Breaking Out My Pruners…….In 22 Days

Every year about this time, I get tired of seeing this in my garden……

My brown shrubs

My brown shrubs

Pretty ugly, isn’t it?

Just looking at my frozen Lantana, causes me to feel the pull of my pruners calling out to me.

Even though I know all the reasons that I should NOT prune them now, it would be so easy to prune them back early.

And so, to keep myself from venturing into the garage where my loppers and hand pruners are stored, I will keep repeating the following reasons to stay away……

1. If I prune early, I may prune off branches that are actually alive on the inside.

2.  I can cause irreparable damage by pruning early since that stimulates plants to produce new growth, which is especially susceptible to frost damage and may even kill my plants.

3.  The brown and crispy stuff actually protects the interior and sometimes the lower leaves of my plants from the cold.

I will go out prune to my hearts content once the danger of frost is over, which is about the first week of March in my zone 9a garden.

Okay, I feel much better now about leaving my brown shrubs alone…..for the next 22 days and counting down 😉

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I have some special news to share with you all in about a week.

It is something that I have been working on for a while now and it is getting ready to debut soon.

More later 🙂  

Adventures With Saguaros….

When many people think of the Desert Southwest, the iconic Saguaro cactus comes to mind.  I remember seeing my first saguaro, crossing over the California Arizona border.  When I first saw them, it was hard to believe that they were real.  They were so strange looking to my eyes.

Saguaro cactus

Throughout my career as a horticulturist, I have had many interactions with these beautiful cacti.  Most of them were quite wonderful really, but there were some that were not so much fun…..

One incident was quite painful.  I remember a time when we were creating pathways for a potential botanical walk when I spotted a small saguaro  (8 inches tall) that was directly in the path, so I had it dug up in order to place it elsewhere.  Well, I pricked my thumb on one of the spines, but I didn’t think anything of it because I frequently stuck myself with other types of cacti and agave.

Well my thumb began to swell….and swell.  It got to the point 3 days later that I could not use my hand, so I had to go to the doctor for some antibiotics, which took care of the problem.  Spines oftentimes have bacteria on the tips which can cause problems if you get stuck.

Another incident was quite painful as well, but not physically.  This involved one of my favorite saguaros  that was located in a large feature area alongside the golf course where I worked.  I had transformed this landscape area into a hummingbird garden.  The saguaro was huge and had many arms growing from it.   

hummingbird garden

This photo was taken when we had just finished adding the plants in our hummingbird garden.

A few years later, as I was driving to work on a gorgeous summer morning, little did I know that my beautiful saguaro had fallen victim to the torrential rain and high winds we had experienced the night before.  

beautiful saguaro

As soon as I had arrived at work, my crew told me what had happened and I drove my little golf cart out there as fast as possible.  

It was such a sad sight.  I literally felt sick to my stomach.  To get a sense of how large it was, my co-worker who is pictured above is about 6′ 4″ tall.

As I got up close to examine it, I saw something else that was also quite sad….

Saguaro cactus

A tiny baby Cactus Wren had also fallen victim.  The force of the falling saguaro dislodged him from his nesting hole.  His mother was close by and had also died.

The last incident that I would like to share with you also happened around the time of the fallen saguaro.


I was driving around the golf courses, checking on landscape areas and the many trees that we had growing on the courses.  This was part of my daily routine.  

There were beautiful homes and landscapes that backed up to the golf courses.  As I was passing one of the homes, I noticed something up in the top reaches of their stately saguaro that was not a welcome sight.

Did you know that saguaros can get sick?

Saguaro cactus

Okay, it may not be obvious, but look closely towards the top.  Do you see two brown/black spots with liquid seeping out?

Here was a classic example of bacterial necrosis (Erwinia carnegieana).  

The ‘black goo’ that is excreted smells absolutely awful.  You may be wondering how it spreads.  Well, insects and small animals are the primary way that it is spread.  They visit an infected cactus and then fly to your cacti, spreading the bacteria.  

