My Bit of Earth

There and Back Again

We've been walking to the Burrow garden and back to water just about every other evening lately.  The dogs are love it, and it's not so bad for the peoples either.

Tonight we took a slightly different route, and discovered a few whimsical bits that hadn't been noticed before (click to see it bigger).  Starting with the top small picture....some beautiful red-orange poppies growing along a fence....leaf lettuce, planted in such pretty varieties that it almost looked like flowers....spring onions popping into purple poofs....and--the most curious bit of all--a stuffed tiger that had been placed on a limb waiting to pounce on people walking under him on the sidewalk.  Luckily, we must not have looked like very tasty food!

Saturday Evening in the Burrow Garden

From left to right:  Peas just starting to grab on to their trellis; a huge yellow Iris opening up in the communal herb garden; the inside of a cabbage.

Radijzen, Radis, Rettiche, Ravanelli, Rabanos

That's "radishes" in Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.  Why in five languages, you ask?  Somehow it seems like a fitting representation of just how many I have.

I've picked more than fifty so far--mostly the 23 day "French Breakfasts".  Thankfully I planted a few different kinds so, although the first wave has seemed huge, I think we may get a short break between it and wave number two--which I think will be the 32 day "China Roses"--and again between wave two and wave three--the 52 day "Champions".

Not that I'm getting tired of them yet.  Actually, tonight I stumbled on a very nice way to eat them, courtesy of La Tartine Gourmande--on crusty bread with a little creamy cheese and salt.  (The soup recipe at the link isn't bad either.)

And because radishes are the only thing I have blooming as of yet, this is my post for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  Go over and check it out to see what's blooming all over the would this month.

Just About

My Cheap Little Hoe

I've been trying to really keep on top of the weeds this year.  I get in and hand pull what I can, but lately I've noticed quite a few baby weeds that are too small to really get a hold of and rip out.  And they really don't need to be pulled up root-and-all, just kind of scratched off at the surface.

I tried using one of the long handled hoes from the community garden shed to accomplish this, but--between the size of the head and the distance between me and what I was aiming for--I kept knocking off parts of plants I wanted to keep.  I quickly decided I needed something I could use closer to the ground, a little hand-held hoe.

I actually have never purchased a hoe before.  However, in a nice coincidence, the week I needed my first hoe was the same week Nice Carol at May Dreams Gardens has been celebrating hers.  From the history of her hoes, to gardening lessons that can be learned from hoes, to her entire (count 'em, 21) hoe collection, Nice Carol had me all inspired to go find myself a pretty little hoe with some character and history and...character and all of that, and take some pretty pictures of it to enter in her Garden Bloggers Hoe Down.

My favorite little nursery rarely lets me down for such things, but today they had nothing.  Our local hardware store and another nursery were similarly bereft of hand-held hoes--and I'm not saying they just didn't have a pretty one, I'm saying they didn't have one period.  Finally, at the last hardware store I could think of, I found this one.  Ninety-nine cents...a little ugly and plastic-y...but probably the only hand-held hoe in town...sold!

After having a go with her, I still don't think she's a "Pretty Woman", but she certainly does the trick as far as the teeny weeds go.

If you're so inclined (and want to see some classy hoes in addition to my sweet little cheap one), check out Carol's Garden Bloggers Hoe Down.

Planting and the Weather

The weather has been so weird.  Yesterday evening it was so hot and sticky that just sitting in our living room, even with the windows open and a breeze, was stifling.  Then we had hail and rain and tornado warnings all night.  This morning it was chilly, but looked like it would warm up so I went and bought some veggies to plant.  Of course, then it never did get warmer, but just windier.  And tonight I'm sitting in my living room again, only this time with the windows buttoned up and under a heavy blanket.

That's Kansas for you.

I did go ahead and put the veggies in the ground though.  It's supposed to get warm again after tomorrow, and I figured it was better cold in the ground than just sitting out.  Plus the newspaper and straw I covered the garden with (which I just dug right through for planting) is currently forming a small barrier around each plant.  I'll have to remove it eventually or I think I'll start to have problem with pests and the like, but for now hopefully it will help keep my ickle planties a bit protected.

Click onward to see this year's map of what's what.

Cabbage Nibbles and Terrier Quibbles

I was at the Burrow garden tonight and discovered some chewed on cabbages.  Just a little, and just on a few leaves--not enough to make me really worried, but I'd rather nip it in the bud.

