Quiet Valley Farm

While in Pennsylvania, we hunted down some local places we wanted to visit. We usually look into all the natural sights in the area as well as craft, artisan venues. There were all kinds of things to see and do. There was candy making (Mia's top choice), Premium Outlet Mall same as here in Wrentham), art galleries, artisan shops, flea markets, boy were there ever flea markets!, mountains, lakes, farms, amusement parks, zoos, water parks, you name it, it was a tourist area and had all that has to offer.

We decided on a few specific things to see and do, including an artisan shop, the Poconos Indian Museum, an arts and craft fair, the candy making shop, the Worlds' Greatest General Store, the largest candy shop ever, and Quiet Valley Farm. Okay, so they were wrong, but we still enjoyed what they had to offer. It was like an indoor flea market, with all things hardware and then some. They had those metal 3D stars in every size and color imaginable. There were lots of thing to browse through, but I must mention the ponds. They had every size pond form you could ever want, with vast varieties of water plants and fish for same. You could not find such a selection anywhere around here.We did some shopping, but did not recommend the place to anyone else!

Our next venture out was to one of the flea markets. They had them all over. This was not a formal setting, and the offerings were very mixed. Some very nice things and others similar to yard sale leftovers. I imagine people going from yard sale to yard sale and gathering all the "for free" items and hauling them back to their regular weekend table of offerings! In past trips we often stumbled on flea markets offering fine crafted items and store quality clothing and wares, but this was not to be in this area of Pennsylvania.

The artisan shop we decided to go to advertised a piece of Sedona in the Poconos. And for once the advertising got it right. We absolutely love Sedona, it is our second favorite place to visit right after Hawaii! So now, being reminded of the mountains, the red soil, the red rock formations, the beauty, energy and serenity of that area, I'm compelled to share a photo to give you a peak at the splendor we experience in that area of our great country.









So this artisan shop was a small cooperative of various artist with all different media. There was hand crafted jewelry, sculpture, carvings, paintings, computer enhanced artwork, clay, ceramics, a variety of so many different kinds of artwork that we browsed around for quite a while.

(Oh, I am so tired of all the computer problems with these postings - font will just not stay in the mode I want)

Mia found a beautiful beaded bracelet unlike any we have ever made or seen. She also fell in love with some of the sculpture. She purchase a vase sculpted from an old piece of fencing that was made from now-extinct Chestnut wood. Look at this beautiful piece! How wonderful to recycle an old fence post and create this beautiful work of art.





They sculpted the top to create the vase opening, while maintaining the integrity of the original post. They sanded out the top for the beautiful wood texture and included a glass insert to hold a beautiful flower specimen.Mia is very cautious with her spending, and pondered which vase to choose before settling on this beauty. Doesn't it look just beautiful nestled among the Alyssum in my garden?



So our next trip was to Quiet Valley Farm on our way out of the Poconos. It is a farm from the early 1800's developed by a German slave who came here alone and after initially living in a carved out hill, much like the "Little House on the Prairie" family, built it up to include the more modern conveniences of his day. The buildings encompassed about 80+ years of his life, with the changes and upgrades reflecting the progress of that time. It is run similar to Plimoth Plantation, with the workers in period dress, demonstrating the daily life and customs of those time periods.

When we arrived at the farm, nestled away in the dry woods of the Poconos, we parked down the road from the farm and had to walk up a hill to get to the farm. And this brings us to the connection to this story. I was in a mindset of being weighed down my allergies, and the disappointment of the resort, and the fatigue that comes with traveling, and getting ready to trudge up a hill(Oh, no, not a hill!) to get to the venue.

It was a very warm day, and we had parked the car in the bright sun, this being late morning, and the sun getting into its hottest position in the sky. I was dreading this outing as I was uncomfortably hot and not wanting to be on my feet too much. You know what I'm talking about, those of you who get swollen feet in this kind of weather. We had the option of walking up the road or crossing and going through the woods, where there was a well worn path from prior visitors to the farm.

Well, do you think I am crazy and going to stay in the hot sun, when I can get in the shade?? LOL The change in temperature was immediate, as soon as I got within the woods, and the change now reminds me of the difference in my own yard between the hot, sunny front yard with few large tress to provide shade and the always cooler back yard with all those beautiful large trees that sway in the wind, and create a cooler climate for our own little piece of heaven on earth in our secluded back yard. Relived by the cooler climate, I proceeded.

