I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great time with my in-laws, my brother and sister-in-law and my two new nephews. All in all, we had 18 people at our house.
I may have mentioned before that I am a planner. Whenever possible love to prepare ahead of time, so I had all the tables set the day before Thanksgiving.
I only use my grandmother’s china once a year at Thanksgiving. Every time I use them, I get caught up in my memories of her. The kids created place cards using turkeys they made out of their handprints.
I like to collect things, (just like my mother). For example, I have a collection of refrigerator magnets from destinations around the world. I also have a dish collection…..my grandmother’s china, my Irish pottery, my Polish pottery and a newer set from Holland. My dish collection actually quite useful at Thanksgiving because I have three tables to set.
Our dining room table is laid out with my Nicholas Mosse Irish Pottery. I collected the pieces of this beautiful pottery during two separate visits to Ireland when I was fortunate enough to visit the factory. I have also bought some pieces online as well.
The silverware on this table was given to me by my mother-in-law, which makes it extra special to me. I plan to give it to my future daughter-in-law someday, which is a long ways a way since Kai is only 8 years old.
Okay, no one likes to be seated at the kid’s table, right? But, I decided to use a little psychology (it has been a very long time since I took it in college). Last year, we received a gift of a small set of dishes from Holland from some friends who live there. The plates are ringed with little pictures of Dutch houses.
Well, I thought they would work out great for the kid’s table and I told Gracie and Kai that only the people who sit at the kid’s table get to use the special dishes. I also put out two candlesticks with two led candle lights and told the kids that there table was the only one with candles. Well, they were just so excited about it and had to show everyone their special table.
My oldest daughter, Brittney, asked if she could co-host Thanksgiving with me. Well, of course I loved the idea because she is a great cook and I can always use more help in the kitchen.
Besides cooking, our morning was filled with watching the Thanksgiving Parade then football. Perusing the Black Friday ads and holding babies also filled our time 🙂
It is amazing at how quickly my brother has become a pro at handling babies. We all love any opportunity to hold the babies.
My son-in-law and daughter started planning their early morning shopping for the next day while the turkey was cooking.
Our turkey cooked more quickly then expected so we played a little catch-up while my father-in-law sliced up the turkey. My husband quickly made his delicious mashed potatoes.
My sister-in-law, Marisue, made sure the potatoes tasted just right.
Doesn’t she look fantastic just after giving birth to twins 9 weeks ago? I still haven’t lost all the weight from being pregnant 19 years ago 😉
Our Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, especially because so many family members brought their special side dishes. I really like this newer tradition of ours so I can focus on making the turkey and mashed potatoes and stay relatively sane throughout the day.
Well, after a day full of delicious, high caloric food, I usually try to make myself feel better by preparing lighter fare over the next couple of days. And so salad was definitely on our dinner menu for the next day.
Do your kids like salad? It is not a favorite of my children. Sure they like it better then cooked squash and some other vegetables, but if they had a choice, they probably would not eat it. So whenever they ask what we are having for dinner, they try to mask their disappointment when I say “salad”. Now I don’t just serve lettuce….I add chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, croutons and shredded cheese to the salad as well.
Each time I am preparing salad, the kids almost always ask if they can drown it in ranch dressing. I usually say no and make my homemade vinagrette the same way that my grandmother used to make it with a combination of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.
Well, my kids have recently become very excited about eating salad. What caused this turnaround you may ask? Well, ever since we planted lettuce seeds this past September, the kids have eagerly waited to see the lettuce leaves grow larger and larger. To be honest, it was funny to have my kids wait impatiently for our lettuce to grow large enough to make a salad with.
Well, the day finally came and I ventured out into the garden to cut some lettuce…..
Now Tobey is not allowed in the vegetable garden which is why we have fence around it. He seems to think that when I open the fence that it is an invitation to come inside. I chased him right out 🙂
There is just something so rewarding about cutting your own lettuce and spinach green from your own garden instead of buying it in a bag at the grocery store, which is what I usually do.
The salad was delicious and the kids asked for seconds. Can you believe that? I was happy that the lettuce was not bitter, which can happen if you do not irrigate properly. So, our first experience with growing lettuce has been a success so far.