The Problem Solver says I need to start looking for wee caterpillars and picking them off.

In other news, Moe does not get to go to the community garden again on nights when watering is going to take place.  It seems his one moment of fame has gone to his head, and he now thinks ice-pick barking at the water hose is cute all the time.

Not so much.

Pendleton's Pick Your Own

If you're in the area, Pendleton's has started their pick-your-own asparagus and spinach.  Aside from the fact that a field full of asparagus stalks looks like some sort of science fiction landscape, you can't get much fresher than two hours from field to dinner.

My First Red Riding Hood Tulip

Yup, it's pretty much really that color.  And between the color, the shape, and the pretty, pretty leaves, I may never grow another kind of tulip.

In other news, I murdered thinned some baby carrots this evening.  As I was pulling out each of the teensy seedlings one by one, I pondered the fact that--sometime during the past few years, without realizing it--I must have learned just a little patience.  Here's the before and after.

Bloomin' Gorgeous

I was outside this evening, basking in the wonderfulness that is a nice day in the Spring, when I started adding up all the bits of this and that poking up within the perimeter of our house.  I decided it would make a nice little photo grouping, so here you go....

Little Things and Old Friends, All Popping Up

Although it still seems too chilly to be mid-April, tonight I was working outside a little and noticed that Spring seems to be thinking about starting.

First, at the Burrow garden I've got a few wee peas popping up.  I was a little worried about them--the radishes, carrots, and other things I planted at the same time started coming up last week, I was afraid the peas might just be rotting--but they were just taking their time.  They kind of look like tiny aliens popping their heads up out of the dirt.

Second, around the house some of the things I've planted in years past are starting to come back.  Although I really haven't put in a whole lot that's survived here, it makes me think about how much fun it would be to live in the same place for 10 years--seeing what comes back, seeing what doesn't, seeing what skips a year or two.

As it is, the mint along our fence is starting to fill in.  It was probably the first thing I planted at this house, and the original cutting came from Nice-In-Laws' plants.  When I took it, I was warned to be careful because mint is very hard to kill.  Here, the morning glories keep it pretty much in check, but it still comes back every year.

Also, the little grape hyacinths I planted the first fall we were here are starting to randomly pop up.  I planted them in what I've come to call the "Spot of Death" (a super clay filled spot in front of our kitchen window) so they always come back in splotches, if at all.  But there were enough to make a teeny bouquet in a shot glass that's been just the right size to carry from room to room with me this evening.  In the same spot, one solitary red "Triumph" tulip (out of the 25 I planted) looks like it's also going to make it's yearly appearance, although it hasn't bloomed yet.

Lastly, my Meyer lemon tree--which was my Christmas present from Sweet Husband the first year we were married, and has spent the past three years looking like it belongs in a Charlie Brown cartoon--has found a spot it loves in our sunny bedroom.  There are probably 30 blossoms forming, making the greatest smell to fall asleep to.  Cross your fingers--maybe this time I'll finally get some lemons!

(Because I just discovered it and it looks like fun, I'm adding this post to this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens.  Go check it out to see what's blooming right now all around the world!)

Golden Trumpets

My first "Yellow Trumpet" daffodils opened today.  I've seen others open around the neighborhood for about a week or so, but I think I planted mine in a spot that takes a bit longer to warm up. 

When I planted them (here), I also started some indoor bulbs for forcing.  Not for the first time, it didn't go so well.  The little daffodils were all tall and stringy, and the hyacinth never bloomed at all.

Maybe bulbs just really need to live outside.

Cabbage (and Brussels Sprout) Protection Cages

One of my favorite things about the community garden is that (aside from the uber-minimal $30 a year fee for water, I suppose) there are so many bits of this and that lying around that you can really just about garden for free.

Case in point--last year I planted some cabbages which were promptly torn to shreds by the bunnies in the neighboring field.  This year I decided some protection was in order, so I stole a few pieces of chicken wire from the garden shed and made these cages.  They're basically just tunnels staked into the ground on the sides and bent down at the ends.  We'll see if they keep the rascally rabbits out.

Community Garden Workday

This morning was the community garden workday.  With a bit of help from Sweet Husband, I got my plot dug, tilled, composted and ready to go.  Of note....

