The Sweetest Reasons

Happiness Is . . .

Pulling some delicious carrots from the garden.

Going Off

My garden, that is.

Planting a rainbow . . .

Roses, Hydrangea, Hosta, Butterfly Bushes, Wild Geraniums, Tiger Lilies, Cone Flowers, Black Eyed Susans, Lavender, Bee Balm, Shasta Daisies, Astilbe, Lupines, Creeping Phlox . . . oh it goes on and on . . . and I love it!

Centerport Journal I

Directly across the street from my folks lives two amazing neighbors, Regina and Paul. Regina is an organic farmer/librarian and Paul brews Blind Bat Beer plus a day job. They are the epitome of rural folks making it happen in a pretty suburban setting. Plus, their products aren't just good, they are phenomenal. I shot Regina's self-serve stand Thursday. It sure is pretty.

Let me tell you all something: If you have the opportunity, eat sugar snap peas as soon as they are picked. They are heaven. Regina's site is Seedsower Farm and Paul can be found at Blind Bat Brewery.

Weekend

We are on a real productive streak round these parts.

And so are my flowers!

We even found some time to just play.

And when you have to go to work on a Sunday, with a great friend and beautiful families, it hardly feels like work at all.

Where We Grow

Our yard is undergoing some amazing transformations, and while I thought long and hard about showing you these kind of dull photos of my plants, I decided I'm just too darn proud not to put a few up here. I have worked pretty tirelessly on landscaping, transplanting, propagating, wintering, etc. It is paying off so nicely, gives me such deep satisfaction, but even more so, it gives me a crazy-deep peace. Like I could walk circles around my yard all day, touching, examining, dreaming. And then I can just lay in the grass, stare at the sky and listen to the wind on a cool but sunny, spring day. Love.

Magnolia

The girls collected Magnolia petals and put them in Bea's treasure box.

My extremely lush and hyper-green perennial bed. You can spy Lilly of the Valley, Peonies, Silver Dollars, Lupines, Bleeding Hearts, but there is oh-so-much more in there. Can't wait to see how my new redesign takes.

I saved a Lilac bush from our backyard relandscape, and it took last year and this year produced over a dozen blooms. I adore this tree.

I created a pass-through garden under the Lilac. Growing happily are Montauk Daisies, Phlox, Sage, and Lavender. I love that we have created new desire paths in the yard, so the girls can circle the house without using the street sidewalk.

Red Maple

I split Irises last year, and they came back with so many blooms, it's crazy. This isn't even how dense it looks now. Two days later and imagine this photo's flowers doubled.

Saturday Snapshots

A lovely last weekend in April that included gardening, a birthday party, and a new bike trailer!

Happiness Is . . .

Winter gasping its last dying breath, little bits of green pushing through, popping up, trying for spring.

I know it can snow well into April, but the changes here, as small as they are make me feel a little giddy. Another year in the garden. Another year to get dirty, and dig, and learn.

Putting the Garden to Bed

It's that time again, and after three seasons now, I have learned tons about how to tend to my gardens. I have learned that I am a better gardener than farmer, but that won't stop me from growing more fruits and veggies next year. I have learned what every plant in my garden is. I have learned to just stick plants where I like and stand back, they have this amazing ability to want to grow. I have learned that I am more of a jazz-gardener than anything very proper or neat, and I like it that way . . . crazy. I have learned that my children enjoying digging in the dirt as much as me, and maybe even more.

So I put the gardens to bed, with the exception of a few carrots and some lettuces that are just going for it. Everything is brown and alseep, otherwise. And today was nearly 60 degrees here, so we made some hay while the warm sun shined down. And we found our Praying Mantis again! For the fourth time! Which makes me believe, without a doubt, that our garden, our yard, and even our entire home, is blessed. Yep. I think the Praying Mantis is a very good sign.

The Gardener

I am such a gardener now. I started a new blog just chronicling our gardens. It won't be anything like this space, FYI. It is much more of a log about exactly what I am doing, what is growing, what I've killed, and so on. I figure that by putting it on-line I stand a better chance of repeating successes each year, avoiding most catastrophes, and keeping my little girls' doodles off my notes. Yep. I'm a total gardening nerd.

Right Now

Today, there was a hint of spring in the air. There seemed to be a promise that winter may not be over, but it doesn't have much time left. Yes, I probably jinxed us; I know New England can throw a snow storm at you in April if it is feeling like it. But I also know that March means the first tender steps to reviving the gardens, seed seminars at Allendale Farm, and mud, lots of mud. Today just felt like a sneak-peek, and that, my friends, is freaking awesome.

Wheezer stalked the sun and napped all over the yard today. I love this cat. I really do.

 

Signs of survival in the baby hydrangea nursery. I might have ten new plants come spring. Oh, please, please survive the rest of winter. Please my little lovelies!

 

I'll take rain boots over snow boots anytime.

 

Grow, grow, grow and bloom!