So, can you leave it alone and hope it will go away?  Well, there is a chance that the saguaro itself can seal off the infection by forming a special kind of tissue known as ‘callus’.

But this is not always successful and if the bacterial necrosis spreads, it will lead to the death of your saguaro, causing it to fall, which can also cause damage to those things that are in its path.

So what can you do?

Well, if the infection is where you can reach it, you can cut out the infected area.  Using a sharp knife, begin cutting out all black, gooey areas, taking care to sterilize your knife after each cut using rubbing alcohol.

You need to remove all diseased cactus flesh and cut into at least a 1/2″ of healthy saguaro tissue.  To make sure that water cannot accumulate in the area, use a spoon to gently slope the bottom of the hole.  Make sure that the walls of the now enlarged hole are smooth with no puncture marks.

The last step involves spraying the entire, excavated area with a 10% bleach mixture (9 parts water to 1 part chlorine bleach).  This should kill any remaining bacterial.

Another option is that you can call a cactus professional and have them treat the infection.

For more information you can click here.  About halfway down the page, you will find excellent information on bacterial necrosis.

I am happy to say that there is a happy ending to this last saguaro incident…..the homeowners had it treated and it is still alive and thriving 8 years later 🙂

A Hospital for Plants?

Because I love plants and blogging, I am constantly taking pictures.  As a result, I have quite a lot of photos to go through and it can be a week or two (okay sometimes a few months), before I get to them.

Well, since it has been rather cold outside and I haven’t had to do much of anything in my garden, I decided to be productive and go through some of my photos that I had taken in the fall.

I was contacted by a former co-worker who asked me to do a consult of his mother’s garden.  When he gave me her address, I was thrilled that she lived only 5 minutes away from my house.  

His mother was quite a delightful person and was a native of France.  Her garden reflected her European roots.  She had many different types of plants focusing mainly on plants native to Europe. 

As I was leaving, I passed by a large Willow tree and underneath it’s canopy, I spotted a glimpse of an assortment of potted plants.

Hospital for Plants

As I looked more closely, I could see that many of these plants had seen better days.  In fact, it was a very motley group of plants.

Hospital for Plants

Hospital for Plants

Her son, seeing my questioning glance, explained that his mother had a huge soft spot for struggling and sometimes dying plants.

She would often peruse the discount sections of nurseries (including some big box stores) where sickly plants would be for sale.  She would then take them home where she worked hard to nurse them back to health.

The filtered shade from the willow tree provided protection from the sun and the wind, which was the perfect micro-climate for these plants to try to recuperate.

Although she had some failures, she did have quite a few successes.

Hospital for Plants

 The basil plant above did so well that it’s roots had grown into the grass underneath.

Seeing this plant hospital got me to thinking…..do any of you like to rescue plants?  What type of ‘hospital’ do you have for them?

I would love to hear your stories 🙂

Steps Towards Curing the Garden Blahs….Where to Place Plants?

Brown and Crispy OR Nice and Green….Part 2

Well, after the rather ugly photos of brown and crispy plants that I showed you in my previous post, I am excited to show you the plants that did very well during our severe cold spell when temperatures dipped into the 20’s for 4 nights in a row.

Some are getting ready for the springtime show of flowers like my Pink Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua ‘Pink’).

Pink Globe Mallow

My Valentine shrubs (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’) are getting ready for their big show of flowers in February….

Valentine shrub

One of my favorite, underused perennials is my Paperflower (Psilotrophe cooperi).

Paperflower

You can see why it got it’s common name of Paperflower, because the spent flowers have a papery texture and appearance.

My Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) only has a single blooming stalk, but will soon be covered in flowers.

Firecracker Penstemon

All of these plants did well and I am looking forward to more flowers soon.

There are many other plants that also fared quite well throughout the cold.

our severe cold spell

I love the purple and green foliage of my newly planted Purple Hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa ‘Purpurea’).  I can’t wait for it to grow tall so that it covers a rather bare expanse of wall.