As it was an unsteady ground I was carefully watching the path in order to stay on my feet, when out of the side of my eye I caught a glimpse of something, moved ahead, and then saw something else. It kind of startled me and I became alert, in that moment of my surroundings. Camera in hand I realized that I had just passed by a photo op, a moment when I could document something and share it with all of you. I usually forget to even bring my camera along. But now that I have this venue I find myself taking more and more photos of things I want to share with you. And 99% of the photos are of nature and all its splendor, big and small.

And so I retraced my steps a bit, went back and got these photos. Had I not been watching my step I would have missed these wonders of nature. This mushroom, seemingly peppered with sesame seeds, caught my eye by the way the sun was reflecting off its top. Just the one lone mushroom shepherding the path to the farm. (I used to try to identify mushrooms, having a few handbooks on hand, but gave them away after too many unsuccessful attempts at mushroom identification!)




Then saw another little fellow, this one with an orange hue, totally different from the first, and again all alone in the big woods. This little one was peeking out from under a leaf, which I moved to get a better picture of it.



I only saw one more thing along that path on the short jaunt to the farm. And it was the most marvelous thing I was to see on the whole trip. This is Indian Pipe, Monotropa uniflora, a member of the Wintergreen Family. This is something I don't think I ever saw before. It is a small non-green, waxy plant that feeds on roots or on decaying material in the soil. The plant will turn black as the fruit ripens or when it is picked and dried.




When we finally arrived at the farm proper, it was a beautiful sight. I got so wrapped up in what I was experiencing that I only took a few photos. The farm house itself had started out a small room which had been carved out of the side of a hill. Then as he prospered the farmer built a house on top of that room and expanded from there. Suffice it to say there was so much to see and learn about, we were there for quite some time. This is the view down to the farmhouse from the entrance. The farm itself is a working farm, with volunteers continually working on one project or another. When we were there they were making a hearty chicken soup to be frozen and served at their Harvest Festival in October.

There were demonstrations of Colonial crafts for all to try. They had Quilt making, as can be seen by the quilt on this large quilting frame. This group was making all kinds of baskets, using material grown on the farm.



And the most important part of the farm tour for Mia was finding these chicks running around the farm!




And, of course, the obligatory tourist attraction for older kids - Go Karts!!! If I hadn't been the one driving, I would have tried my hand at a fun spin around the block! Just didn't want to take a chance of throwing out my back so far away from home.

Look at them now!!

Got a bit sentimental today. Must have been the sound of the gentle rain falling in the early morning hours that lulled my soul into a place of remembering.

While getting ready to fall asleep last night it occurred to me that my life is in transition, again. There have been many transitions, but this one is different. I am about to lose my quiet weekday mornings. Those early morning hours when I used to be able to work myself awake and ease into the day with my daily post and my cup of coffee. The last week was a taste of how my weeks will be changing, early morning activity to get Mia up, help in her preparation for the day's activities, keeping an eye on the time to be sure she stays focused, getting her out the door, ON TIME!! Yea, like that is a realistic scenario. SO, in the seven mornings she has gone to field hockey so far, she was only late twice. Not too bad for this transitional time. ANd that was with two of us monitoring her time!! So as all this has been going on around me I am hit with a few revelations.

I never thought I would be a parent again. I had my son and my daughter, and life was whizzing on by with all that entailed. Twenty two years ago we were getting ready to celebrate my daughter, Paula's 14th birthday. I had her on Labor Day Weekend, 1972 - now that's a long time ago!!! And do you get the significance?!! LOL!! Labor Day Weekend!! - now that was some labor!! But that's another story. So, Paula, going into high school; Mia, going into the same high school, 22 years later. When Paula was going into high school, I had no idea what would be ahead of us. Derek was a Junior, so I hadn't been through the "full high school experience" yet.

Mia recently asked me if I was having deja vu when I was reacting emotionally to seeing her in her field hockey uniform for the first time yesterday. I wasn't, I was just being emotional to be seeing her in an actual high school uniform. She had thought that it was reminding me of Paula in her high school uniforms, but the reality was, it was just another reminder of the way in which time just passes us by while we are in the midst of all that life entails. We have been so caught up in the business of getting her ready for high school, that I was unaware of it actually being here, that time when I would have to face the reality that she is no longer a little girl.