• I decided to try some newspaper--overlapped and laid down about 6 or 7 pages thick--as a weed barrier this year.  I didn't have enough paper to cover the entire garden, but I at least covered the areas that I don't want to plant yet.  After wetting the paper, I recovered it with the straw that's been on the garden all winter.
• The garlic that I planted last fall survived the winter, and is putting out nice green shoots.
• I planted peas and onions, which were part of the plan; and Brussels sprouts and cabbage, which were not.  The sprouts are called "Bubbles"--I'm such a sucker for a plant with a good name!

Planting Around the House

I was feeling pretty nasty this morning (more of the ongoing saga of my stomach), so I called in sick to work.  After spending the morning sleeping though, I was beginning to perk up.  I got up to let the dogs out at about two, and realized it was a bona fide gorgeous day.

It was so nice out in fact, that decided to do a little puttering in the yard. 

First and foremost, I am excited to report that my "Morden Sunrise" rose survived the winter in its pot and is putting out new green shoots.  (See picture.)  Its mate (which got a late start) died in the heat last summer, but this one has now survived an entire year of Kansas weather.  I think I've found my winning outside-all-year-in-a-pot Kansas rose bush.

As for the planting though, I got in a ton of root-and-salad-type veggies.  No real plan, I just put down seeds pretty much wherever I could find bare dirt (including some lettuce around the base of the rose bush, and some radishes in with my tulips).  If I can keep Moe out of it all for a few weeks, I think it will work well.  (He doesn't understand why he can't help....)

To see what I planted, click on.

Happy Spring!

It's the first day of Spring--and while I didn't play hooky to go plant peas as I might have liked (that will have to wait until next weekend unfortunately)--I did notice that some of my bulbs are coming up. 

I'm happy to see them.  We have a few wily squirrels that live in a tree near our house, so I was a little worried that the bulbs might have become a wintertime snack. 

The leaves of the 'Red Riding Hood' tulips are going to be just as pretty as I hoped they would be.

Gardening Season Begins!

Although you'd never know it from the temperature outside (15!) or the little crust of snow we still have on the ground, tonight I received confirmation that Spring is indeed on it's way, in the form of a phone call from our wonderful community garden master.  Our annual organizing meeting is Monday!

Frankly, I hadn't even thought about it yet--which just shows how cold and nasty it really has been--so tonight I sat down and came up with "the plan" for the year.  Of course, it will it's subject to change.  As much as I thought she was totally cool, if by some miracle my nearest neighbor in the community garden decided not to garden this year...and if by even greater miracle no new person came along and wanted her plot...I think I would try very hard to snatch it up and plant some broccoli and Brussels sprouts and things of that nature.  Heck, if I could add her bit to mine I might even go crazy and try something like corn or the watermelon patch Sweet Husband is always trying to talk me into.

But more realistically speaking, I think I'm going to forgo flowers to a certain extent this spring and grow arugula, carrots, radishes, potatoes, and some chard in my big raised bed at home.  Then as that stuff starts to get sketchy I can pop some milkweed in its place and see if I can't attract some Monarch butterflies this fall. 

I'll grow some Sunflowers again, although maybe this year I'll actually plant red ones rather than just imagining that I did!  And of course some morning glories on our fence, which, based on the way they got busy on their own last fall, I may not even have to re-plant.

In the Burrow garden (a.k.a. my plot in the community garden) I'm going to try eggplant and peas for the first time, but I'm skipping the green beans, soy beans, and any form of pumpkin or squash.  (Ah yes, the pumpkins...I'm still bitter.)  Here's my basic thought:

It looks like I'm going to have a ton of garlic, but, since it has long shelf life and we're big fans of it, I think that will ultimately be a good thing.  (And at any rate it's already in the ground so no changing that up now!)  I'm not sure exactly how much room I'm going to have in the middle, but (as I've said before) it seemed to me that the people who did better last year planted much more intensively than I did, so this year I think I'm going to try to err on the side of smushed.

*Phew!*  Alright, I have a plan...gardening season can officially begin!

A Cold Moon Eclipsed

I braved the frigid cold for just a few pictures of the lunar eclipse last night.  Some clouds rolled in so I missed the end, but I did get a few respectable shots.  Afterward I did some research on what kind of equipment it takes to get really good night sky shots, and apparently I need a stronger telephoto lens.

