Saying “Goodbye” Never Gets Any Easier

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Do you have an easy time saying “goodbye” to a loved one?  Probably not.

As I sit and write this post this evening, I must confess that my mother’s heart hurts.  

We said “goodbye” this morning to our daughter, Rachele and her little baby, Eric.

back to California

back to California

Her car was all packed up and ready for her journey back to California.

We said our goodbyes just before we left for church. The day was cloudy with rain on the way. The dreary weather matched my mood.

back to California

Just 48 hours ago, Rachele and I (along with Eric) were enjoying a talent show put on by the kids in our church’s youth group.

It was a fundraiser for a future mission trip. The kids served a spaghetti dinner and entertained us all with their talent.

Gracie, played piano

My daughter, Gracie, played piano and did great, even though she was a little nervous.

My son, Kai, and daughter Ruthie

My son, Kai, and daughter Ruthie (hidden behind Kai), displayed their comedic talents. Or should I say, Kai showed how much ice cream he could eat. Ruthie while hidden behind Kai, served as his ‘hands’ as she prepared an ice cream sundae and then proceeded to feed him. Needless to say, not much ice cream made it into his mouth.

The silent auction afterward was fun and I even won a couple – Starbucks and a Diamondbacks baseball game.

Eric

24 hours ago, I was sitting with Eric, enjoying some of our last moments together.

He is almost 6 weeks old and I have been with him for everyday of his short life.

back to California.

From holding him minutes after his birth and changing his first diaper…

back to California.

To taking care of both him and my daughter during their 6 day hospital stay.

Rachele came home to stay with us while she recovered from her c-section and we enjoyed her company and holding Eric a lot.

'milk drunk'

I will miss feeding Eric and seeing him becoming ‘milk drunk’ and I will even miss his crying (a little).

back to California.

back to California

This morning, I took one last picture of Eric before it was time for them to go. It will be hard to think that we will miss the next few milestones like his first smile.

Navy journey

I remember how sad I was when Rachele first left for the Navy and how I rejoiced when we saw her again when she graduated from basic training.

You can read more about her Navy journey, here.

Then there was sadness as she was gone to Missouri and later Mississippi for further training.

back to California.

back to California

It’s hard to believe that my little girl is all grown up.  You would think that when your child is an adult, that saying “goodbye” would be fairly easy.

Well, it’s not true. I wish it was.

Now it is harder because I also miss my grandson. I realize that I was given a special gift of being able to spend so much time with them both.

While the house seems rather empty with them gone, there are some perks:

–  My son, who graciously gave up his room for them to stay in, now gets to vacate the living room couch and move back into his room.

– The Xbox, which was moved temporarily into our bedroom, is now back in his room.

– The kitchen counter is free from bottles, nipples and formula.

– The trash can will be ‘diaper-free’.

– There is more room in the family room with the absence of the baby swing, infant seat and changing pad.

– Nights will be somewhat quieter with no midnight feedings.

While the house is quieter and cleaner, I would trade it all back if I could.

But, the good news is that Rachele lives one state away, 7 hours by car and 1 hour by plane.  We already have plans to visit in April, June and September for starters.

I wonder if I can figure find a gardening conference coming up soon that is near her house?

Thank you for letting me share my mother’s heart with you today.

**For those of you with older kids, do they live nearby or far away? How often do you get to see them?

A New Cactus Cutting Finds a Home

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Do you have a plant that you have wanted to add to your garden?  

I have wanted a certain cactus for my own landscape for a long time and earlier this week, I found myself bringing a cutting of my favorite cactus finally home.

A New Cactus Cutting Finds a Home

I was so excited that instead of putting it in the back of my car, I strapped it into the front seat for the ride home – I don’t recommend doing it that way for a cactus with thorns 🙂

In my work as a horticulturist, I have been fortunate to have picked up cuttings of certain cacti. Often, the cuttings result from pruning and it’s not unusual to see some left at the curb for trash pick up.

While I have planted a purple prickly cactus and a Mexican fence post from cuttings, I was still missing my favorite cacti in my garden.

'Monstrosus' (Lophocereus schottii 'Monstrosus')

I have often used totem pole cactus ‘Monstrosus’ (Lophocereus schottii ‘Monstrosus’) in my designs. I love its knobby shape and the fact that it is thornless.

What I don’t like about them is their price – a 1 1/2 ft. section can cost up to $40.