For me, having been through all the passages to date with my older kids, now both over 35, I know what's ahead and how fast it is all going to be passing. I would like to be able to say, "Hey, can't we slow it down time for this one?"

I know what's going to happen, I am going to be missing so many of her special moments, as she goes off on her own, not needing me by her side to walk with her through her new moments. Had a glimpse of it this week at the high school orientation night when she immediately got up and moved her seat as soon as her one of her best gal pals arrived. Just jumped up and left, not, "Do you mind if I move?", or "Mom, is it okay if I go sit with all my friends", or heavens, of course not, "Mom is it okay if I rip your heart out and show you that I don't need you right by my side anymore, as I have my own friends now?"

Don't get me wrong, I am not on the precipice of falling into any kind of depressed state over this new stage of Mia's life. I could never be depressed about it. I so rejoice at this time. Rejoice in the pure knowledge that this child has been able to arrive at this place in her life. This place where she is blossoming into the person who was meant to be, and not weighed down by the worst life had originally offered her, absolutely nothing.

And that I have been allowed this blessing in my life is so mind boggling that I can't even describe it.

I get to do it all over again. And this time it is with the knowledge gained from having been through it before, it is with the wisdom that age and experience have brought to me. Yes, it is as a senior citizen (LOL), but I can handle it.

It is the small things, the first look at your now high school daughter in that team uniform, the look of pride in her eyes at having achieved one of her personal goals, that make a moment so very special and so very emotional.

It is the memories of all the small moments that brought us to where we are today. The past thoughts of how this child would ever overcome early obstacles and be resilient enough to join the mainstream of society, not becoming stuck on the sidelines. It is the knowledge of where her birth siblings are today and the contrast in how their divergent paths evolved.

It is the confidence that comes when you know you have done something so right.

So speaking of right, I have spent about an hour trying to get an early picture of Mia when she was three onto this post, to show then and now. It is a beautiful picture, that I was able to scan successfully, but which this blogger site will not upload. I wanted you to see the hopeful eyes of this three year old, who had nothing to look forward to, who would become a pawn in the system, one who almost got lost in the cracks, as her five older siblings did.

So now you have to imagine the photo, a beautiful little Asian girl with long wavy black hair, tied back in a beautiful bow, long bangs brushing her eyebrows in their crooked line across her brow.(it was impossible to get her bangs straight as she was traumatized while an infant and had a very difficult time letting me trim her hair.) She is standing with her hands in the pockets of her pantdress, which is black with pink flowers and ribbon trim. Having been with us only a few short months, she is getting ready to celebrate her third birthday, unable to wsmile for the photo, as she was in an uncertain life, unwilling to open herself up to any future, let alone be willing to smile for me.

So enough of that, this is the proud, becoming confident teen giving me so many emotional moments, moments I will be able to remember forever in our journey together. Our journey that will no longer be side by side, hand in hand, as she cautiously moves a little bit further away to seek her own path. And it will be in only a few short years, when she will be shifting away from my daily life, into her own, to be embarking on the rest of her life, with me on the sidelines basking in the glow of all that she will become.


Okay, tried downloading a photo of Paula and Mia and it worked!! This was when Mia was about six, when she was first getting to know Paula, before they officially became sisters. Such a striking pair!



SO now I try the other photo again, fingers crossed. Didn't happen, but here is one of sweet Mia before I was blessed with her arrival in my life. There is such love and joy in the thought that we now get to see her confident smile every day. The sadness, despair and uncertainty of this one little babe is no more. And how my life has been enriched in the process!

Garnet mine in New York

So you are all probably wondering what a garnet mine has to do with anything in my blog. I have been reminded of it continually this week and last as I have been working on the new path in the gardens. This is what it was looking like as we went off on vacation.



Let me try this again.(Initially this post had be started two days ago)
When I travel I like to see the natural sights in the area. We have traveled to various seasides, lake fronts, mountains, deserts, canyons, caves, and all manner of natural habitats.

There was a time when all I wanted to do was shopping. I find that now, as I am less enamored of most things material, my focus has shifted on the kinds of things I want to spend my time doing, both here and away.

We seek out the unusual, the natural elements that each individual area has to offer. I find myself remembering a great side trip last year.