****I do hope you are enjoying this long holiday weekend with your family and friends****
As for me, today I will be busy decorating our house for Christmas. Did I mention that I also have a collection of Christmas tree decorations from places I have visited over the years? I know, I know – I am addicted to collecting, but I only have 4 different types of collections….so far 😉
Brown and Crispy…..or Nice and Green?
AZ Plant LadyMany 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…..
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:
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
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.
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.
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….
Not only were the leaves damaged by the cold, but the forming flowers on the stalk were also damaged.
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.
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.
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.
I’m not sure what plant is hidden underneath these blankets, but I suspect that it might be a Bougainvillea.
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.
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
AZ Plant LadyOkay, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Morning Surprise and Evening Beauty
desertThis morning, we woke up to very unusual weather. I guess I should clarify the statement and add that the weather occurrence was unusual for the Arizona desert. We woke up to heavy fog. Not just regular light fog, but heavy fog.
You may be saying at this point….what is the big deal??? Well you see, we rarely get fog in our dry desert climate.
Now even though I have lived in the desert for almost 25 years – I am no stranger to fog. You see, I grew up in Southern California which has many foggy days in areas near the coast.
I remember walking to school at times where I could not see the buildings a few yards away.
When I was in high school, my sister and I would get ready for the day and carefully curl our hair, only to have the curls fall out by the time we had walked to school. So, we came up with the idea of storing a spare curling iron in our PE locker and would get to school early so that we could repair the damage.
I look back at that now and I think of how I was a bit shallow at the time being so preoccupied with my appearance.
I would like to think of myself as above all of that nonsense – especially now that I am in my 40’s. And so this morning, I decided to venture outside to take a photo of my foggy back garden to post for you to show you how thick the fog was.
That was until I realized that if I went outside, my perfectly curled hair would suffer…..
I guess that I haven’t changed all that much since high school 😉
For those of you who were looking for a pretty, cool photo today – I don’t want you to be disappointed and so I leave you with the picture that I took earlier this week at sunset.
Those of you who have been fortunate to visit the desert southwest have hopefully experienced a beautiful sunset like this one.
And so, I am thankful for the beautiful sunsets at the end of the day.
**As for the fog…..rare occurrences are okay – as long as I can find my spare curling iron 😉
Christmas To-Do List….
az plant lady familyOh, I just love Christmas time. Ask my friends or family and they will tell you that I live for this time of year. I start on putting up our beautiful (okay, artificial) tree as soon as the Thanksgiving dishes are washed and put away. I love real Christmas trees and their incredible fragrance, but I don’t like how fast they dry out, so an artificial tree works out well for me.
I have re-programmed my radio station buttons in my car so that I can listen to those radio stations that are playing Christmas music non-stop. I am almost done shopping and wrapping gifts. I have some knitting projects left to finish (I took a few knitting classes back in August and I totally hooked….I love knitting!). I can’t mention what I made because some of the recipients read my blog 😉
Artificial Christmas Tree, Christmas 2008
Soon, I will start baking. I love to bake and made a braided loaf of bread last week. I wanted to practice making one first before I brought one to Christmas dinner at my mom’s house. The kids love to help me bake and each has their own apron to wear.
I have all the ingredients ready to make pumpkin bread. The recipe is an old one and is honestly, hands down, the best pumpkin bread I have ever had. It is very popular with my friends and family and very easy to make – I don’t make anything that is difficult….I’m prefer things that are simple, but look like you spent a lot of time baking them. I will post the recipe and a photo of the results once I finish baking loaves as gifts for teachers and friends.
There is one Christmas item on my to-do list that my husband is always in charge of – putting up the Christmas lights around the house. Now if it were up to me, our house would look like this one….
This house is just down the street from Double S Farms and I look forward to their light display each year. But since my husband does not share my extreme zeal for holiday festivities and decorations, we typically make do with your basic string of lights around the front of our house.
However, this year he has been busy working full-time AND going to school, so he has not had much time. And so since I did not want to wait until Dec 20th to have our lights put up, I volunteered to do it for him. Since it was only a string of lights, it was fairly easy and I was so proud of the fact that I did not fall off of the ladder…..I am a bit clumsy.