So you can imagine my reaction when I was visiting a client and came up upon this sight…

different types of cacti cuttings

Seeing so many different types of cacti cuttings, just ready for planting, made me almost hyperventilate.

There were beautiful cacti available – Agave americana ‘Variegata’, a unique species of prickly pear, Cereus peruvianus AND my favorite – Lophocereus shottii ‘Monstrosus’.

My client had received these cuttings from her next door neighbor who had just pruned back some of her cacti. It turned out the neighbor had a beautiful garden that has been featured in several magazines, including Phoenix Home & Garden.

I explained to my client where she could use the cuttings and explained the benefits of each one. When I mentioned that the Lophocereus was my favorite type of cacti, she offered to give me one.

Despite my desire for this type of cacti, I was hesitant to accept, but my client was insistent.

So, I picked out the smallest one and drove home.

New Cactus Cutting

On my way home, I thought about where I wanted to put my new cactus.

I finally decided on putting it in my front landscape in the large area to the side of the driveway.

Planting cactus cuttings

Planting cactus cuttings is extremely easy and the hole doesn’t have to be big.

Planting cactus cuttings

We planted my new cactus cutting so that the bottom 6 inches were buried.

Taking cuttings from cacti of all types is a fairly simple process, there are some guidelines that you need to follow.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about giving a cutting from our Mexican fence post cactus to our neighbor with step-by-step instructions that you can see here.

Our neighbor’s cactus has been in the ground for 2 years now and is growing so well – it’s formed two new ‘arms’.

I can hardly wait to see how my newest cactus grows!

How about you? Have you ever given or planted a cactus cutting?

Church Landscape Renovation 1 Year After…

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Do you enjoy seeing “before and after” photos?


I do – especially with landscapes.


Just over a year ago, I was asked to help renovate a local church’s landscape.

Church Landscape Renovation 1 Year After...

As you can see their landscape had become rather bare as plants had not been replaced over the years.  In addition, there were some old plants that needed replacing.

So, I got to work on a new design. When renovating an existing landscape, it’s important to determine which existing plants to keep.  I rarely get rid of all the plants since mature plants help anchor a new landscape while the new plants take time to fill in and grow. Also, why waste a perfectly good plant as long as it is still attractive and can fit into your design?  You can always create a design to go with an existing plant.

A year after being installed, I was asked to come back to work on a different area of the church,  During that time, I took some “after” pictures of what the landscape looks like now.  

Church Landscape Renovation 1 Year After...

Church Landscape Renovation

This area was filled with two old shrubs, which we elected to keep.

Church Landscape Renovation 1 Year After...

Some contouring (mounding) was added for elevation and river rock washes were added for drainage.

feathery cassia(Senna artemisioides) , angelita daisies(Tetraneuris acaulis) and 'Blue Bells' (Eremophila hygrophana)

Church Landscape Renovation

And this is what it looks like 1 year later. Flowering feathery cassia(Senna artemisioides) adds color in winter and spring. Year round color is supplied by angelita daisies(Tetraneuris acaulis) and ‘Blue Bells’ (Eremophila hygrophana).

Agave and boulders will add texture contrast.

Church Landscape Renovation

In this area, I tagged two struggling shrubs with paint for removal along with a yucca plant that the church landscape committee wanted removed due to it poking people with its sharp leaves as they walked by.

The Mexican bird-of-paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana) tree would remain in this area.

Golden barrel cacti(Echinocactus grusonii) , 'Blue bell' shrubs

Church Landscape Renovation

The small wash was redone, which serves double duty – it adds a decorative element to the landscape and helps channel water from the roof.

Golden barrel cacti(Echinocactus grusonii) were planted in the corner where they will lend sunny yellow color all year long. ‘Blue bell’ shrubs complete the planting in this area.

(Calliandra eriophylla)

While pink fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla) is a beautiful desert shrub in spring, it makes a poor hedge. In addition, it does not flower 9 months of the year. A plant that would look great throughout the majority of the year was needed in this area.

Pink muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris)

Ornamental grasses fit the bill perfectly in this area. Pink muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) is green from spring through summer and puts on a show in fall when burgundy plumes appear that fade to an attractive wheat color in winter. Instead of a hedge, which would need pruning throughout the year, pink muhly needs pruning once, in spring.

This area had a few sage shrubs, a single red yucca and a barrel cactus.