Last summer we were at Lake George and we found an old Garnet mine that was open to visitors. We went off with some friends and drove to this area where we had to follow a small dirt path, with just the ruts for the tire tracks indented. Paige, from West Virgina, was very used to driving in rural areas, so she had no problem with the car maneuvering. We went up a cramped area which turned out to be a steep hill. Once we hit the top it took a sudden down turn, into the middle of the carved out mined area.

This is the area we came upon. It had once been a solid part of the mountains. In the process of mining garnet, they would blast the rock and it would splinter into thousands pieces of garnet which would be scattered at the bottom of the growing pit. They would gather the garnet, and it would be used as gemstones and mostly for manufacturing purposes. The garnet from this part of New York is so hard that is is used for highly specialized drilling equipment.

So, after this mining area was abandoned it filled up with water and is used only for tourist purposes. They bring in small groups, giving us buckets and allowing us about a half hour to harvest whatever garnets we can find. Now, I have to tell you, we really enjoy this type of activity.



We must have made a funny sight - three of us middle age + women and one teenager, picking through all the rocks and soil (which was actually comprised of garnet dust and the accompanying minerals of the area all blasted into a sparkling black/silver/red dust that blanketed the area, along with larger rocks containing actual garnet pieces visible to the naked eye!) Just fascinating!!

We were excited just to see little flakes in what we were sorting through! We got a few small gemstones, and lots of splintered pieces that have been sitting in a sup since last year.




This was a massive area, with tons of blasted rock and gem dust to be sorted through. It made us realize what it must have been like for the early gold miners, panning their way through the west! This is Mia and Paige set against the enormous pit we were working in.


And this photo shows Mia sitting on a tremendous piece that had been mined, which was set by the gift shop(of course). And of course, now the font is going bonkers again. If you look closely you can see red circles all over this piece of rock. That is actually garnet embedded in the rock, which is exactly what is was like all over the mine area. And so the connection. I will be using the garnet dust and fragments collected at this mine in NY along the new path, which Mia and I will be embedding this weekend with rocks, gemstones, shells, and other items we have been collecting over the years on all our travels.


And so to get to the connection. I will be using the garnet dust and fragments collected at this mine in NY along the new path, which Mia and I will be embedding this weekend with rocks, gemstones, shells, and other items we have been collecting over the years on all our travels.

And so our travels come full circle, all those little gems that caught our eyes along the way of all our travels, some coming as far away as Hawaii (!), and as close as our own backyard, will l be lovingly placed into our new path within our great gardens

post delay

Yea, after getting this copied over to this post, my spell check is working again! I am grateful for this little blessing at this moment!

As Mia had her first scrimmage today, we had a very delayed start to our morning. Then the men arrived to continue working on the sunroom roof. Today's post in progress, to be posted asap. Get another cup of coffee!! LOL And thanks for your continued patience!

So I thought I was all ready to re write the post I had tried to do two days ago. I had started to write, had trouble with the font, got that right, after about six tries. Why is it that when I am behind on my posts this thing always acts up???!! (absolutely no LOL)

I tried to get to it yesterday, but had roofers here all day working on the sunroom roof, trying to undo the incorrect installation of skylights which were done initially three years ago with the construction of the sunroom. Yes, three years have gone by where the sunroom roof had been leaking every rain storm, then they had to cover them up, so we have been without that feature for about two years and we have been unable to finalize the interior of the sunroom due to the leaking. We have patiently waited through the contractor and manufacturer trying to figure out whose fault it was, so they could get it right and we could get on with our lives.

Okay, so today the spell check feature is not working and now I have to go back and proof the whole thing myself! Such joy, with the hammering in the background, not being drowned out by the air conditioner I had to put on to try to use as white noise, which is just not wroking as such, so I might as well turn it off and save on the electirity, but if I do that the hammering will be louder. Is there any way a person can get ahead uin a week like this??!!!!

Okay, so the positive in all this. TODAY IS FRIDAY !!! TGIF No workers here tomorrow!!! And it's a long weekend. Thank you God for the positive in this!! No one will need to get up by six tomorrow, so I will have a quiet house in the early am for the next two mornings! Then we need to get a routine going for Mia to be ready for her bus which will be even earlier than last year.

