Bulb Time

Yesterday, my day was spent planting these. I am a sucker for tulips.

But first, I had to prepare this. The right side of this picture shows the ground I have already started working and the left hasn't been touched.

Oh my gosh. It is like trying to dig up concrete. There are so many rocks in this soil that every time I attempt to shove the shovel in, I get in about a half and inch a stop. It is really super annoying and it is also really hard work.

I miss my Red River Valley dirt. So, all my peeps back in ND and MN go out and say thank you to your dirt. Seriously, go outside and thank it. It is the best dirt in the world, literally. Send me some, please!

This area has been worked. I added some top soil and peat moss to it. I was even tempted to raid Johnsie's bean bag so, I could add some styrofoam to it. I just know it is going to be concrete again come spring.

Here are some of the rocks we have uncovered in the yard. A few of them are huge.

We had a visitor show up too. Now, he is safely inside being poked at by Johnsie.

Besides planting our bulbs, Johnsie just had to have this little beauty the other day when we were at Walmart.

I think I am going to have go and buy more bulbs today. We only planted on the one side of our porch. Plus we need to add some hyacinths into the mix.

Frog Stakes

Have I told you lately how wonderfully awesome my daughter is? She purchased these the other day because they reminded her of me. Then she packaged them up with some soup I requested (Campbells Fiesta Nacho Cheese, I can't find it anywhere here), 2 puzzles for Johnsie and some Andes mints for Manny and her Dad. How awesome is that.
It was all "Just Because".

You can buy these at YOUR local Ace Hardware. Just had to give her employer a shout out.

Love ya Chickie!

Crazy carrots

I am not sure what it is with odd carrots in our garden this year but the other day I picked this yellow one. I put one of our orange ones next to it so you can see the difference in color. The size of the yellow one is normal. The orange one I put in this picture just happens to be small.

Until this year I had no idea that carrots come in many different colors. So I am not sure if this carrot is a mutant or if a seed from a yellow variety just happened to be mixed in with our orange ones. Remember we had this pretty lady earlier this summer.

These are not from our garden. It is just a picture I found that shows all of the different varieties out there. Cool huh?

Cool Carrots

When D and I were in our garden this morning, pulling up carrots, we found this

little lady.
It is so cool. No one wants to eat it and ruin it. Guess I will have to be the
bad guy once again.

Plant Them and They Will Grow

Our garden is booming. N said he plans to make us vegetable soup tonight. Yum.

I already have 3 big bags of beans picked and there are many more still out in the garden. Last year, a lady in town offered to help me can them. Beans need to be canned in a pressure cooker and I only have a water bath canner. I hope she doesn't mind me bugging her again.

Caterpillars....Yippee

Our first Monarch caterpillars have turned up on our milkweed. Now, most people consider milkweed to be a noxious weed, and it is, but we love it because we always get to watch the life cycle of butterflies. I do always try to pick off the flowers so they don't go to seed. Otherwise, I think our entire yard would be covered. I guess we would have lots of butterflies then. Remember to always look for the positive.

We always keep a few empty jars around to put our caterpillars in. This actually ends up being a good little lesson in responsibility too. The boys have to make sure the caterpillars always have fresh leaves and that their jar is cleaned out. I will warn you these little guys sure do poop a lot.

The milkweed plants are the tall ones in the back.

Tulips

I LOVE TULIPS. I am not sure why but, the tulips in my garden seemed more beautiful this year than they ever have. I love how simple they are. I only wish that they lasted longer, but that only makes me appreciate them even more.

Garden Rocks

N and D had a blast the other day painting rocks for our garden. D made one that looks like a bee. Mom helped a little with the stripes. His other one is very artistic the way he blended and used colors. N made a really big ladybug. Mom painted a few too. I take the easy way out, polka dots. I hope the colors don't fade too fast. Only one of the paints was made for outdoor crafts. Time will tell. I am sure they will have just as much fun repainting them next year if they do fade.