I had everything removed in this bed except for the barrel cactus. The church had a large number of old Texas sage shrubs (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’). The reason that I had many of these taken out was because a the majority of the members of this church are winter visitors. Texas sage flowers in summer and early fall when they are gone.  I was asked to add plants that would provide winter and spring color.  

feathery cassia and Valentine bush (Eremophila maculata 'Valentine),

Now this area is filled with feathery cassia and Valentine bush (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine), both of which flower in winter and spring. Desert spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri) adds both color and texture contrast and ‘Blue bell’ shrubs will add colorful flowers throughout the entire year.

This corner section of the landscape was filled with formally pruned shrubs that offered little beauty to the area.

angelita daisies, 'Blue Bell' and feathery cassia

The ocotillo and yucca remained and angelita daisies, ‘Blue Bell’ and feathery cassia were added.

I must admit that I was quite pleased at how everything looked.  It’s one thing to create a design on paper and another thing entirely to see it growing in beautifully.

On a slightly different note, I also took time to check on the streetside landscape by the church that I had designed 2 years ago.  

Church Landscape Renovation

In the beginning, there was nothing there but an old cactus or two.

palo blanco tree(Acacia willardiana), feathery cassia, Valentine and purple trailing lantana.

What a difference 2 years makes!  A young palo blanco tree(Acacia willardiana) grows among feathery cassia, Valentine and purple trailing lantana.

The plant palette for the church mirrored that of the street landscape for a visually seamless transition.  

Agave americana

Along this section fo the street, all that was present were 3 Agave americana and utility boxes.

Church Landscape Renovation

The agave were relocated along this stretch of road with trees and colorful shrubs. You can hardly see the utility boxes now.

Thank you for letting me share with you some of my favorite “before and after” photos. Learn more about the plants that I used in this project by clicking their names: ‘Blue Bell’ shrubs, feathery cassia, Valentine bush and pink muhly grass.

*Do you have an area in your landscape that needs a little help? Take some time and drive around and take pictures of landscapes that you like. Then take them to your local nursery or landscape professional and have them help you renovate your landscape.

Beautiful and Fuss-Free: Lady Banks Rose

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Do you love roses?

I do.

Lady Banks rose

While most people will tell you that they love roses, they probably do not like the extra maintenance that they require with repeated fertilizing, deadheading, and fighting damaging insects, and fungal diseases.

Well, let me introduce you to a rose that is beautiful and low-maintenance.

Lady Banks rose may be well-known to a few of you and it is worth a second look for those of you who love roses but not the fuss.

They are resistant to damaging bugs and most fungal diseases leave them alone. However, unlike many modern roses, they flower once a year in spring, producing a glorious show.

Lady Banks rose

If you’ve ever heard of the World’s Largest Rose Bush in Tombstone, Arizona – it may interest you to find out that it is a Lady Banks rose.
You can read more about my visit to this historic rose bush, here.

There is so much to enjoy with this beautiful, fuss-free rose.

Winter…What Winter?

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signs of our warm winter

signs of our warm winter

While much of the country is suffering from a truly awful winter season, those of us who live in the Southwest are having the exact opposite problem.

This has been a very warm winter season, with the exception of a few freezing nights back in December.

With temps 10 – 15 degrees above normal, we have been enjoying temps in the ’70s.

I have seen some signs of our warm winter including the fact that I have ditched my slippers and am going barefoot every chance I get. Plants have begun to emerge from their winter dormancy and people are asking me if they can prune their frost-damaged plants early.

In regards to the pruning question, there is still a chance of Southwestern residents getting a spell of freezing weather before we approach the average last frost date. So, pruning too early can actually hurt your plants if by some miracle temps dip below 32 degrees.

signs of our warm winter

But, that may not stop everyone from grabbing the pruners. If you happen to be one of these impatient pruners, make sure that you cover your recently pruned plants if temps dip into the low 30s.

In the meantime, enjoy the glorious weather!

Trying New Things In My Winter Garden: ‘White Icicle’ Radishes & Swiss Chard

Friday on the Farm: Apple Blossoms, Cabbage and Chickens

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pruning apple trees

Yesterday, I spent the morning on the family farm pruning apple trees.

It was a nice break from a very busy week of landscape consulting and I was looking forward to spending time with my mother, who resides on Double S Farms with my youngest sister and her family.

pruning apple trees

The sun was rising up in the sky and the day promised warm temperatures in the upper 70’s with our unseasonably warm winter.

