Petite pick me ups

Thank you, for all the lovely comments about our home. It's so nice to be able to share all the hard work we've put into, and will continue to put into the old homestead. I'll try and write more stories about Tia, possibly this winter.
For now August is really starting to get to me, we're hovering between 100-115 heat index for weeks now. All I've done this past week is splash water on my face and read books. The cows stay under the trees and the dogs dig deep holes under the shrubs. We cope, we wait, we are all wishing for fall weather.

When almost everything else in the garden is dormant, a Texas native will laugh at the sissy plants. Clematis pitcheri...laughing.

I've also finish a small collection. An attempt to draw the boys into the kitchen while I cook. They can't resist a game.

I don't have to worry about monopoly pieces being strewn about.

A game I can display and cook with ;0)

Game on!

Magenta Spreen

Magenta Speen is the hot pink version of Lamb's Quarter, Pig Weed, southern spinach. Others simply call it a weed.

Since I don't  work, any meal I can put into the freezer I view as a bank deposit. Money and gas saved not going to the store. And just like banking.. a plant that doesn't require a withdraw in the form of fertilizer, cultivating or simply time is a savings account.  Magenta Spreen is my savings account, one with a high rate of return. I let it grow with abandon. 

You see, spinach is tedious to grow in the south. It requires liming the soil, vilagent weeding and picking is a hunched over pain in the back. Sometimes it requires winter protection and other times it gets so hot it never has a chance to leaf before bolting. Magenta Spreen is a cousin to spinach, it has the same flavor, yet a rougher, thinner leaf texture. Now I'm not going to tell you it's a great substitute for spinach. I fell for that trick with Malabar. 

The problem with Malabar, it doesn't taste anything like spinach to me, it's bland. The young smaller leaves have the same fleshy, thick texture of spinach, let the leaves get too large and they get unbearably slimy.  Last year I combined malabar with spreen leaves to create a 'fake spinach" salad. It was ok, not something to crave.My Malabar vines didn't make it through this last winter. No plans to replant.  

Magenta Spreen an entertaining plant. The sparkly hot pink coloring rubs off easily. Has been used for 'makeup'  on the lips and cheeks, and indian war paint by resident gardener and children. 

At a time when not much else is blooming. Drought tolerant and grown in full sun the magenta leaves compliment the colors of Carolina Phlox grown in the shadier areas of the garden creating a nice color flow from one bed to another.

It's now gourmet! This post is entirely inspired by A Hungry Bear Won't Dance and her recipe for Lamb's Quarter and Garlic Scape Pesto. I'm  a fan and lurker. I couldn't follow her recipe exactly, the garlic finished blooming last month, but garlic chives I have plenty. Her sun dried tomatoes I substituted with roasted yellow pear tomatoes. No Olives. It wasn't a spinach dish, it didn't have to be, it was wonderful!  I can't photograph food, but mine tasted as good as hers looked. promise.

 While the Mangenta Spreen will never be an exact substitute for spinach, I've a new appreciation for what it is. Tasty, practical, carefree... easy to weed were it's not wanted and beautiful. 

Go grow, gather and enjoy :0)

A day of gathering small treasures

Gathered the last of the blackberries and the first of the figs. 

The scent of sweet magnolia

Gathered an idea of what treasures await me

While the ladies decided they couldn't wait and gathered a few pears of their own

And the smallest, sweetest treasure of all. Our very first incubator hatched chick.

Wishing you a day filled with your own small treasures

Where were we?

The last three months have sucked. Walmart SUCKS! Feel free to slap me..slap me so hard I see buttercream covered communist stars. However, I did quit, so please don't hurt me.

It wasn't all bad. I made new friends. I can add icing and decorating a cake in 10 minutes to my big list of skills not utilized.  A new family member, a kitten! I wouldn't have found her (in the middle of the road) just when she needed me (having been hit by an car) if I hadn't been on my way to work. She's happy healthy and healed. Actually, she's nearly two pounds of trippin', curtain climbing, psycho kitty. I love her.

I didn't get much done in the garden this spring, no weeding, planting or sowing. I did manage a few photos. This is the last time I'll be looking back...moving forward my friends...moving forward.

See you soon :0)

Garden Inspiration

I've noticed a few things missing from my garden.