Indoor Gardening

The other day I was flipping through some gardening blogs and saw "Calendula and Concrete" was organizing her seed stash.  I totally dig her organization system.  No fancy note cards or fruffy boxes to get muddy the first time they're taken outside--just fat binder clips organized by the time the seeds need to be planted.  Less is more.

While my little ex-chocolate-box'o'collected-seeds is not nearly as extensive as her collection, I went through all my tiny packets this evening and sorted into flowers, early vegetables, and late vegetables.  Very nice!

And as I was pittering around in the kitchen, I noticed my daffodil bulbs (the ones I potted up in September) are finally blooming.  This picture doesn't show it, but these "miniature" daffodils are almost two feet tall.  They look kind of silly with their teeny blooms on top--the stems just kept growing!

But they do smell awfully nice.

The Burrow Garden in January

We're having a heatwave (40 degrees), so Sweet Husband and I took the dogs for a walk down to the Burrow garden late this afternoon.  I think the bitter cold these past few weeks might have finally done my trusty little rosemary bush in.  It was still alive, but the leaves were starting to brown.

The only thing that was really thriving was this sage growing in the communal herb garden.  No one mulched it or anything, so I was kind of surprised.  It made me want to plant some next year if just to have something to look at on a warm day next January....

Snowy Fields, Snowy Dogs

After a few days of breath-stealingly cold weather, we finally ventured out this afternoon, because, you know, dogs must be walked. 

The wind was absolutely bitter, but the colors were beautiful.  This is one of the fields we walked through (in full color, half color, and black and white). 

Letterboxing on the Kaw

Don't ask what happened to #2--I numbered the boxes so that they'll make the most sense when they're all laid out, not in the order I'm placing them--but yesterday Sweet Husband, the dogs, and I placed Lovely Lawrence #3:  The Kaw.  Here's how to get to it:

From downtown Lawrence, Kansas, take Massachusetts Street north until you get to the bridge that crosses the Kansas River (a.k.a. the Kaw).  Cross the bridge.  As you cross the bridge, if you look to your right you'll see the pictured large mural made of rocks in the north side of the river bank.  Make the first right turn after the bridge, and park your car near the park benches.

Climb up the hill to get to the trail that runs along the river.  Follow the trail east until you get to the mural.  Walk down the path on the eastern side of the mural until you get to the place where the edge of the mural comes to a point. 

From the lowest of the bricks that outline the edge of the mural, face directly away from the mural.  About 20 feet out into the rocks, you'll see an almost perfectly square hole.  (Here's an extra hint.)  Reach down into the hole to find the letterbox.  Be careful to watch for snakes!

See also:  Lovely Lawrence #1:  Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

(Letterboxing: P3 F5 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

Wilderness With Six (But No Snow)

We're having a second (third? fourth?) Christmas this weekend in the old hometown, so today Nice Mom and Sister accompanied Sweet Husband, the dogs, and I on a walk at Wilderness Park.  It was chilly enough that the strip pits were lightly frozen over, but there wasn't any snow--and just enough mud to get the Wee Welshman's beard suitably dirty.

More pictures here.

Snow, Trio

Went for another snowy walk today; this time on the trails near the Kansas River and with dogs in tow.  We've had the greatest winter weather these past few weeks.  It seems like as soon as the snow starts to melt we get another two or three inches to top it off and keep everything white and beautiful. 

However, today I discovered that while snow is lovely for walking it isn't very good for letterboxing.  The dogs and I walked for a full hour along the river trail and couldn't find a satisfactory place to put my new "Kaw River" letterbox.  There were a few hopeful spots, but in the end it was just too hard to tell how well camouflaged the box would be once the snow melts. 

Eh, it's a good excuse to go back another day....

Snow, Solo

It's very rare that I go on a walk by myself, but today I was out driving with camera in tow--no dogs, no Sweet Husband--and just kind of ended up out by the Wakarusa River.  I wasn't properly shod for taking a really long walk, but I did make it down a few of the shorter trails we found last summer.  No other humans had been back there yet, although I did find some animal tracks.  It felt almost sacrilegious to break the snow....

(By way of explanation, I never can decide if I like the color shots better or the black and white, so today you get both.)

Snow Walk

Although we didn't get nearly the 7 inches predicted, we've got snow!  I curled up inside most of the morning.  Then this afternoon, Sweet Husband and I took our two little murderers the dogs for a walk. 