Now at this point, you may be noticing that the trees were already in flower and that we were getting to pruning them a bit late in the season.  Ideally fruit trees are pruned just before the buds begin to open.

But, even though we were pruning them late, it won’t make a huge difference and will improve the size and quality of our apple crop.  

pruning apple trees

 You’ll notice that the apple trees are located behind a wire fence. Well, there is a good reason for that…

Sodapop and Johnny

And their names are Sodapop and Johnny.

Soda is the daughter of our dog Missy, who passed away last year at the age of 13.

Johnny is a 3-legged doberman rescue dog who is so friendly and exuberant.

You see, the dogs love to eat the apples from the trees. Especially Soda who does her best to reach them up high.

You can read about Soda’s previous exploits here.

The problem is that the seeds of apples contain small amounts of cyanide and if dogs consume too many, they can have problems. So the fence is up, much to the dismay of Soda and Johnny.

Pruning trees

Pruning trees is one of my favorite things to do and although as a certified arborist, I talk to my clients a lot about trees, I don’t prune their trees. Instead I give them advice on how to prune them their selves or refer them to a certified arborist company who does it for them. So, my tree pruning is primarily focused on my own and my family’s.

Armed with a pair of loppers, hand pruners and a pruning saw, I took a moment before beginning to smell the sweet fragrance of the apple blossoms.  

Pruning trees

In the midst of our pruning, my granddaughter, Lily, showed up.  She proved to be a good helper and moved the small branches into a pile.

We focused on cleaning out the interior branches, which are hard to get pick apples from.  In addition, we also pruned off some of the taller branches so that come apple-picking time, we could more easily reach them. Once we finished, we had pruned away a quarter of the tree, which will allow it to focus its resources on growing the remaining flowers, which will turn into apples.

For info on how we have pruned fruit trees in the past, click here.

Pruning trees

My mother took a few of the cut branches and brought them inside and put them in a vase where they will offer beauty and fragrance indoors for a few days.

delicious vegetables

Now it was time to turn our attention to the vegetable gardens. My mother has two large, raised beds where she grows a variety of delicious vegetables.

Lily wanted to feed the chickens some lettuce from the garden.

Double S Farms

The resident chickens of Double S Farms, love lettuce.

cabbage

Next, great-grandma needed Lily’s help to pick a cabbage from the garden. It was huge!  I only wish that I liked cabbage.

I asked my mother how she uses it and she told me that she uses it in soups, but blends it ahead of time so no one knows that it is in there.

chickens

Lily wondered if the chickens would like cabbage and it turned out that they liked it better than the lettuce.

smelling their fragrance.

Before leaving the gardens, Lily had to pick a flower.  Like many little girls, she loves flowers and carries them around smelling their fragrance.

The white petunias belong to Finley, my nephew, who gets a small plot in the vegetable gardens to plant what he likes.

pruning tree

As we got ready to leave, I noticed a beautiful, little bouquet made up of petunias on the kitchen table. Who knew that petunias could make such a sweet bouquet?

Visits to the family farm are always refreshing and it was great to enjoy a morning out in the sunshine gardening.

Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

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Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

Do you have a lemon or other type of citrus tree growing in your backyard?

Chances are, if you live in California, the Southwest or Southeastern United States, you do or your neighbor does.

While many people throughout the rest of the nation are waiting for snow to disappear, we get to enjoy the sight of colorful citrus fruit hanging from our trees, just ready to be picked and enjoyed.

During this time of year, neighbors give bags of excess fruit to neighbors or local food banks.

I have a young lemon tree, that isn’t old enough to produce fruit for me, but that hasn’t stopped me from having lemons to use.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

Between my mother’s prolific lemon tree on the family farm to those from my vet (who happens to be our neighbor), I have plenty to use.

I’ve used lemons in a variety of ways from freezing the zest, the juice, making citrus cleaner, natural air fresheners and was looking for another way to use them.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

I recently learned about lemon salt and how great it tastes on my favorite dishes – chicken, fish, homemade salad dressings, salsa and much more – basically anything that you want to add a hint of citrus and salt too.

Making lemon salt is very easy to do and can be done using grapefruit, limes, or oranges instead.

Citrus salts make a great homemade gift and are also a great way to preserve the taste of your favorite citrus when they are no longer in season.