So here I was, the week before school starting, trying to get Mia all outfitted for all needed for next week. She got her Field hockey uniform - you know all about it, I'm sure. They never fit, and don't always come with everything that is needed. Go to Bob's to finally get a new pair of sneakers, and try to find spandex shorts for under her uniform skirt. So of course, I missed the BOGO 1/2 price deal by 1 day! And they don't have the spandex shorts in the preferred color, and everything is just so expensive, even with all the coupons I bring in tow.

Get home, try on the uniform skirt, she doesn't like the fit, pin it to be altered (mind you, it is needed for a scrimmage the next day), go in to do the overdue post, have trouble with uploading the photos, decide to change the topic, start to write and am bombarded by loud music, hammers pound, the saw whizzing and men shouting, all "Up on the roof"!

So I try to refocus, and it just wasn't happening. So I figure, okay, go work on the skirt and do the post later, after the men leave. I'll have about an hour before we have to get to the high school orientation coming up that night.

Sit down to pin skirt, get interrupted by a call informing me a cleaning crew is on the way to clean up after the roofers. So you get the picture. With interruptions about every ten minutes over the next two hours for all that was going on, I got nothing, absolutely nothing done! I hadn't realized how much I cherish my quiet household until it was total pandemonium yesterday!

So Mia went off early this morning with her skirt pinned up for today's scrimmage, running late for the second morning in a row. You know how these teen girls have to have every hair in place, and then oh, yea, forgort something at the last moment. Last night it was her cell phone, she needed it with her at the orientation so she and her best friend could find each other at the high school!!
With all this going on I have gotten so side tracked this has becom a post in itself!!

Meanwhile I am still working on the other post!!

More new seeds, and Money plant seed pods

A local Realtor let me go to his office and harvest Hollyhock seeds today!! There are a variety of colors. I wish I had taken pictures when they were in blooms so that I could remember, but the other plants are pinks and purples. Also got a deep purple Cleome, and yellow and orange Marigolds (annuals).

There are also a few very large stems of Money plant seed pods available for dried flower arrangements for anyone who wants some.

Creeping myrtle available

Hi Marna,

Would you or anyone you know be interested in Creeping Myrtle evergreen Ground Cover? I have tons and it is being invaded by grass! My plan is to dig it all up a section at a time to remove the grass roots and then replant the ground cover. It is very dense so I know I won't replant it all as is grows back quickly.

Let me know,

Sara

If anyone is interested, post a comment here and I will forward your interest directly to Sara, who lives in Franklin.

OKAY I'M DONE FOR THE MORNING!!??!!

So, old story, new day.

I have been working on a nice post about our travels in Pennsylvania, sharing pictures, observations, etc, when I hit a wrong key and lost the whole post.

Goodbye computer for today. Sorry.

More Monarch news

Got this email from Sheryl, on her Monarch experience. Now would be the time to transplant some milkweed to an out of the way spot in the garden so that you will be ready to feed Monarch caterpillars next summer! I have several plants that could be taken, or you could get them from fields, empty lots.

Hi Marna;

Thanks for the tip/link. Just wanted to update you; Bella was released last Monday and today, we
have 3 new butterflies that hatched this morning. My son is back from the Army for the week so
Naomi is here today; she got to watch them hatch and then had them on her hand once their wings
were mostly dried. I am attaching a pic of her holding two of them. She just had so much fun with
all of this. We have one more green cocoon and another caterpillar so two more butterflies will hatch
before it gets too much colder. It's so much fun!

I

Prickly Pear

Just before vacation, one of my new gardeners, Sheryl came to visit with her granddaughter. Sheryl has been in touch for quite some time, but had not had the chance to get up to visit as she is from Taunton. As she was not in a permanent home situation, she was unable to take advantage of my numerous plant offerings. In preparing for her move into a beautiful home in Lakeville in just a few weeks now, she contacted me about a plant that she had in her yard which she had moved from her prior garden. She was wondering if I would be interested in having part of it as it had grown quite large and she was getting ready to split it.

Well, it turned out to be Prickly Pear, a form of cactus!! And those of you you have been here know that I have a Yucca in a place of prominence in my gardens, as my son-in-law is a cowboy from Yuma, AZ, and I want my grandkids to become familiar with desert plants as we are able to have them in the Northeast.