Grrr...it's hard to stay mad at a Welshie with snow beard....More pictures here.

Pickled Paperwhites' Progress

My paperwhites have started opening up, and the smell is heavenly!  Combined with the baking I've been doing, I could happily just sit in my kitchen all day and sniff.

As you will recall, this year I'm experimenting with my paperwhites pursuant to a study done at Cornell University.  I've been watering my paperwhites with a solution that's about 5% alcohol in order to stunt their growth and keep them from being tall and floppy. 

For the most part, the experiment has been very successful, but I've noticed something peculiar.  All the bulbs I planted in deep containers (e.g. jam jars, vases) are perfectly about half as tall as they should be.  But the five bulbs I planted in this shallow bowl are just as tall as they were last year.  I can't think of why the depth of the container would make a difference, but that's the only variable I can see.

I'm tempted to write Cornell and see if they can tell me what's up....

Cookies for Canines

I finally got around to trying Kathy's dog treat recipe today (being iced-in helped).  As she says, it's extremely forgiving.  I couldn't find ground flax seed, so I bought whole seeds and coarsely ground them in my food processor.  The result was a pretty, flecked dough that--despite the stickiness of the peanut butter and molasses--was very nice to work with. 

Moe and Porter approved of the result, and with about 4 dozen cookies (I doubled the recipe) chances are some other dogs will be enjoying them soon too!

Icing

Although we missed the worst of the ice storm--our power was only out for a few hours and the streets are mostly clear for now--the trees are literally dripping with ice.  To everyone who got it worse than we did--stay safe and stay warm!

Snow!

I watched from my office window as big, fat flakes fell this morning and afternoon, and by the time I got home I was so ready to play.  After bundling up (with some protest from the dogs), we took a lovely family walk.  It's warm enough that the snow is a bit slushy, but, as I discovered, much too cold to make a proper snowman without digging out my mittens!

We just got maybe an inch or so, but we're due for more this weekend!

Grow Your Own: Rosemary Orange Truffles

Continuing with my Christmas food challenges, "Grow Your Own" is a monthly food blogging event hatched by Andrea of "Andrea's Recipes", that "celebrates the foods that we grow ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products."

But what's growing in frosty Kansas in November, you ask?  Well, truthfully, in my garden there isn't much.  However, my trusty little rosemary bush is trooping along still--and, if anything, has improved in flavor with the cold--so I decided I wanted to work it into my Christmas candy making somehow.

I love rosemary and I love chocolate, but I only learned that I like them together about a year ago when I had my first Christopher Elbow Rosemary Caramel.  It's an odd sounding flavor combination, I know, but somehow it works.

After doing a little research, I ended up mixing a little bit of this recipe with a little bit of this one to get these:

Although I was basically working by trial and error, the flavoring ended up just right.  You can just taste the perfect hint of rosemary on the front end and then you get a nice dose of orange.  I put the little pieces of candied orange on top for pretty, but I don't know if I would do it again as it kind of messes with the texture when it's all in your mouth.  For the recipe, read on.  For the round-up of all the recipes that were submitted, click here.

A Frosty Morning

Drunken Paperwhites

Every year about this time I always start a big crop of paperwhites.  And every year three weeks later, I go around the house with a packet of stakes and string, tying the paperwhites up because they're falling over on their spindly stems.

Apparently other people have this problem too, because some Nice People at the Cornell University Flower Bulb Research Program have come up with a solution--getting your paperwhites drunk.

Nope, not kidding.  Researchers discovered that, when watered with a solution that's 4-6% alcohol, paperwhite growth is stunted by 30-50%.  The flowers aren't effected, just the stems.  From the Cornell report:

"We suggest planting your paperwhite bulbs in stones, gravel, marbles, glass beads, etc. as usual. Add water as you normally would, then wait about 1 week until roots are growing, and the shoot is green and growing about 1-2” above the top of the bulb. At this point, pour off the water and replace it with a solution of 4 to 6% alcohol, made from just about any “hard” liquor. You can do the calculations to figure the dilution, but, as an example, to get a 5% solution from a 40% distilled spirit (e.g., gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila), you add 1 part of the booze to 7 parts of water. This is an 8-fold dilution yielding 5% alcohol."