Whether you grow your own lemons or buy them from the store, lemon salt is easy to make.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

1. You’ll need 3 lemons and 1 cup of kosher salt.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

2. Zest 3 lemons.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

3. Add together 1 cup kosher salt, the lemon zest and the juice from 1 lemon.

(Of course, you can make a lot more, like I did – I had a lot of lemons and wanted to make some as gifts.)

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

4. Mix together the lemon juice, salt and zest.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt
Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt
Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

5. Pour the lemon salt mixture into a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet.

6. Place in a 200 degree F. oven for a half hour. Then lightly mix it up and bake for another 20 minutes.

(If it hasn’t dried all the way, cover it with a clean dish towel and let sit overnight.)  

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

7. Use your fingers to break up any large clumps or you can put it in your food processor and pulse it 2 – 3 times.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

That’s it!  I told you it was easy.  You can use it right away or store it in a sealed jar to keep it for longer.

Lemon or salts made from other citrus fruit last a long time – at least a year if put in a sealed container.

If you love lemon pepper, you can simply add pepper to the mixture for a delicious addition to your steak!

basil and herb salts

I’ve been enjoying making flavored salts for cooking with.  Last year, I made basil and herb salts, which were delicious too!

Got Frost-Damaged Plants? How and When to Prune…

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Do you enjoy winter?

I do. Surprisingly, the desert Southwest has definite seasons and winters can get cold with temps dipping into the 20s.

Frost-damaged natal plum

Photo: Frost-damaged natal plum

Unfortunately, the cold temperatures can wreak havoc on our frost-tender plants such as bougainvillea, lantana, and yellow bells – to name a few.

Let’s face it, no one likes the sight of brown, crispy, frost-damaged plants in the landscape – including me.  Often, my first impulse is to prune off the ugly growth – but, I have to remind myself that I can actually do more damage by pruning too early.

Learn what plants are most commonly affected by frost damage, when to prune, and how in my latest article for Houzz.com

I hope your week is off to a great start!

 

Baby Watch: An Unexpected Detour…

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birth of my daughter's first baby

Have you ever spent time looking forward to a big event and found that it seemed to take forever until it arrived?

Well, it certainly was like that for me waiting for the birth of my daughter’s first baby.

(Warning – there is no gardening content in this post, but lots of edge-of-your-seat drama 😉

I was counting down the weeks and later, the days until her due date of January 20th. My husband and I really wanted to be there to support her when the baby was born (the father is deployed overseas). The drive to Rachele’s house on the Navy base is over 7 hours away by car, so we had our bags packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Finally, we got the call we were waiting for – the doctor was going to induce her because he had concerns regarding the baby’s low weight. That meant that we could be there ahead of time. So, my husband and I as well as our oldest daughter, Brittney, hit the road on Monday morning (the 19th).

We met Rachele at her new townhouse on the base and saw how she had made everything ready for the baby’s arrival. While the rest of the family watched ‘The Office on Netflix, I made them all a homemade dinner in preparation for a long night ahead.

hospital

Finally it was time to leave for the hospital – Rachele’s induction was scheduled for 7:30 pm.

Labor & Delivery

we walked down the hall to Labor & Delivery

As we walked down the hall to Labor & Delivery, I stopped to take this photo, thinking of how changed Rachele’s life would be after she left the hospital.

waiting room

It turned out that there were a lot of babies being born, so we had to wait a little while before Rachele could be induced, so we spent time in the waiting room. Brittney showed Rachele a photo on her of what she had looked like just before going into labor.

labor & delivery room

labor & delivery room

We finally got into the labor & delivery room where we would spend the next hours helping Rachele through labor. She told us that she wanted me with her the entire time, including delivery – I was so excited and a bit nervous!

labor & delivery room

labor & delivery room

So, Rachele settled in for the night. They found that she was already in early labor, but she did receive some medication to speed it along a bit.

We were all allowed to spend the night with Rachele in her room. So far, the pain was not bad and they gave her a pill to help her sleep. We were excited for the next day (Tuesday) and the birth of her child.

labor & delivery room

labor & delivery room

The next morning, Rachele was still smiling because she still wasn’t in much pain – but her labor was moving very slowly.

On one hand, she wasn’t in a lot of pain, but Rachele was beginning to get impatient and truth be told, so were the rest of us. We had all gotten a few hours of interrupted sleep the previous night and were quite tired.