I drove through my neighborhood to see what other plants did well in our cold snap.

our severe cold spell

This ‘Green Cloud’ Texas Sage has not at all been affected by the cold.  During the winter months, most Leucophyllum species lose some of their leaves, leading to a somewhat sparse appearance, but this is normal.

Okay, now don’t laugh at the next photo….

our severe cold spell

Believe it or not, styrofoam cups offer some frost protection to the tips of columnar cacti.  This is important, because this is the growing point of many cacti species.

I call the house above, the ‘cactus house’ because they have so many different types of cacti in their front garden.  Most cacti did very well during the cold snap.

Other ‘nice and green’ plants not pictured:

‘Summertime Blue’ and ‘Pink Beauty’ Eremophilas

Feathery Cassia (Senna artemisoides) & other Senna species

Roses

Queen, Pygmy, California and Mexican Fan Palms

Purple Lilac Vine (Hardenbergia violaceae)

Desert Spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri)

Juniper

and

Rosemary

……just to name a few that I observed.

It is important to note that there will be some exceptions, even in neighborhoods close to mine.  Although I am less then an hour away from downtown Phoenix, my temperatures are lower and my garden receives more rainfall.  Gardeners in Phoenix saw less frost damage then those in outlying areas.

So what should you do if your garden is full of ‘brown and crispy’ plants?

I will ‘talk’ about that in my next post 🙂

Brown and Crispy…..or Nice and Green?

Many of you may be taking inventory of your garden after the extreme cold spell we just went through in the desert southwest.  Temperatures dipped into the 20’s, which is quite cold for us desert dwellers.  As a result, there are many plants that for lack of a better description, look brown and crispy…..

Brown and Crispy Plants

 Bougainvillea

Not a pretty sight, is it?

Well, that is the price we pay for growing tropical plants in our semi-tropical climate.  In return for the beauty these plants give us 9 months of the year, we have to put up with 3 months of ugly.

My own garden has a mix of brown and crispy plants along with some plants that are better adapted to the cold and are still nice and green.

First, the brown and crispy:

Brown and Crispy Plants

My large Bush Lantana (Lantana camara) is no longer green.  The leaves have turned brown and are now falling off.  I can now see some trash that has collected underneath as well.

Brown and Crispy Plants

Brown and Crispy Plants

My own Bougainvillea is hardly recognizable anymore.  I had hoped that the freeze would have killed the green weed that keeps growing through this particular Bougainvillea, but wouldn’t you know it…..it is still green.

Brown and Crispy Plants

My large Orange Jubilee shrub (Tecoma x ‘Orange Jubilee’) got hit hard as well.  It is interesting to note that the part of the shrub that is still green lies underneath the branches of my Cascalote tree, which offered some protection from the frost.

Brown and Crispy Plants

One of my favorite shrubs, Arizona Yellow Bells (Tecoma stans stans) was also affected by the cold weather.

The severe cold also had an interesting affect on my flowering Agave desmettiana….

Agave desmettiana

Not only were the leaves damaged by the cold, but the forming flowers on the stalk were also damaged.

crispy plants

Just a few days ago, the flowers were upright and growing quickly.

I’m not sure if the tip of the flowering stalk was damaged as well.  If it wasn’t, it will continue to grow upwards and have a few more flowers to form.

This past cold spell was extreme and so some of the damage I have seen is rather rare, like the damaged Agave.  It will be interesting to see how it does in the coming days.

Some of my tropical plants weathered the cold very well, including my Gold Lantana.

so green

The reason they still look so green is that they are partially protected by the overhang of my roof and the fact that I also covered them at night.

I took a drive through my neighborhood to see how other gardens fared with the cold.

brown Ficus tree

We have quite a few brown Ficus trees around the neighborhood.  You know, some people just love Ficus trees and lament the frost damage that occurs every few years when we have an exceptionally hard freeze.  But, that is what happens with Ficus trees and will continue to happen when we have extra cold weather.  

**For those people who ask me for an alternative tree, I always recommend using a Sissoo tree (Dalbergia sissoo), which has a beautiful green canopy and fares better in the cold.

