apples all summer!

It has been an apple fest all summer! I am in mid season season form. This picture is from our "Early Harvest" variety that started producing mid June. We have gone through Liberty, Lincoln, and are now getting Arkansas Black. I have made gallons of cider as many of the apples are not pretty enough(bad spots) for Michelle to sell @ the Market. This is one of the side effects of not consistantly spraying. It is worth it to me because I want to have folks walk by the tree and be able to pick and eat an apple w/o having to take them inside to wash off any chemicals. So many fall on their own and have bruises, so off to the press for them!

Michelle is right, I have been a BAD BLOGGER. We have had a wonderful growing season and over the next few days I will pass along some things I have learned - both good and bad.


Our onions were one of the 1st things we put in the ground back in March. We picked most of them in June/July. I still have a few in the ground. When you pick them, lay them on a dry surface outside for a couple of days. They will "harden" and store better inside. If you don't, they might rot in your pantry and smell to High Heaven!
I love things that have a good shelf life inside that we can use for a long time.

Anatomy of a wedding

We had a big (260) wedding for the daughter of some very close friends of our at the house on Sat. night. I did all the decorations and wedding flowers. I thought it might be fun to share all that goes into getting it done......

The rental co setting up the 40'x 60' tent on Thurs a.m.

It was a really big tent.

I picked up the flowers Thurs. morning. It takes a long time to unwrap , strip the leaves , recut the stems ,and put them into buckets with fresh water. I chose summer flowers with a garden look and feel. My Bride wanted a elegant, southern, summer feel.





 The sunflowers were for the food tables.








I just love a big bucket of sunflowers.

All the flowers ready to be arranged. I still have to pick flowers and greenery from the yard.

 Cute painted port a potties.

The ceremony site.

 starting on the birdbath at the ceremony site on Sat. a.m..

 My crew(4) total, working to make the inside of the tent beautiful. The chandaliers were way too plain, so we added greenery and flowers.

 The  tables were set with white cloths and had sage green burlap toppers. I alternated centerpieces, big bowls of peaches and hydrangea blossoms on some, and antique bottles with flowers on the others.

 My girls in the cool basement starting the bouquets.

 To be continued.....

Rasberry time!

This is the 3rd year of our rasberries. I pruned the plants to the ground in February, composted, and with such a wonderful spring, we have the best crop yet. the 2 varieties I planted were Dorman Red and Heritage Everbearing. They both fruit at the same time(June). The Dorman Red is more colorful, while the Heritage is sweeter tasting. Michelle picks about a pint every other morning!

Old plant reintroduced

After the flush of new growth, azaleas and dogwoods have done their chore, there is a bit of a lull in the landscape that is filled with a pungent lavender bloom of Vitex agnus castus (Chaste tree). This midsize sunloving tree was quite popular in the 19th century, but as many plants do, lose favor only to be reintroduced as a "new plant" in our landscape. The placement of this small tree next to an evergreen back ground is something I look forward to every June. I have 2 that flank my home as an anchor on the driveway.