My Garden Is Berzerk

I took garden pics in anticipation of this post tonight, and it seems that I am missing a few key shots. Guess I was just too overwhelmed to get it all in. This is a partial view of half of my garden:

This is my box of herbs. You can see catnip, chamomile and wormwood. There's dill and echinacea in there somewhere. The potted herb in the foreground is clary sage. While the herbs were all small, and I made an impulse purchase at the nursery of some snow pea starts and threw them in that box. They took up more room than I expected but they sure are good:

I wanted a box of mints. I put several kinds in here, a bergamot mint, a chocolate mint, variegated mint, plain old mint mint, and then I ended up adding in some zinnias and stinging nettles, because I heard that nettles increase the strength of your mint. I have no way of knowing if they did so or not, but I do know that I am quite wary of sticking my hand in that box now. Ouch! (I've done it a few times without thinking...):

I became a collector of tomato plants. Everytime I went to a nursery or a hardware store I would see a kind that I did not have and bring it home. I ended up with 26 of them. They are falling all over eachother; Early Girls, Better Boys, Brandywines, Yellow Pears, Sunsugars, Rainbow Cherries(?), Cherokee Purple, and....I think that may be it(???)

I have another pic to post here and I am not being allowed to do so! So there, that's not even the half of this crazy garden teeming with plant friends but I'm gonna call it a day.

Marigold Garland

This is my beautiful friend Ciarra modeling the marigold garland I made yesterday. They are really easy to make, and feel so good to wear. First, grow a bunch of marigolds. Then get a big needle and string them up. I really need to get more into perishable accessories. It's nice to make something sometimes that is NOT going to last. It's nice to make something sometimes that is all about NOW.

However, I do plan on putting the garlands in a box when they dry up, and planting them in the ground next year, so I guess they do carry on....

I Hunt With A Cucumber Boomerang

......cuz I'm tuff like that.

Cucumber Of Triumph

I probably should have picked this cucumber a bit sooner, but I kept waiting for it to turn dark green. I looked up cucumber varieties online today and found a site with pictures of cucumber varieties. This is an armenian cucumber, and it's supposed to look like this. Anyway, it's the first cucumber I have picked from my garden, it's Armenian, and it's HUGE.

Hello People of Armenia!!!! Are we perhaps dining on the same variety of cucumber?

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

I took a picture of this crummy bastard bug thinking that it was a cute yellow ladybug. I thought it was on my side, protecting my happy plant friends from the evil bugs that were munching on them.

My friend later informed me that this cute bug was in fact, the EVIL MUNCHER itself. Not a ladybug at all, but a spotted cucumber beetle. Darn! I had noticed there were heck of alot of them, and was pleased that we had so many.

We HAVE a ZUCCHINI!

This morning I went out the garden, eager to see how things were growing, as usual. I was sitting on a big clump of dirt, surveying my boxes, when I noticed a blossom just laying on the ground.

I thought "Huh....weird. That flower just fully disconnected from the plant and fell off. What's up with that?" I looked a little closer at the plant, and there it was....a zucchini! It is my first year of having a vegetable garden, so I was pretty darn thrilled about it, and shocked that it could just appear there, so quickly.

ACTUAL FOOD manifested FROM THE GROUND! Far out Dude.

Right now I am writing with two little baby chickens on my lap. I picked them up because their mama took off somewhere in this big ol' yard. I walked around with them but couldn't find her, and when I tried to put them down, they were distressed and wanted to hop back into my hand. They are too cute and small to say no to.

I don't know what to do with them. They are quiet in my lap covered up by part of my shirt, sleeping while I post this. I have to put them down eventually, so I hope I see their mom at some point. It's dark though, so that's doubtful.

The Garden Of Destiny!

There are a few reasons why I have not been finishing and posting a bunch of crafty type things:

1) I've been making a cool swap item for Meshell.

2) I've been knitting 10" square after 10" square for a knitting circle square exchange, and I'm a pretty slow knitter.

3) And The MAIN REASON: Take a look! Things are growing! It's so exciting!

Check this link to see my full set of garden pics in all their glory.