So Sheryl generously brought me a very large portion of her Prickly Pear recently. On that very day, another gardener, Sue, stopped by to drop off some things for my sewing classes, and it turned out she had recently lost a prized Prickly Pear that she had been enjoying for several years. As there was plenty that Sheryl had brought, I was able to share it with Sue to add back in to her garden. I believe that all things happen for a reason, and on that day, Sue's spontaneous visit was obviously predestined so that she could share in the desert bounty! Sue was so surprised and I was so happy to be able to share with her.

So this is the prickly pear after being planted in a very sunny, not spot in the gardens. Just one problem.......

I have visited the desert several times when my daughter was living in Tucson. I was taught all about being in the desert, about the creatures one could encounter, about the heat, and most importantly about the cacti. They like to attack, even when not provoked!

And as I have this memory problem that keeps popping up, I prepared myself for the transplant process. I carefully wrapped the plant in layers of newspaper, as a precaution, and put on a pair of heavy duty (or so I thought) thick suede gloves for the job. Oh, yes, you know the drill, I messed up. The gloves were in no way thick enough to handle this particular cactus. I only touched it a bit after getting it into the ground, to get the plant upright, but it was just the opportunity the little bugger was looking for. Boy did it get me good.

One hand was full of pricklies, but they are so fine that they were unable to be seen, so Mia had to help find them. That didn't work, so I tried scotch tape, not strong enough. Went to duct tape, which got a few, and had to wait out the rest, which got out within the next few days. If anyone has had the experience they are just so annoying and painful!! I set the gloves aside in the garage to deal with later, realizing that the pricklies were probably stuck all over the gloves.

Okay, so lesson learned. I need to remember to stay away from close contact with the Prickly Pear. When I went out to check it after vacation, I used my trusty Cape Cod Weeder to move the plant parts to see how it was doing. It is still drooped alot on the ground, but it has transplanted great, with loss of only a small section that didn't have much root on it when it arrived.

Now the interesting part. I went for a long walk in my woods to check on all that grows within. I took my camera, extra batteries, as I am always running out, and tools in case I needed to clear ay paths, etc. Also brought gloves to use for moving any fallen trees, branches in my way, etc.

So are you following me here??

I used the great suede gloves that I had used from the Prickly Pear transplant -LOL - LOL-
Had to remove pricklies all over again!!!

So I have just made a note to self - Pricklies all over suede gloves!!!

Have a great day, I'm out to the gardens!!

VIP list

Here is the VIP list

Mia
Krissy
Sara
Alicia
Mike/Miranda
Matt
Logan
Sheila
Carol
Kerri
Jeannie
Babs
Druh

Being on this list means you have contributed in wonderful ways to the gardens. You will have first choice on plants that are offered, and some will only be offered to this list. Thanks for all you have done to make this season so wonderful!!

Rubrums (Star Gazer Daylilies) at Lowe's

So many of you were overcome by the arresting aroma of the Rubrums in my gardens this season. That, and the fact that they are my favorites, compels me to do a little advertising for our new Lowe's at Route 52 and Route 1 in Plainville (opposite Target).




I dropped in there for my first visit to the garden center and found an amazing sight. Dozens of Rubrums in full bloom! They have three plants in each pot and they are $8.00. This is ag reat deal for the potted plants, ususlly they are $10-15. Now is a great time to plant bulbs in your gardens. By getting them already in full bloom, you can put the pots around in your gardens and see where they will look best!! While at Target I noticesd that many of the Stella D'oro Daylilies were with fully matured seed pods, so , yes, you got it, I harvested some!!

Have got to get out in the gardens, but wanted to share this tidbit with you. By the way, Target is looking for experienced gardeners for their garden center!

Oops! A BIG mistake this time

This is the first year we have ever tried watermelon. I have been keeping you posted on our progress. When I got back from vacation, with all the rain while away, the weed situation was critical in some gardens. What to do first? Do I tend to my beloved perennials, which have always been my first concern, or do I be more practical and take care of the vegetables and fruits?

Well for this one time, practicality won out. By growing vegetables, we provide food for ourselves, and with food growing here free, I can save money on groceries by cultivating the vegetables.

Now, I have to stop here and tell you I have in the past done my fair share of vegetable gardening, when my first set of kids was young and I had lots more energy for hoeing, and weeding, and staking and all the daily care needed by vegetables.

