food inside at night but it's so hard to do when Clara sleeps outside. Clara likes a little midnight snack and I hate to leave him with no food. Oh well, everyone's got to eat so the madness continues. Never a dull moment here on The Pharm.