That evening, my oldest daughter and I decided to drive to a nearby hotel to get a few hours of sleep, but only after the nurse assured us that Rachele wouldn’t deliver that night. So, we stopped by a somewhat ramshackle hotel by the beach. I couldn’t care less that the hotel had seen better days – the room was clean and we soon dropped off to sleep.

I called my husband, who was staying with Rachele at 4:00 to get an update and they had started her on Pitocin, and the labor was progressing, but not quickly, so he told us to sleep a few more hours.

At 6 am, he called and told us to hurry over since she was in hard labor and had made lots of progress. I was so excited, it was a miracle that I managed to find our way back to the hospital.

When we arrived, Rachele was in a lot of pain, but handling it very well. Before we knew it, she was ready to push and Rachele allowed all of us to stay to help coach her.

Baby Watch: An Unexpected Detour...

At this point, we started taking bets as to when the baby would be born.

I was texting family back home throughout the whole labor process including grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins and Rachele’s siblings. They all came in with predictions for the birth including the latest one from my daughter, Ruthie, who predicted the baby would be born at 1:34. I said that there was no way that the baby would be born that late.

But, I was wrong…

Baby Watch: An Unexpected Detour...

Rachele’s epidural was working well at this point and we watched her contractions come and go and helped coach her as she pushed.  

She pushed very well and was making great progress – the labor nurse said that he was almost there. But then, the baby was stuck and Rachele was making no further progress no matter how hard she tried.

The doctor came in and examined her and determined that the baby was face up instead of the more normal position of face down. He discussed the option of using the vacuum, but said that even if it worked, that there would be a lot of tearing and chances are that it wouldn’t work at all. In addition, they are limited to only three tries with the vacuum, before they are forced to do a caesarean section.

So, the decision was made to do a caesarean section. I must admit that we were all disappointed, except for Rachele, who after 40+ hours of labor and then pushing was ready to give birth any way feasible.

Baby Watch: An Unexpected Detour...

So, an hour later, her dad and I found ourselves waiting outside the OR. The plan was for my husband to be with her during the surgery since he is better in those kinds of situations than I am.

I got special permission to wait outside the OR and then would accompany the baby to the nursery.

Baby Watch: An Unexpected Detour...

It was hard waiting and I could hear snatches of conversation between the doctor and nurses along with a few answers from my daughter.

After what seemed like forever, I heard the most beautiful sound of a baby’s cries coming from behind the door.

My heart melted at those sounds and I couldn’t wait until they brought him out.


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This is already a long post, so I invite you to join me for ‘Part Two’ when I share baby photos along with some other ‘hiccups’ that happened along the way making my trip to CA lasting a lot longer than I had planned…

Baby Watch: Intersecting Paths

Strawberry Fields and Hometown Visits

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Do you love strawberries?


I do.  In fact, it’s my favorite type of fruit.

Strawberry Fields and Hometown Visits

One of my earliest memories is of the strawberry patch growing in my grandfather’s garden in Frankfurt, Germany.

We would visit them once a year for a month when we were young while they lived there. I remember pesky rabbits trying to steal some of the sweet strawberries and my grandfather’s ongoing battle to keep them out.

My hometown, in Southern California, was surrounded by strawberry fields. When you drive down the 101 Highway through Ventura County, you could smell their delicious fragrance.

strawberries straight from the field

What’s even better than smelling the strawberries, is being able to stop by the small produce markets right next to the fields where you can buy large flats of strawberries straight from the field.

Strawberry Fields

The strawberries are beautiful, unblemished and you can’t resist sampling one or two or even three before you make it back into your car.

While I love living in Arizona, I do miss the strawberry fields from my hometown. However, now my second-oldest daughter, Rachele, lives close to the town where I grew up and so I get to visit the fields again and bring home huge flats of delicious, sweet strawberries.

In fact, earlier this week, I stopped by this small produce store and bought some strawberries and took them home and made 20 jars of strawberry jam. I stayed up late last night, finishing up canning the strawberries and had some homemade strawberry jam on my toast this morning – yum!

So, why was I in California?

my grandson

Well, I had a very important reason – my grandson, made his debut!

Of course, my husband and I were prepared to leave at any minute to drive out to California so that we could be there for our daughter when she went into labor, but the entire process didn’t go exactly as we had planned.

In fact, I ended up spending 8 days in California.

I’ll share more of our journey next time – it may be a two-parter 🙂

Summer Adventures: Pick Your Own Strawberries and Cherries