As I got older and more ADD-involved, I found that I was less inclined to remember the vegetables way out in the back of the yard. My husband was the one more involved in that process. I was focused more on getting the yard to look just right, like those pictures you see of the beautiful gardens. I always thought if I had one of those beautiful looking gardens, then I would feel more complete, better about my life, etc. The ever elusive dream........

And you all know how that goes. Sure I got my great looking gardens, but along the way I lost part of myself in the quest. What a relief to have gotten past that and to have found me, once and for all!!!
So I did tackle the vegetables and fruits. This is what it looked like when we got back. The weeds were so dense I couldn't even walk through the area. You can see one of the watermelon vines growing up the Yucca stem!



I went to the tomatoes first as they were in pretty tough shape. The watermelon vines were growing all over the tomato plants, with several creeping up and over and around wherever they could. So I worked on tracing the ends of the vines back to see where they started.
This was the area of the very large watermelon, that we are treating ever so carefully and complimenting it constantly on how beautiful it is looking these days. I could barely see it with all the vines all over the place.




As there were just so many vines growing I decided to cut back the ones that had not produced any melon yet, to allow the plants to concentrate on those melons that were already growing. This late in the season any new melon will not have long enough to ripen before the frost sets in. Here is the wonderful watermelon freed from all the excess vines.




I was working away, with about a dozen vines growing every which way, and was really making progress. I was actually able to get in between the tomato plants to stake them up and harvest the ripening tomatoes that were waiting for us.


I was so intent on what I was doing that I had not noticed a lone developing melon that was tucked away hiding among the tomato plants. So, that's right, you probably guessed it. I had cut it's vine, not realizing it belonged to a melon until I started to pull the excess vines out of the area, and lo and behold, there was a melon, on the end of a cut vine!!!

Oh, no, I did it again, another OOPS moment!! As it had several leave bracts along the still attached vine, I carefully carried it in to the house and put it gently on the counter with it's cut vine in a cup of water. As it was pretty good sized, I figured I had nothing to lose by keeping the vine watered.

So that was early last week and now here it is a week later, in it's own little corner of the sunroom, cushioned by one of our pillows, basking in the sunlight coming in the window, and the vine is still alive, the leaves rich and green, still hanging in there. It'll be interesting to see how it progresses, or not, we'll see.



The raspberry patch was so overgrown with all the tomatoes that were planted there (LOL!!). And this is what it looked like, more of a tropical rain forest than a suburban raspberry patch!



Now they say that turn around is fair play, so I should have made my husband clean out all the weeds. If I had been able to thin out the other berries, I would have mulched it all as I went along, as I had done with the other area I had thinned. Then there would not have been so much room for weeds.

As it was, I spent several hours and pulled out bucket after bucket of weeds, mostly creeping Charlie (Asian Dayflower).

I even found a parsnip gone to seed , which is great as I can start new plants for next year!




This is the cleared out area of the raspberry patch where watermelon is also growing.



And these are the watermelon in the other melon patch that are also doing just great. I'm sure all the rain this year has been an added bonus for them. Someone recently gave me the tip to put the melons on a wood shingle to keep them from rotting.



I have googled it, but am still not sure how to know when to pick them. Any help out there??

Do you want these plants?

In browsing the gardens, I am reminded of endings.
There was a time when I had been quite ill and depressed. I had finally been able to get out in the garden late in the season, after a long stretch of no gardening. My doctor asked me how I was going to handle it when my garden died back for the winter. I thought that was a most unusual question. What did she mean? Was I going to mourn the loss of the current years plants? Was I going to be more depressed as I would not be getting any more gardening done for several months? Was I going to .......... ???

Well, I didn't have to think about that question for any time at all. I would be looking forward to the following spring, knowing that I would be putting my plants to bed for the winter, and that come spring they would all be greeting me in their individual splendor. And at this particular time, it was when I decided to expand the front gardens from just under the Crabapple tree to all the way down the driveway.

I would be spending the winter, when I would be unable to go back to work, researching and planning for the new garden areas, which I would be able to start planting the following spring. As I prepared all the other gardens for the winter, it was with the confidence and full knowledge that these wonderful plants, who had annually showed me their finest forms, would once again be going back into the earth to replenish their souls, resting under the soft blanket of our many snowfalls, comforted by the knowledge that they would peek up through the soil again, when it was their time to be reborn in the full glory for which they were intended.