After I put up the lights, I noticed that there were some strands of mini-white lights in the box. Well, since I was the one putting up the lights, I decided that I would go the extra mile and decorate our cactus. Now, I don’t have much cactus in my garden at all, but I do have a Mexican Fence Post cactus that I started from a cutting 5 years ago. It has grown beautifully and it was just perfect for wrapping some lights around.
So, I put some gloves on and got started. It took a bit longer than I thought it would, but I soon had it entirely wrapped up. Our neighbor came by and asked me if I had checked to make sure that the lights worked before I had put them on the cactus.
Oops….there is reason that I do not have a photo of my cactus all lit up.
And so I learned my lesson….always check your lights before you put them up.
I hope all of your holiday preparations are going well and that your lights are working!
Blue Booties, Hot Wheels and Christmas Decorations….
Double S FarmsAll three of these items played a part in how I spent my Saturday. As I mentioned in previous posts, I spent Saturday over at Double S Farms which was one of the stops featured in the second annual Tour de Coops, which is a tour of chicken coops along with some vegetable gardens.
Okay, for the first item on my list – blue booties. As you drove up to Double S Farms, you were greeted by the following sign…..
All visitors had to put on blue booties and clean their hands before entering. This was because it is easy to accidentally carry diseases from one farm to the other.
As you can see, there were quite a few booties ready for visitors to put on.
There were so many visitors that day. Well over 100 people came throughout the day. Most were considering raising chickens and asked my sister, Chicken Farmer, many questions.
Some visitors already had chickens but were interested in seeing how others raised theirs. I was so impressed about how much my sister knew about raising chickens in such a short amount of time. It was just this past February that her chicks arrived in the mail.
**The pine cones were left there by some little visitors.
I don’t think that the chickens were too excited about all of the extra attention though.
Flo took longer than usual to lay her egg because people kept looking in at her.
The other chickens came up to visit us on the patio where we were sitting.
Lucy was looking around for some crumbs to eat while Effie was interested in the camera on the table…..
Both Lucy and Effie are ‘Easter-Eggers’ which means that they lay light blue eggs. Flo lays brown eggs. Effie was not looking her best that day because she was molting.
As the day went on, the second item in my list came into play – Hot Wheels. While my sister and brother-in-law were kept busy answering questions about raising chickens, I had fun playing with my nephews.
Little Farmer absolutely LOVES playing with his Hot Wheels cars. He carries some of them around in a plastic toolbox. He was kind enough to lend me some so that I could play with both him and Littlest Farmer…..
**By the way….a great Christmas gift for the little boy on your list would be an inexpensive plastic toolbox with some Hot Wheels inside 🙂
**Note to self…..do not leave your knitting out around a darling two-old…..they like to pull out your knitting needles 😉
I had a great time playing with the boys but I did have the chance to answer some questions about the vegetable garden….
The garden is covered in bird netting to help keep the chickens out – they love vegetables. The garden is full of all different types of lettuce right now.
**Notice Little Farmer is holding a piece of wood he found on the ground? Why is it that boys love to find bits of wood and carry them around? It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, I was just wondering 🙂
Among the lettuce and young broccoli plants were Marigolds which drew quite a bit of attention from the visitors. I explained that the flowers were not planted for looks, but actually help to keep harmful insects away from the vegetables.
So far, we were all having a great day, except for Soda….
She was not allowed outside to visit. I’m sure she would have loved to and was thinking that she could persuade some of the visitors to throw her a ball.
Some smaller people came over to visit the chickens as well along with their parents…..
My mother, Pastor Farmer, had fun showing these boys the chickens inside of the coop. The boys were dying to collect some eggs and so she sent them each home with an egg.
The boys also spent a little time playing with my nephews…..
You know what? There is just something so cute about a little boy in a cowboy hat and blue booties.
Some of the neighbors were also interested in what was going on….
The chickens were a bit shy at times being the center of attention, choosing to hide behind the Texas Sage shrubs…..