Bougainvillea

I’m not sure what plant is hidden underneath these blankets, but I suspect that it might be a Bougainvillea.

Natal Plum shrubs

These Natal Plum shrubs are only partially protected.  I guess the homeowner ran out of towels?  The shrubs may end up with interesting patterns of green and brown foliage.

protect your plants

 Did you know that using plastic this way does not protect your plants from the cold?  When plastic touches the leaves, it actually causes them to release heat.  Plastic should only be used with a frame so that the foliage does not touch the plastic itself.

Although we do have our share of cold winter days, this past cold spell was extreme and so some of the damage I have seen is rather rare, like the damaged Agave.  It will be interesting to see how it does in the coming days.

You may wonder why I use tropical plants in my garden, since they do go through an ugly period each winter.  Well, if all I had in my garden was tropical plants, winter would be kind of depressing.  But thankfully, I do have quite a few plants that hold up very well to the winter cold. 

In my next post, I will showcase those plants that did weather our cold spell very well.

A Christmas Garden Bouquet and a Delicious Treat

Okay, so how are you all doing in getting ready for the holidays?  Are you sipping apple cider in front of your Christmas tree and enjoying seeing all of the gifts you bought, already wrapped and ready for Christmas morning?

OR are still shopping and trying to find the perfect gift for that person who always seem to be so hard to buy for?  For me, my mother-in-law – who I love dearly by the way, is very hard to buy anything for.  But this year I do have a perfect gift – I made her a ………  (I had better not say.  She does not normally read my blog too often, but I don’t want to take any chances).

This year, I am done shopping –  as in finished and everything is wrapped.  Well…..all except for the two gifts that are in the mail and I hope get here before Christmas.  AND I have more baking to do this week.

But, I did not forget this month’s Garden Bouquet.  Okay, I almost did until I looked at the calendar this morning.  So after church, I took my clippers and went searching for flowers out in my front garden.

Even with our relatively mild winters, it is not always easy to find December flowers, but I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised to find more then a few.

Christmas Garden Bouquet

I filled my Polish pottery jug with a combination of flowers from my Cascalote tree which is in full bloom right now.  In the front are the pretty daisy-like flowers from my Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata).  

In the middle are the dainty, purple flowers of my Trailing Purple Lantana (Lantana montevidensis).  Now normally my Lantana is somewhat brown and crispy due to being affected by our occasional freezing temperatures.  But this year, I covered them and I am really glad I did because they look great out in the garden with not much else in bloom.

I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to take a picture of my bouquet because there is a lot of brown in my garden (as in my dormant bermuda grass lawn).  But there is an area in the garden with is absolutely beautiful and green….my vegetable garden.

Christmas Garden Bouquet

I think it made a great backdrop, don’t you?  

I can see my carrot tops, spinach as well as my companion plants – the nasturtiums and marigolds which have done a great job at repelling bad bugs away.

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Now for my delicious treat……

I love to bake and I do keep it simple but delicious.  I do get quite a few requests for my recipes and thought that I would share some with you from time to time.

pumpkin bread.

Yesterday my daughter, Gracie and I made pumpkin bread.  

If you would like to see the fruits of our labors and get the recipe, please click here.

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Okay, now back to December’s Monthly Garden Bouquet.  I realize that it can be a bit challenging to do during the winter months, but that is where creativity comes in.

Maybe you have some dried seedheads, which would make a beautiful bouquet.  

Or maybe you have some beautiful poinsettias or amaryllis.

I also think that a bouquet of evergreen foliage is beautiful.

If you would like to participate in this month’s MGB, here are the guidelines:

1. MGB begins on the 21st of each month and runs until the end of each month. Bouquets can be submitted during this time (or even later 🙂 

2. Create your own garden bouquet as fancy or simple as you like.

3. I would appreciate it if you would provide a link back to my post inside of your MGB post, but it is not required 🙂 

4. Add your link to Mr. Linky below and that’s it! 

It can be as simple or fancy as you like.  Each month, I cannot wait to see what you all come up with.