So the endings I am reminded of are the ones that occur throughout the gardens at this time of year. It is the passing time of the great blooming Daylilies, the brilliant spiked Liatris, which fed oh so many butterflies, hummingbirds and insects this season. Now, late in August, it is the time of faded blooms and many more developing seeds. It is the time to cleanup the gardens, to take a good look at what has transpired this season, and a time to plan for the next.

I will be taking a very close look at all garden areas, and deciding how to finish out the current season as I prepare for the next. One questions I face this time of year is what to do with my plants as the season winds down. I will be making these decisions as I go through the photos I have recently taken of all the gardens.
This is the Candytuft, Iberis, in the front of the house. This was a great year for it, about the fourth year it has been there. It has multiplied wonderfully and was loaded with great white flowered spikes early in the spring. I let the flower spikes remain as they developed seeds this season. The plants are now filled with the brown spikes, which have deposited their seeds on the soil below. It will be fun to see how many seedling comes up next spring, as this is the first year I have let them go to seed intentionally.

Okay, I don't have my glasses on, so now as I look closer it looks like it could be the Creeping Phlox. As I don't know where I last put my glasses I will need to go pack to my Pictures folder to look at the photo in enlarged mode to see what I am actually looking at (LOL). And I will get more coffee to get myself a bit more alert for the process!!

Well that's a relief, my eyes aren't as bad as I was imagining! It is the Candytuft. I am so glad I looked at the photo closer as I noticed a small Poison Oak coming up to the right of it just next to the Aster on the far right. Got that on a list of things I need to do today. No need to have my gardeners getting any new rashes when they come to help!

I am interrupted here by the clear, soft chirping of one of our Cardinals, somewhere in the woods outside the window. They are consistent, year round companions here.

And back to the photo. Also in the forefront is a variegated Hosta, with its spent bloom stem. This particular variety I usually cut off the stems as soon as they are finished blooming. As I am experimenting with letting plants go to seed, I will do that with several of the different Hosta varieties this year, to see how they develop. I have a whole area of variegated Hosta that I need to thin out if anyone wants any.



These are Bronze Fennel that have to get out of this area now that they have matured. They are one of the host plants for Anise and Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies!! I gave out caterpillars this past spring to families that had this host plant!




In this garden the Sundrops are crowding in on the Tree Peony, and that just will not do!! Help save them from the compost, and plan to adopt some!!




This garden will be changing to a vegetable patch next year. So, the Liatris, Daylilies, Japanese Iris, Dwarf Iris, and Sedum need to go!!




This yellow blooming Sedum will all have to go as it has grown onto the driveway and will get plowed up over the winter.





These Aster and Lemon Balm will be getting thinned out to avoid too much overcrowding.




The Ginger has spread remarkably, and needs to be thinned out.




And the Thyme, oh, the Thyme, I have loads and loads of Thyme, oh, that it could be the time, that I have loads of, and not the Thyme!!



And look, a Columbine has taken up residence in a Strawberry plant! That will not do at all. That tenant never signed a lease - must be evicted ASAP!!! Need the space for the Strawberries and all the runners!!


And speaking of the Strawberries, there is just no more room for any additional plants, the runners, and small plants growing off them have got to go!! Oh, wait, I do have new homes lined up for them. Those new homes have got to get ready for their imminent arrival!



This area in the Daylily bed has to be thinned to make room for more Butterfly Weed, which I am letting go to seed to have more of my butterflies' favorite plant!!



And last, but not least of this sweep of some of the gardens, is this overgrown, sprawled all over the ground, beautiful over-matured Black Eyed Susan, which needs to be dug, split and sent on to spend the rest of its days elsewhere, as I have plenty already!


So this has been a sampling of plants waiting to be adopted. I had meant to get this posting done before I went on vacation, so you could all be thinking about what you might be wanting for your gardens. Interested??!!

All it takes is the time you would already be spending going around and looking at all my gardens. Many of you spent over an hour here on your initial visits. Why not spend that time next to me in one of the gardens harvesting all the plants I am planning to dig/pull up that otherwise would end up in someone else's garden on in compost. Just take a minute and let me know of your interest, and when you might be able to get here. Once school starts, I'll be available throughout the day, especially as the cooler weather comes in. I won't keep offering, as I have so much work to do with the gardens and getting ready for fall classes.