I had a wonderful time on Saturday and after I left, I spent some time finishing decorating my house for Christmas. Which leads me to the last item:
Have you finished decorating your house for Christmas?
The chickens have…..
I hope you all have a wonderful week and hopefully you have finished your decorating for the holidays 🙂
An Empty Linen Closet and Warm Plants
AZ Plant LadyYou 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
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
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.
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.
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.
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 ;-).
Thanksgiving, The Aftermath and Salad?
az plant lady familyI hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great time with my in-laws, my brother and sister-in-law and my two new nephews. All in all, we had 18 people at our house.
I may have mentioned before that I am a planner. Whenever possible love to prepare ahead of time, so I had all the tables set the day before Thanksgiving.
I only use my grandmother’s china once a year at Thanksgiving. Every time I use them, I get caught up in my memories of her. The kids created place cards using turkeys they made out of their handprints.
I like to collect things, (just like my mother). For example, I have a collection of refrigerator magnets from destinations around the world. I also have a dish collection…..my grandmother’s china, my Irish pottery, my Polish pottery and a newer set from Holland. My dish collection actually quite useful at Thanksgiving because I have three tables to set.
Our dining room table is laid out with my Nicholas Mosse Irish Pottery. I collected the pieces of this beautiful pottery during two separate visits to Ireland when I was fortunate enough to visit the factory. I have also bought some pieces online as well.
The silverware on this table was given to me by my mother-in-law, which makes it extra special to me. I plan to give it to my future daughter-in-law someday, which is a long ways a way since Kai is only 8 years old.
Okay, no one likes to be seated at the kid’s table, right? But, I decided to use a little psychology (it has been a very long time since I took it in college). Last year, we received a gift of a small set of dishes from Holland from some friends who live there. The plates are ringed with little pictures of Dutch houses.
Well, I thought they would work out great for the kid’s table and I told Gracie and Kai that only the people who sit at the kid’s table get to use the special dishes. I also put out two candlesticks with two led candle lights and told the kids that there table was the only one with candles. Well, they were just so excited about it and had to show everyone their special table.
My oldest daughter, Brittney, asked if she could co-host Thanksgiving with me. Well, of course I loved the idea because she is a great cook and I can always use more help in the kitchen.
Besides cooking, our morning was filled with watching the Thanksgiving Parade then football. Perusing the Black Friday ads and holding babies also filled our time 🙂
It is amazing at how quickly my brother has become a pro at handling babies. We all love any opportunity to hold the babies.
My son-in-law and daughter started planning their early morning shopping for the next day while the turkey was cooking.
Our turkey cooked more quickly then expected so we played a little catch-up while my father-in-law sliced up the turkey. My husband quickly made his delicious mashed potatoes.
My sister-in-law, Marisue, made sure the potatoes tasted just right.
Doesn’t she look fantastic just after giving birth to twins 9 weeks ago? I still haven’t lost all the weight from being pregnant 19 years ago 😉
Our Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, especially because so many family members brought their special side dishes. I really like this newer tradition of ours so I can focus on making the turkey and mashed potatoes and stay relatively sane throughout the day.
Well, after a day full of delicious, high caloric food, I usually try to make myself feel better by preparing lighter fare over the next couple of days. And so salad was definitely on our dinner menu for the next day.
Do your kids like salad? It is not a favorite of my children. Sure they like it better then cooked squash and some other vegetables, but if they had a choice, they probably would not eat it. So whenever they ask what we are having for dinner, they try to mask their disappointment when I say “salad”. Now I don’t just serve lettuce….I add chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, croutons and shredded cheese to the salad as well.
Each time I am preparing salad, the kids almost always ask if they can drown it in ranch dressing. I usually say no and make my homemade vinagrette the same way that my grandmother used to make it with a combination of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.
Well, my kids have recently become very excited about eating salad. What caused this turnaround you may ask? Well, ever since we planted lettuce seeds this past September, the kids have eagerly waited to see the lettuce leaves grow larger and larger. To be honest, it was funny to have my kids wait impatiently for our lettuce to grow large enough to make a salad with.
Well, the day finally came and I ventured out into the garden to cut some lettuce…..