Photo, Nibs Blog

Aren't these cool. Always a shady spot.

photo, Martha Stewart

Wire fence from American Fence Supply. Keeping those darling pesky rabbits out of the veggies with style.

From Fern Vale Farm. The perfect gate for Animal portraits.

Agave Parryii such amazing coloring!

Pam Penick found the perfect turquoise bench. Wasn't that nice of her? Now if I can get her to bring it to my garden ;0)

I think I can make these plant supports.

Or maybe not ;0) Sussex Gates makes it look easy.

swing from Sitting Spiritually 

And how have I managed to live my entire life without a double seated tree swing? How have any of us managed?

I hope this is your year for a tree swing :0)

Cannas

I've been looking at cannas this evening. I'm not all that fond of tropical plants, but I've gained a lot of appreciation for them over the past few years. Here in the South they're so common, they're often overlooked as anything special. A common plant usually is special, it's the common plant that can withstand neglect and still prosper. It's a plant that has a lot going for it, it's just overly and improperly used. Knock it off, I will, if you will :0)

Here's some inspiration to mix things up in the flower bed. What about planting some large purple leaves to the back of some pink roses or how about, dwarf variegated foliage with dainty leaves and flowers of blue flax. The combinations with these cannas are endless. Here are a few on my wish list , enjoy the view.

Above, Maudie Malcome grows  4 feet tall available at www.tytyga.com 

I love a pink canna! A perfect way to add a bit of girly color when everything else is suffering through our summers.

Striped Beauty, the flower and the leaves! Tall grower at 3-4 foot. These would be lovely defining a garden room wall. Photo by www.Lancasterfarm.com

Dawn Pink - An impressive dwarf with beautiful oval bronze leaves. The plant is very compact, not getting above 3’. The flowers are an electric coral pink and contrast perfectly with the foliage. That's the description from www.plumeriapeople.com .  Mmmmm, I have a perfect spot for these, don't you?

This is Sunbust Pink. Do you see it? It has pink variegation!!! OMG! Yes, I need a dozen or two. It's a dwarf only growing around 2 foot tall. So sweet. Another from www.tytyga.com

Wyoming The foliage is the real show stopper. I would like to use this next to an aqua painted bench, too much in your face color? lol

Stuttgart Is another I'm eager to try,  the variegation makes me a bit nervous though. Our intense Texas sun tends to burn such coloring. I'll have to work at finding it a home with perfect light. Available at www.thewatergardenshop.com

How 'bout it, are ya kookoo for cannas?

Smooth or bumpy, big or small. I love them all...winter squash.

It's colder here then it's been in thirty years. Not that it matters I'm usually stark raving mad to get into the garden by this time every year. I console myself by plotting my veggie garden. Checking the planting dates and rotation schedule. Then when I get really desperate I take out my seed packs, look at their names and fondle the larger seeds. In a caring earth mother sort of way..nothing kooky.

Last year I traded, begged, and pleaded with other gardeners to amass my seed stash. And thanks to their incredible generosity, see what I have to look forward to planting this year. Sadly this is only a fraction of the cultivars that I would like to try...can anyone say obsessed?

Black Futsu (photo, Plant world) & Galeux D' Eysines (photo, Seed Savers)

    

Georgia Candy Roaster (photo, Seedman) & Jarrahdale (Johnny's Seeds)

Kakai (photo, Exjordinanary Seeds) & Lakota (photo, Super Seeds)

Long Island Cheese (photo, Seed Savers) & Long Neck (photo, Reimer Seeds)

Queensland Blue (photo, Martha Stewart) & Red Warty (photo, Gourmet Seed)

and lastly Sucrine Du Berry (photo, Rare Seeds)

Aren't they beautiful? Next fall we hope to raise our own pork and much of the excess squash will be used to feed them. It also be nice to raise enough to help out with our local family services. The rest is all mine to sample!!! Anyone have a favorite squash recipe they'd like to share?

A bit of trivia. Did you know that when you purchase a can of pumpkin puree to make your holiday pies your most likely cooking with this. Not the big orange globes we know as pumpkins, but the humble, reliable widely grown (in the south) Curshaw.

(photo, Rare Seeds)

Only 4 and a half months till winter squash planting time!

Snow, really?

Sigh, forecast, 32 overnight with possible flurries in the morning. I hate to admit it, but it looks like Fall is over. What a beautiful ending to the year it has been!