Stealing The Old Man's Paracord :P

Bulldog Man and I have once again harvested a batch of green beans from the garden.  While going through the vines to pick beans, we both noticed many more blossoms getting ready to turn into vegetables.  

In the next several weeks, we will have many more harvests of beans, to put away in the pantry or freezer.

I’ve also harvested a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes.  Plenty more to harvest in the near future.

Last year we planted beet seeds, they didn’t seem to grow very well, and what did grow ended up being destroyed by bugs.  This spring, I’ve planted both gold and red beets.  Here’s my first harvest of red beets from one of my garden boxes.  Hey Kymber, I saved all the greens on top for cooking up and eating. 

 

I’ve also harvested small carrots just out of the garden for snacking.

Did someone say Peas??  Look, I have pea’s growing on the straw bales. 

 

A month or so ago, I purchased 2 hanging baskets with Petunias.  Each basket had three wires attached to it for hanging the basket on the porch or patio.   

With the heavy winds here in Oklahoma, the wire hangers broke, and each pot ended up falling to the ground breaking the plants.  I needed something to hang the pots back up.   That brings me to paracord.  Yes, I stole some paracord from Bulldog Man’s stash, and made two macramé hangers.  Remember those macramé hangers we all made back in elementary school? Well, here’s an example of one made real quick………………

 

Don't look at the peeling paint.

After the rain this morning, the weather turned beautiful.  Temperatures were in the 70’s with a nice breeze…..nice enough to hang laundry outside.

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Lavender Jelly

I researched the internet for recipes on making lavender jelly, and came across one relatively easy one, by Bec R at Food.com.  The recipe is very easy, and the end result is delicious. 

For recipe click on the orange print above.

 

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.