Now Tobey is not allowed in the vegetable garden which is why we have fence around it. He seems to think that when I open the fence that it is an invitation to come inside. I chased him right out 🙂
There is just something so rewarding about cutting your own lettuce and spinach green from your own garden instead of buying it in a bag at the grocery store, which is what I usually do.
The salad was delicious and the kids asked for seconds. Can you believe that? I was happy that the lettuce was not bitter, which can happen if you do not irrigate properly. So, our first experience with growing lettuce has been a success so far.
****I do hope you are enjoying this long holiday weekend with your family and friends****
As for me, today I will be busy decorating our house for Christmas. Did I mention that I also have a collection of Christmas tree decorations from places I have visited over the years? I know, I know – I am addicted to collecting, but I only have 4 different types of collections….so far 😉
A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That….
Double S FarmsI imagine that many of you are busy this week with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. My kids love that they only have to go to school for three days this week. As I mentioned before, I am hosting Thanksgiving this year at our house for my in-laws and my brother and sister-in-law and their two new baby boys.
Do you know someone who loves to entertain? Or maybe you are that someone? As for me, I like the ‘idea’ of entertaining but not necessarily the work. I tend to get a bit distracted as I plan out the details. So, this post may appear a bit disjointed, which is how my brain works most of the time….so please bear with me 😉
Out in my garden, there are definite signs that winter will be here in just one month.
I always celebrate the first blooms of my Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii), which will soon be a favorite destination for the hummingbirds.
If you don’t already have one of these in your garden….rush to your local nursery and GET one. My Valentine shrub (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’) is one of most favorite plants. Soon it will be covered in red, trumpet shaped flowers that will last through spring.
The yellow blossoms of my Cascalote tree look so beautiful against the blue sky, don’t you think?
Although I do try to include plants in my garden that will bloom through the fall and winter seasons, there is an area that is not particularly colorful…..
Not too impressive….is it?
This is what my Bermuda grass lawn looks like once night time temperatures dip into the 50’s. Although it looks more brown then green, it is not dead – just dormant. Once the spring temperatures arrive it will green up very quickly.
Now if you love green grass and your husband loves to have to mow the lawn 12 months out of the year (mine doesn’t), you can overseed your grass with perennial rye grass seed in early fall. I have done this from time to time, but not for the past couple of years.
The other day as I was up our driveway, I saw that one of my plants had a surprise for me….
My Agave desmettiana is beginning to grow it’s flowering stalk.
It grows at an extremely fast rate and you can actually measure the growth daily.
You know, I have seen hundreds of flowering agave, but it never gets old. It is particularly special when it occurs in your own garden.
A common myth is that agave flower after being in the ground 100 years, hence the name ‘Century Plant’. However, and the length of time that it takes an agave to flower is largely dependent on the species. Some take longer to flower and others do not.
For example, my Agave desmettiana, above is actually the offspring of my previous agave that flowered and then died. My agave above is only 5 years old.
**You may notice agave that have had their flowering stalk cut off in hopes that this will keep the agave from dying. This will not work and robs the landscape of months of beauty that the flowering stalk adds.
Before I go, there is an upcoming event in our area that I would love to tell you about. It is called Tour de Coops and one of the stops on the tour will be Double S Farms!
For those of you who may be newer readers, Double S Farms is the residence of my mother (Pastor Farmer), my sister (Chicken Farmer) and her family.
My son Kai loves hanging out with the chickens.
You might have guessed that the tour involves chicken coops. Actually it is “a self-guided tour of the coolest chicken set-ups” in the Phoenix metro area.
This year’s event occurs on December 4th and you can find more information and ticket information at Tour de Coops.
I plan on being at Double S Farms on that day to help and hopefully be able to meet some of you 🙂
Well, that is about it for now. I need to work on my grocery list for Thursday. I have a 21 lb turkey thawing out in my refrigerator, but need just a couple more items including heavy cream for my baked corn dish 🙂
I hope you are having a great week so far!
A Beautiful Centerpiece for November’s MGB
AZ Plant LadyWow….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
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.
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.
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….
AZ Plant LadyMonday 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.
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.
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… 🙂