Thursday, May 28, 2020

Just a chat - about gardening and more

The weather has changed from a wet spring to hot dry spring. The heat has been so bad it's killed most of the tomato plants I put in last week, so Jack went to a nursery to buy some.




 It's beyond sad when you see plants you nurtured from seed shrivel up and die. The peas, lettuce, and other greens seem to be in a holding pattern of growing. It's like they can't decide whether to keep growing or just die from the heat. 



At least the chives have started blooming. I picked some when they were just buds so we could add them to salads, stir fry, and eggs. We like the tops of the onions and garlic, too. When I was growing up my Mom always snipped them off and tossed them away. It wasn't until I started gardening after getting married that I read about how this was a waste and the tops were great to eat. I grow garlic just for the tops :) but this year not much is coming up so I'm guessing all the rain in the last 2 1/2 years was too much for them.




The rhubarb has gotten large enough to finally get some for pie though I did add strawberries. I transplanted some small clumps from one house to the other but the chickens found them. They couldn't wait to dig in the fresh turned ground. The roots are still burried but the tops were scratched off.




Here's a pic of the yummy pie. Jack had me freeze half since he's on a diet. I love to bake and it's making me crazy that he doesn't want me to right now. The over abundance of eggs is making me want to bake cookies and cakes. I can't eat fried or boiled eggs, only when they've been used in baking. My gut just can't tolerate them. So that means way too many eggs but we do share them.


Here's a funny pic from the garden. Jack went a bit overboard when he planted turnips. You can tell by the way he planted way too many seeds that he loves them (me, not so much). Since I'm the one to do the thinning I save them to add to salads and stir fry. Why waste "micro" greens ;) We bought them at the farm market last year. Now I know it's a lot cheaper to grow our own.

You may be wondering about the TAST embroidering I was posting. Well I'm still printing the stitches every week but find I'm just too busy or tired to do them. I'm not a fan of late spring, summer, early fall because there's just too much yard work with 2 houses. Jack keeps making the garden bigger every year so there's all that work, too.

I am taking time to work on new patterns to sell. I'm updating 3 more clothespin doll patterns. If you missed it I made up kits for those who want to make the dolls but don't have tools for cutting and drilling the clothespins. I'm also working on various embroidery patterns. Don't forget that I have a free one up till June 24. I still don't have the next one drawn out to my liking. I keep changing the flowers but I'll get it done soon.

Hope you all are doing well now that lock downs are ending. Stay safe and don't forget your masks and hand sanitizer!