An Empty Linen Closet and Warm Plants

You would think that living in the larger Phoenix area means that we do not get cold weather.  That is what I thought….before I moved here.  I was surprised to find that we get quite a bit colder in the winter then Southern California where I grew up.

Well, the cold weather has certainly arrived at my house.  Last night it dropped into the 20’s with two more nights of the same temps to come. 

I do like an excuse to pull out my big sweaters, but I must confess that I just love the comfort of wearing old jeans, slippers and a hooded sweatshirt around the house.  

Right now in my closet, I have two sweatshirts….one from my first college, Westmont (they have some of the most beautiful landscaping).  The other is my USC (University of Southern California) sweatshirt that my dad bought for me 4 years ago.  I did not attend USC, but my dad did and he was a die hard SC fan until his death 3 years ago.   I always feel closer to him whenever I put on my USC sweatshirt which is why I am wearing it now.

What I do not have in my closet is a ASU (Arizona State University) sweatshirt.  It is kind of sad really…..I mean I graduated from ASU and it is only about 30 minutes from my home.  **I think I need to add this to my Christmas list – what do you think about a zip-up sweatshirt with ASU across the front?

This morning as I drove through my neighborhood, I found an interesting assortment of items from my neighbor’s linen closets decorating their front gardens.

Frost-Sensitive Plants

Frost-Sensitive Plants

Most of us know what happens if you do not cover your frost-sensitive plants when temps dip into the lower 30’s….they turn brown.  

Bougainvillea and Lantana are some of the most common plants that will suffer from frost damage if not protected.  To be honest, it is no big deal if you do not want to cover your plants.  You just have to be okay with them looking crispy and brown until spring begins warmer temperatures.

Frost Damaged Lantana, north of Phoenix

 Frost Damaged Lantana, north of Phoenix

Most years, I do not bother to cover my Lantana and I never cover my Bougainvillea and Yellow Bells shrubs.  But for some reason, this year I decided that I did not want to look at brown Lantana and so I covered them.

Frost-Sensitive Plants

I covered the parts of my Gold Lantana that are not protected by the overhang of my house.  It is so nice to find a purpose for my mismatched towels in addition to using them for washing our cars.

Frost-Sensitive Plants

Can you tell that I borrowed my son’s old bedroom sheets as well?  Kai had progressed from Superman sheets up to Transformers.

You will probably not be surprised to find that I have emptied much of my linen closet.  I have not included photos of my other covered shrubs, where I even brought out some old blankets.

Ideally, you should take off the coverings in the morning and put back on in the evening, but I am too lazy to do that and it really doesn’t hurt my plants to have them on for 2 – 3 days in a row.  Any longer then that though, I take them off during the day.  Phoenix averages 15 days of frost, but in outlying areas – including where I live, it can be more. 

Frost-Sensitive Plants

Right now, I like the idea of protecting my Lantana, but if we get a lot of freezing temps, I may give up and make my peace with having brown plants for a few months ;-).

A Beautiful Centerpiece for November’s MGB

Wow….it is hard to believe that it is time for November’s Monthly Garden Bouquet.  I remember last month’s bouquet like it was yesterday.  What is it about the holidays that seems to speed up our perception of time?

I am busy getting ready for Thanksgiving since it will be held at my house.  We typically alternate celebrating Thanksgiving each year – one year with my family in California and the alternating years here at home with my husband’s family.  We were due to celebrate in California this year at my sister’s house, but due to unforseen circumstances, we are celebrating it here which is fine with me – I like an excuse to cook and bake.  What I don’t like is having to clean before and after 😉

With Thanksgiving in mind, my bouquet this month is a centerpiece for the table.  I must admit right now that this bouquet was NOT created by me or even made up of flowers from my garden.  This bouquet graced the table of the breakfast table at our Bed & Breakfast where we stayed in Amish Country in Lancaster, PA.

