Junk gardening

I had to mow the south forty yesterday. I'm exaggerating, but, it felt like forty. Back where the old sheds are. I started out mowing a meandering path through them, but, then it looked so good I went at it and mowed it all. I have one shed. It looks like a little barn and I love my shed. Eric has things in it and I left them. There's still room for the lawn mowers, gas cans, my cement crap..so it's fine.

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These two iron rings sit by the door of my shed. I don't know what they are, but, I like them. They look like the rings off whiskey barrels. I was going to pick them up, but, I decided to plant Larkspur and a Gold Rush Squash in them. No one goes back there, but, me and I thought I'd make the doorway pretty. I have to lug the mowers out back there, it might as well grow something pretty. I know nothing about Larkspur and the package didn't say if it's sun or shade. I was far too tired to look it up. Well, it will get both there. So grow, already. That plant in front is a wild woodland flower...I can't remember the name of it, but, it sounds like Marshmallow. It grew in the right spot and was spared.

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I planted more stuff by the fence back there. I'll spray those weeds when it gets sunny. It makes no real difference to me if they grow or not, they're leftover plants. My garden is done. No one thought I could get a garden in, not my doctor or me really. I started digging in March. Yep. The first of March and here it is May 12th and I am done. I am sore, my back and legs hurt, my hands are painful, my fingernails are ruined..but, I have a garden. A real one too. Not huge, but, decent size. I'm happy with it. I guess you can tell.

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On the other side of that fence is a barn and my neighbor Cheryl's junk. She has a huge gigantic yard and she's a good gardener. She has interesting junk back there too. Why do I always like someone elses's junk better than ours? Anyway, Cheryl is a decent person, friendly without bugging you and she works hard. She told me the other day, I work like a man. I told her that's an insult, we work like 10 men and she laughed. I think she's an old biker chick or an old hippie. You can tell she doesn't take any shit. She's a good neighbor.

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire!

The local fire department uses old houses for practice. This one was on the next block over. We could see it real well from the front yard. They had a good turn out, people came from all over town to watch it burn. Rural Iowa is not exactly the entertainment capitol of the world. Hard to belive, I know. Everyone has yards that are too big, if you ask me. I watched for two minutes, got bored and went back to gardening. We were glad to see it burn. It was a real dump and the people who lived there always kept barking dogs they never took care of. We have a few of their cats.

Beautious creatures

There sure are a lot of snakes this year and I want them in my garden eating bugs. You can't tell from my crummy camera, but, that top snake was black with a bright fire engine red stripe down the length of it's body. It was around two foot long. Beautiful coloring. It was friendly..and curious. We were playing cat and mouse with each other. I'd hunker down and get real still and he'd slip under the fence and come close. He knew I was there and he was curious, he was watching me just like I was him. He'd come over, right to my foot, and check me out, then turn around and slide back under the fence. No aggression at all, just curiosity. He must have done that 4 times. It was cute. Then an ordinary snake (that one on the bottom) came up from behind and hit my foot. I was wearing flip flops and it freaked me out. LOL! I didn't see him and he sure didn't see me until I jumped around like a maniac. I scared them both and they ran away. They'll be back. I like snakes a lot, I could watch them all day.

Home made bird baths

Well! They came out good! They still have leaf parts stuck on, but, I'll scrub that off later. The stupid sugar ants made an anthill under them, in the mounds. Stupid ants. In real life, they are substantial and pretty. The leaf imprinted real well and I am very happy with these things. That base is ugly and short, I'll find something else. Anyhow, I'll put another pic on when I get them cleaned up and situated.

Onions and eggplant

Onions are pretty. Which is good because Mom bought me 200 onion bulbs and I'd already planted 100 of my own. WTF? My rows are rather, umm, meandering, huu? I don't care, at least the veggies are all in the same general area. With a flower seed here and there too. It seems like Nasturtiums should be in the veggie garden. Lissa likes planting them because the seeds are fat. I'm not sure exactly where they'll come up, I just turned her loose with a few packs of them so I could get some work done. I bought Eggplant because I like it and it was called Black Beauty and might be pretty. I've never grown it before. I put cabbage here and there because I like the looks of it. I even like the way the bugs make lace of the outside leaves. It's fun to watch cabbage grow into heavy round balls.

