We went on a tour of different universities. My boys had to deal with me excitedly saying, "Mushrooms!" as I ran across the street to take pictures. Yes. I am that embarrassing as a parent. But, they had a lot of patience for their goofy mom. I can't go places and not notice things in … Continue reading Great Links About Fungi
OMG! I am so glad I stuck with the annoying, ridiculously hard to train (to move indoors for winter), tropical vining cactus: the dragon fruit! I have only seen one other flower that rivals a dragon fruit flower. It was also a type of night blooming cereus. My mother had it as a house plant … Continue reading Dragon Fruit: Texas Style!
My dragon fruit has finally flowered! I missed the flower opening because we were college shopping. However, I only missed it by a day, so I got to see the flower before it completely died back. There's a second one. (If you were wondering, the forks in the soil were to keep my cats out … Continue reading First Flowers: Dragon Fruit
So. Yes. I am having a new experience in my garden. As my grandmothers were, I'm also usually always home. I visit my family but mostly around Christmas time when my garden is asleep. This year I'm finding out what happens when you aren't home to stop disasters! There were bees and hornets all over … Continue reading Crazy Happenings In The Garden
My best friend grew up in India. She's invited me to go to India several times over the last 23 or so years, and I still haven't done it. However, I have visited several temples with her in Colorado (Denver: plan on attending Sunday evening for the feast they serve. Castle Rock: this is a … Continue reading Personal Thoughts: A Christian’s View Of Another Religion
So. Yeah. Bad issue for me this year. I usually spray round up outside, in the play yard area. I have to hit it about three times a season. Last year I had issues with my sprayers and I only got the area sprayed once. Now, with my late start this spring (because of illness) … Continue reading Recovering A Gravel Area From Weeds
Fig tree is full of ripening figs! (I think this is an unnamed fig someone bought at a big box store. I got a start about ten years ago while walking in my neighborhood.) It isn't a super high quality fig, but it does provide a nice screen between me and my less than stellar … Continue reading Figs, wonderful figs!
The most expensive part of my garden is the city water that we're on. Our city water is piped in. The aquifer that our land is over does not have good water. We're near an air force base, started in the 1930's and I wonder if over the years, that aquifer has been polluted from … Continue reading Watering In High Heat
There are so many things to discover on the land in the Rocky mountains. Indian prayer tree. Ute Indians lived in these mountains. This is an Indian prayer tree on my mom's property. There are several categories of Ute Indian prayer trees. Read all about them here: https://www.castlepinesconnection.com/ute-indian-prayer-trees/ From what I've researched: This one is … Continue reading Life In The Rocky Mountains
If you are in a position to look at a device to help you make tomato paste or sauce, seed different fruits and remove skins, do I have some advice for you! I have made paste from tomatoes before. I used to own a Foley food mill and used it regularly. (Like: an original Foley … Continue reading Tomato Paste
I have never been to the hot springs in Colorado. I didn't know much about them. My best friend and her partner took my mom and I out to the springs in Moffat, Colorado. We skipped all of the lower temperature pools and got into the hottest one they had. Apparently, we were brave because: … Continue reading Fun In The Hot Springs
So, I ran some dripline around to the front yard, to the new pawpaws. Last night I installed the emiters. My youngest son was helping me by yelling over the fence, to tell me if the pressure was too high, and if I blew the line. First vacation sans husband and kids in twenty years. … Continue reading Pawpaw Update June 2024
After trying and trying for the last twelve years: and getting close to zero globe and beefsteak tomatoes, I went all in on plum (Roma) tomatoes. I've gotten Romas to produce before but I've never planted an entire bed with them. I fully expected to get a small supply from the six plants, that all … Continue reading I Withdraw My Assertion That I Cannot Grow Tomatoes
Weird little puff mushroom. I see these all over my yard in summer. Our store is open! Come see what we have!
I have heard a lot of things, from people I know, who were touting the new hydrogen gas infused, water craze. There's already hydrogen atoms in a water molecule, but this is free hydrogen atoms added to regular tap or filtered water. Some of the people I have heard glowing reviews from are: doctors and … Continue reading Hydrogen Water. Healthy Or Hype?
Have you seen this farming family's channel? Based out of Azerbaijan? No? What!? You must watch it! https://youtube.com/@country_life_vlog?si=adfBXIRFHZx0Wr8B I'm going to add photos of my food forest. Some of what they do is achievable. But even I am jealous of the variety of food they can grow. This is a pomegranate flower. I accidentally stumbled … Continue reading Crazy Good Link
I live in the South. Where I am: summer ends up getting really hot (above 100° Fahrenheit) with little to no rain for months at a time. In summer we get moisture that blows in from the Gulf of Mexico and that humidity (without rain) is a real problem. There are weeks where we don't … Continue reading Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs
Summer is officially bearing down on us down here in South Texas. Boy, is it hot! If you garden: you sure don't want to do it in the middle of the day when it's over 100°F! However, all the things down here that I choose to plant will usually sail through the heat as long … Continue reading Summer Sun And The Fruits Of My Labor
I finally got all of the figs I froze out of the freezer and made wine. It had come down to: make wine or don't have room for this year's corn! I have the carboys out of the way, by my fireplace. Definitely don't need to use the fireplace right now! Figs thawing. So I … Continue reading Fig Wine
Crazy Green Thumbs 