Beautiful Centerpiece

Beautiful Centerpiece

The gardens surrounding the house were just beautiful and these were the last Dahlias of the season.  I love how they are displayed in a shallow container because it shows the detail and beauty of each individual flower.

Notice the saying in front?  

I am sure we can all think of something we are thankful for, whether it be family, friends, a job, your health or a roof over your head.  It is easy to focus on what we don’t have or what is wrong in our lives – I know that I certainly am guilty of those feelings from time to time. 

But I do have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving 🙂

**Okay, about this month’s MGB.  Some of you in colder climates may think you have nothing in your garden to display for November’s Monthly Garden Bouquet.  But, if you think outside of the box, you might be surprised at what you may find.

Beautiful Centerpiece

For those of you who are fortunate enough to have some autumn leaves left – how about creating a bouquet using fall foliage and seed pods?

Back in February, my blogger friend, Balisha, created this bouquet from her Illinois garden.  

A Beautiful Centerpiece for November's MGB

As you can see, you do not have to have a garden full of colorful flowers to create a bouquet.  I love the shape and textures of Balisha’s bouquet.

If you would like to participate in this month’s MGB, here are the guidelines:

1. MGB begins on the 21st of each month and runs until the end of each month. Bouquets can be submitted during this time (or even later 🙂 

2. Create your own garden bouquet as fancy or simple as you like.

3. I would appreciate it if you would provide a link back to my post inside of your MGB post, but it is not required 🙂 

4. Add your link to Mr. Linky below and that’s it! 

It can be as simple or fancy as you like.  Each month, I cannot wait to see what you all come up with.

Spring’s First Monthly Garden Bouquet…

Love Butterflies AND Ladybugs? A Great Gift Idea….

Monday morning found me and my husband enjoying one of our favorite outings…..to our local Costco store.  We both love going there but for very different reasons.  I love the book and DVD section while my husband loves to taste all the samples of food that he can find.

His love for the food samples at Costco (or at any store for that matter) used to be a problem for me because he would frequently disappear with our shopping cart while he was on the hunt for samples and I would be stuck with an armful of shopping items, vainly searching for him.

So, we have a new arrangement where he disappears and can search for as many samples as he wants and I KEEP the shopping cart.  He does check in with me from time to time and to bring me a sample or two.

Well while we were shopping on Monday, I saw a wonderful gift idea in the toy section.  

wonderful gift idea

It is a butterfly & ladybug kit.  

We bought the butterfly version last Christmas for our kids and sent away for the free caterpillars in springtime and had a wonderful time seeing the caterpillars transform into butterflies and then releasing them into the wild.  You can read more about our butterfly raising experience here if you like.

wonderful gift idea

My daughter, Ruthie, brings home ladybugs in the spring that she finds on the school playground and then releases them in our garden.  She will be thrilled with this gift and I know the kids will enjoy raising butterflies again as well as a new adventure raising ladybugs.

So, if you have a Costco store nearby, go and buy this now (hopefully your local Costco has them too) – my cost was $20.  I had two shoppers stop me while I was shopping to ask where I found this, so I do not know how long they will have them in stock.

You can find other products from the company who creates this kit.

Well, now I have one more gift crossed off of my list…  🙂

Adventures in Amish Country and a Farmhouse Visit

Well as promised, this is the last installment of our trip to the east coast last month.  For those of you who have not been following our adventures, breathlessly awaiting this post 😉  So far , we had traveled to Atlanta – to Asheville, NC – to Williamsburg, VA – to Washington DC – to Lancaster, PA.

My mother had been to Amish country before and really enjoyed her time there, so we were excited to experience it.  The Amish lifestyle is fascinating  and you can find out more about their beliefs and lifestyle here if you like. 

The countryside was so beautiful and the roadsides were flanked by countless farms.  It was fairly easy to tell which farms were Amish by looking at the clothes hanging out on the laundry line.