This post is for NON gardeners

See that blue-ish Petunia? Ignore it. We are talking about Marigolds, those tiny little plants around it. If you are not a gardening person and you've always wanted a spot of flowers with little work, here's what ya do. Clear a spot of dirt 3 or 4 foot long and 1 or two feet wide. Turn it over with your shovel. Yes, this is work, but, it's the last of the hard work. It will take you an hour or so. That's it. Now, you're home free.
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Take packages of Marigold seeds, buy, 4-5 packs, and throw them on your freshly dug dirt on a rainy day. That's it. I don't bother planting them, they grow like weeds. They grow anywhere it's sunny and in any soil. If you want to be fancy, you can throw Zinna seeds in back, or the tall variety of Marigolds. Let the suckers grow close together, do not thin them. I don't care what the package says, they don't mind crowding and they will shade out weeds. You may have to pull a stray weed as you stroll by, but, you will not be really weeding. Leave 'em alone..ignore them. They don't even mind drought. I am not an expert who knows it all, but, I know a few things. The next year, save your seeds from dead heading (which you don't even have to do if you don't want to) and you have the next flower bed for free. A small bed of one or two colors makes great visual impact. It's much better than big beds that get away from you and look messy.

Mushroom watch

Tons of little browns in Mom's front yard. Angel in the bushes watches over them. Mom collects Angels..I don't. Enough said on that. My love affair with mushrooms and toadstools continues. I adore them. I haven't seen any Death Angels yet, they come later. Last year I found a fairy ring and I remember where it was. So, I am going to look for it again. Do you know what these brown ones mean? It means the Morels are out. Hmm. I want some really bad, they are so delicious. I might have to take some time off and go shroom hunting.

Tuwella and Lissa playing in the rain

Mom gave Lissa an umbrella. She liked it, but, mostly opening it up in our faces. They were both on my shit list yesterday..I need an attitude check, huu? The rain was nice, not cold. They played out there until it got dark. And I got some flowers in. Now I have to mow again. I've been mowing every four days, in the Spring it grows so fast. Does your grass do that where you live? Seems like it springs up a foot overnight.

Just bitching!!!!

This is my Mother's crap pile. This is all the crap she has left in the yard. You think that's bad? Let me tell you somthin', she had this crap ALL over and she has a huge yard. It took me eight months of cleaning and hauling to get this place tidy. She was upset at first, but, too bad. Someone had to take charge. Now her yard actually looks pretty and she's happy about it. So, what's with her bitching about this tiny pile?? No one can see it, it's behind her endless fences, so wtf? She's been bugging me to burn it and I don't have time right now. It's driving me crazy. Now she's "consulted" one of my cousins and he told her it's burnable so she had to tell me that again. If a man tells her anything she takes it as gospel, 'specially concerning the yard. That's the way she is.

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If she tells me it's burnable one more time, I am going to throw a hissy from HELL. I know it is! But, the only place to burn it is my backyard and I AM GARDENING right now. GD! She has no clue what I do around here. Most of that pile is heavy too. I'm going to have a hard time moving all that shit....but, I will. But, not until I'm damn good and ready. There's several full days of work there. Why doesn't she hire someone if it's bothering her? It's HER crap, not mine. I just want to scream. I'M BUSY!

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Thank you for allowing me bitch time. I wonder if that bowl is real or a reproduction? Who in Hades keeps a milk crate full of broken Flamingos??

Salt Lights

Someone on here asked me about salt lights. Those are salt lights, like we have at the shop. The big ones are electric, the small ones, candles. The glow is unearthly, they are gorgeous. That pic is by FarmerBerlin on Facebook because my camera won't take good pics of lamps. We're all sold out of big ones now, so I have to wait for the next shipment. I hope I'm not broke when it comes in.