GARDENING

I am always a little disappointed in my garden. This year it seems more miserable than most. While I got most of my veggies planted in a timely manner, they just never took off. This summer has been the coolest, wettest summer on record. That along with the fact that I probably need to fertilize makes for a pretty puny crop. I would love to have a garden with a variety of veggies, and maybe a melon or 2. I would like to have perennial flower beds that either continuously bloom or bloom in succession. And I would like to have entries in the state fair that I can win ribbons with. Here is the problem....that is just way too time consuming. However, I'm thinking that it is time to change my mind on that. I just may try to become a serious gardener, and not a half-assed one.

These are my nasturtiums. Just a generic mix from the grocery store, but they turned out really nice. I'm always on the look out for low maintenance flowers, and these fit the bill. You can't tell, but they have vined all across the "guard rail" that keeps the dog from digging there. I plant tulips in this bed in the fall. They are nice in the spring, but I hadn't found a flower that I liked to take up the slack for the rest of the Summer. I have shied away from nasturtiums because EVERYONE plants them. But I like them, and I think I may plant them here every year.

Mary found the strawberry patch early on. She loves to "harvest" them stems and all. The strawberry patch is really one of the best parts of my garden this year. It is it's first full summer there. I'm hoping that next year it is even better.

I've got a really funny broccoli story! I was visiting my friend Sabrina in June, and her plants were HUGE!! I just couldn't believe how fantastic they were, and I just fawned over them. Well, she called me the next day, and said she knew for a fact that my plants were bigger. I asked if she had been snooping in my yard because I could think of no other way she could know for a fact that this was true. Well.... nope! MOOSE MUNCH!! Yes, a moose had totally eaten her garden down that night. I let her know that I felt really bad for her, but I don't think she could tell through all the snickering I was doing. Yes, that is funny you say? Wait! It gets better. I was talking to my friend Joe on the phone the next morning, and when I threw the curtains back..... You guessed it. MOOSE MUNCH!! The moose left me 3 plants out of about 18. This is the picture of one of them. You may not be able to tell, but it is about 2" across. Whew!! That is going to make one awesome bite! I guess there should be a moral to this story. My mowed down broccoli didn't even produce side shoots! Sabrina's did. I'm tracking down the nursery where she bought hers last year. Sounds like a good reason for a road trip! Please also take note of the SLUG MUNCH!!

Here is a construction casuality. Around the end of June My Father-in-Law tossed a board during the demolition phase of our old deck. Unfortunately Ms. Goose was in the way.

I like statuary in my flower beds. In my mind that is just one less place I have to try to keep the chickweed out of. I was sad to see this decapitated goose, but it goes nicely with the crunched tricycle that holds some flower pots. My Father-in-Law didn't crunch the trike by the way. I did.

The hidden benefit of the above mentioned goose tragedy was that JC felt so bad that I got a hanging flower basket and this owl out of the deal. The basket has bloomed all summer long, and the owl has kept the birds out of the strawberries. Of course Mary still gets into the strawberries, but that is okay. I have caught her knocking down the owl. It is as if she doesn't want it to watch her snarfing all the berries.

The owl did not, by the way, deter the moose, or any of the slugs!