My Bit of Earth

Overexposed

Tired

After the most productive weekend I've had in recent memory--combined Sweet Husband and I cleaned every nook and cranny of the house including behind the fridge, replaced a light fixture, did all the laundry, went to the store, replaced our thermostat, made four jars of watermelon pickles, made a weeks worth of dinner for the dogs, and even found time to make dinner for ourselves--I went down to the Burrow garden this evening, intent on getting things all ship shape to plant some stuff for the fall. 

Shovel in hand, I hoped out of the car full of energy and ready to do some heavy digging; but as I surveyed the scene all of a sudden a wave of exhaustion hit me. 

Don't get me wrong, things are going well.  I picked a dinner's worth of beans, a cucumber, a tomato, two handfuls of baby yellow bell peppers, and one small leek.  On top of that, my hot peppers (pictured above) are starting to ripen and I think I have a pumpkin just about ready to come home. 

But despite the continuing productivity, there's a definite sense that most of my plants are on their last gasp.  The tomato plants are now more brown than green, the beans have a distinctly chewed-on appearance, and let's not get started on the weeds....

After all we had already done this weekend, I just couldn't face it; I halfheartedly stuck my shovel in the ground, decided it was too wet to work, and came home for a lay-on-the-couch, early-to-bed evening.  The digging will wait until next weekend, I think. 

Thai Basil

I'll Follow the Sun(flowers)

There's just something great about growing plants that get as big as your house, especially when it doesn't take a miracle--or even really any water once you get them started.  I really understand why people say they're good for planting with kids.  And since I am sometimes kid-like in my wonder at plants and flowers, they're good for me too!

By the way, this is an example of why I write everything down.  I would swear on...well, on something important, that I planted Chianti sunflowers this year.  I remember all the details even--they're supposed to be about 7 feet tall and red.  When these guys started getting close to 12 feet and bloomed yellow, I was a little confused until I looked back and saw--sure enough--these are not Chiantis, but "Sunzillas" just as the package said.

Wednesday Poll: So...Read Any Good Books Lately?

Really, shoot some ideas my way.  Fiction, non-fiction--whatever.

Still Alive

Nope, I'm not dead--just slowly awakening from a Harry Potter induced haze and picking back up...well, everything else.  Like my little neglected garden, the plants in which certainly owe their salvation to the smattering of rain we've had.  I finally put the book down this evening and nipped in to check on everything--the beans are in their heyday, the cucumbers are plowing on like troopers, the tomatoes are about done, and the pumpkins are being attacked by freaky looking little grey bugs, some of which met their death this evening.

But the main job waiting for me was to hack down the cilantro pictured above, which I purposely let go to seed to make coriander.  (The leaves are cilantro, the seeds are coriander.)  All the instructions I've found say to clip the plants when they start to turn brown, let them dry for a few days outside, and then whack them around in a bag to separate the seeds from the rest of the plant. 

It maybe that I'm still a little bummed about the end of the book (that it ended, not how it ended), but I'm really looking forward to the whacking part.

Moonlit Effect

Wednesday Poll: Litmus Test for Coolness

(The next three days need to go quickly, I've been so wrapped up obsessively checking all the Potter news that I almost forgot it's Wednesday.)

Sweet Husband and I were chatting about this in the car the other day, and I thought it would make a good Wednesday poll.  I think your answer--in addition to completely dating you--says a lot about your personality.

For this week's poll:

What was the first musical album (be it record, 8-track, tape, CD, or otherwise) that you purchased for yourself?

Comment and discuss.

Like a Night Without Stars

Coriander