Amish country

Our first adventure in Amish country consisted of taking a buggy ride.  As many of you probably know, the Amish do not use cars, tractors or electricity.  But, they do have horse driven buggies. 

buggy ride

Our driver’s name was Rueben and I enjoyed talking to him as he drove us around. By the way, there is a reason that Rueben is not in this picture…..the Amish do not like to have their picture taken.

As fun as the buggy ride was, I was looking forward to stopping by some of the stores which feature many Amish made goods.

Amish country

I think one of the things that I like about fall are mums and pumpkins.  How about you?

Many of the stores had pumpkins for sale as well as gourds.  I saw two different types of gourds that I had never seen before…..

Amish country

There are actually gourds that grow in the shape of apples and swans.  I have to get seeds and try growing them myself.

It was easy to tell that we were right in the middle of farm country.  Many of the gift shops had produce for sale as well. 

broccoli

Can you think of a better place to put broccoli?  I can’t wait for my broccoli plants to grow 🙂

There was a huge farmer’s market that we ventured into where we not only saw beautiful produce…..

Amish country

There was also an iconic treat for sale as well….

so delicious

Oh, I absolutely loved the Whoopie Pies.  I love to bake and I would love to learn how to make these….they were just so delicious.  The girls bought Amish dolls at the Farmer’s Market. An interesting fact about Amish dolls, is that they do not have faces.

It was time for us to head to our Bed & Breakfast.  The kids were particularly looking forward to staying there because our B&B was actually a working farm.

Airy Hill Farm

This is a view of the farmhouse at Airy Hill Farm.

Amish country

The barn was located behind the trees.  We met the wonderful owners, Mark and Hazel and the kids couldn’t wait to meet the animals.

Airy Hill Farms used to be a part of a larger farm.  The owners sold most of the land and kept 20 acres for themselves and their sheep, alpacas, horse and chickens.

Amish country

The original hog farm.

Mark took the kids down the drive to meet the miniature horse and take her for a walk.

miniature horse

They met the Alpacas and learned how to feed them.

Alpacas
Amish country

The sheep were only interested in the kids when they thought that they had food.

We had a wonderful dinner nearby in Lititz and were then welcomed back at our B&B with hot tea and coffee.  We spent a wonderful night in very comfortable rooms.

The next morning the kids were up early and went to help Mark feed the animals and help search for eggs in the barn.

Amish country

Kai was determined to look everywhere for eggs….

Amish country

He actually found some.

Amish country

I think the kids were kind of disappointed that we were not going to spend the entire day at the farm.  We decided to explore some of the other Amish towns nearby.

Amish country

YES, that is actually the name of the town.  I’m thinking of making this our Christmas card.  What do you think?  Actually, I am too chicken to send this out as our Christmas card 😉  Another fun town we visited was called ‘Bird in Hand’.

We visited the local library and noticed the special parking area….

parking area

This is for horses and buggies.  The signs ask that you clean up after your horse.

We saw quite a bit of activity on the farms.  I was interested in seeing how the Amish farmers work without tractors or any power equipment.

I was only able to get one photo of an Amish farmer and I took it from far away, so as not to make him uncomfortable.

Amish farmer

I realize that it may seem strange to write so much about Amish country and not have pictures of the Amish people to share with you, but it is important to respect their wishes and privacy.  We did see many Amish people.  The children are just darling in their little bonnets and hats.

A lot of the kids ride scooters, which have the body of a scooter, but with large tires like a bicycle.  I saw a teenage Amish boy who was racing down the road very fast on his scooter.  I was struck by the similarities to your average teenage boy who likes to drive fast in a car.

After a little more shopping, we went back to our Farmhouse B&B and the kids were free to spend the afternoon playing.

Amish country
Amish country

We had a fabulous time and highly recommend Airy Hill Farms to anyone who is planning a trip to Amish country in Pennsylvania.

We woke up the next morning, said goodbye to the animals and headed on our way to Philadelphia for the day and then on to New York City – the final destination of our wonderful vacation 🙂

Amish country

Thank you so much for letting me share our travel adventures with you 🙂

Greetings From Amish Country…