The report goes on to say you can also use a solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10 or 11 parts water to get the same effect.  That's what I'm going to try this year--it's cheaper than the good stuff--and hopefully I'll be reporting back in a few weeks with some pretty, mini-paperwhites.

I Picked Up a Hitchhiker

Don't worry Mom and Dad, it wasn't a real one--I picked up a letterboxing hitchhiker.

Much like the little geocaching "travel bug" I found yesterday, a hitchhiker is a mini-letterbox that people carry from letterbox to letterbox.  The one I found (pictured at right) was just a tiny stamp and logbook inside a very small plastic bag. 

The first time we found the He Said, She Said box, I wasn't prepared with a logbook and stamp.  So this morning--since it was gorgeous out--I wandered back and found the box again so that I could properly stamp in.  The hitchhiker had evidently been placed there yesterday.

I looked it up and discovered it was part of a series of "Hunchback of Notre Dame" stamps that the placer had liberated from a thrift store in Ohio.  This particular stamp was Quasimodo, and he traveled from Ohio to Illinois to Indiana to Tennessee and then mysteriously popped up in my neck of the woods. 

I'm thinking of making a few boxes of my own in the next few weeks--if I can figure out the stamp carving thing--so I may save him to stash with one of them...if I don't get the urge to get out and find more boxes before then!

(Letterboxing: P0 F4 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

Morning Glory Death and Rebirth

The morning glories were trashed by a particularly cold frost this week, so this afternoon I decided it was time to pull them down. 

It's amazing how much vegetation was there--it took me, Sweet Husband, a weed eater, and one very sharp pair of scissors to finally get them detached from the fence.  They were tangled and tied around every nook and cranny, and even half-dead the vines are very strong. 

Once we got them hauled off, I noticed there were hundreds of little black things on top of the fence and on our sidewalk.  On closer inspection I realized they looked strangely like the morning glory seeds I planted this Spring.

In contrast to something like sunflowers where the seed making process is very obvious, the morning glories were much quieter about their propagation.  I guess I knew that they had to make seeds somehow--because, after all, they don't just get into those Seed Saver packets by magic--but I didn't really notice anything that led me to believe my particular morning glories were enceinte.

And boy were they!  By the looks of it, there will be pretty morning glories at our house--and probably our Nice Neighbors' too--for years to come.  And since we're not going to have to plant morning glories next year, I scraped as many as I could off the top of our fence to pass along to friends.  (And if you have some to collect--here's how.) 

How nice to discover a little surprise after I thought surprises were finished for the year!

Fall Colors

As you may have noticed, I'm a one blog woman these days--I just can't keep two or three updated well.  That means some of the random pictures that would have ended up on "That Camera Lady" are now just going to get tossed up here.

Like these two.  The one on the left is of a tree down the block from me.  The other is an Amish cockscomb flower that sprouted up in my garden from the seeds I planted early last Spring.

In the Ground After All

Despite the less than optimistic forecasts, this morning was sunny and cool.  The wind yesterday afternoon had dried out the ground so that it was not too soggy to work, but still damp enough to make digging easy.  In short, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect morning to clean up the Burrow garden and plant my garlic.

I started by giving everything a good dig-over and rake to get rid of the weeds that had taken up residence.  My little rosemary bush got some TLC, and then I started plunking in garlic cloves.  They ended up taking more space than I thought they would--about a third of my plot for next year is now already planted--but from watching other people garden this year, I think I'm going to plant more intensively next year anyway.  The nice paths I left this year only ended up being a place for weeds, whereas the people who just planted their entire plot not only still have plants making fruit, they still don't have any weeds at all.  I think that's the way to go.

And now the Burrow garden is all tucked in for the winter...and ready to go for the Spring.

Pretty, Pretty Garlic With No Place To Go

The garlic I ordered from Seed Savers arrived this week, on schedule and as promised.  I intended to go tuck them all into my garden first thing this morning, but a nasty thunderstorm rolled in last night and isn't scheduled to leave until next Thursday or so. 

Ahh, the weather.

So instead I just pulled them all out to look at...the shiny, papery skin; the tiny, brown insect holes; the blotchy, purple stripes; the curvy, fat cloves....I could think of worse ways to spend a rainy Saturday morning, of course, but at the same time I'm a little afraid if I don't get these guys in the ground soon colder weather is going to catch up with me.

Round Seedpod

Long Seedpod