Magic Gardening, Lavender, & Surprise Visitor

The Farmer’s Almanac states celery is tricky to grow, and it will not tolerate heat, and can be hard to transplant.  As you know, I reside in Oklahoma, where temperatures can vary from the low 30s in the spring with highs in the 70s; to summer temperatures that start as low as the 60s, and rise up to a potential high of 117+ degrees.

Being the smart person that I am, I tried growing celery from seeds the last two years, with no results.  

Then I read on Pinterest you could cut the bottoms off of a stalk of celery purchased from a store, and place each end in a bowl of water to grow roots.  After purchasing celery from the farmers’ market, and the health store, I cut the bottoms off, and placed the ends in water to grow roots.  After growing roots, I planted each end directly in my garden box.  I water the celery twice a day.  I covered it with bird netting to keep the birds away from the celery, and I had to spray the celery twice with a mixture of water, alcohol, and Dawn soap to keep the bugs away from them. 

At the present time, I have 3 beautiful full stocks growing tall in my garden box.  I’ve harvested stalks as needed, for soups and salads; I’ve even eaten stalks directly out of the garden while tending to it.  Hey, what can a girl do; when you’re working in the garden and you’re hungry, grab a convenient, healthy snack……………………a celery stalk.  

As evidence that celery does grow easily (not by seeds) and in hot locations, look at my celery as proof.

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The last time we went into the big city, we stopped off at Whole Foods.  Bulldog Man purchased, for me, a really nice Lavender plant.  All the flowers are in bloom and smell wonderful.   This got me thinking; I haven’t had Lavender Jelly since I was a kid.  Maybe I should attempt to make some?  Now I need to find a nice recipe. Does anyone have a recipe for Lavender Jelly??

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After dropping Bulldog Man off at work yesterday, I came home, parked the truck, and started walking the property, picking up broken limbs, and trash, which blew in on the property.  When I walked past the west side of the house, I glanced at the trees up along the house, just to see how much work would be needed for branch trimming.  I came across this squirrel, lying out across the window sill, cooling off from the heat.  It’s a safe place; the squirrel was well hidden, thanks to the trees.  No one would have even seen him, unless of course, you walked on that side of the house.  

Yes, I walked there, and the look on the squirrel’s face was priceless.  I guess he figured if he lay there real still, that I wouldn’t see him.  BUSTED!!!!!  As soon as I took his picture, he took off, looking back to see if I was following him.