In the middle of August

I'm afraid I've given up. If my garden has anything living in it it isn't because of me. We're on a voluntary water conservation too. There are signs for it all over the neighborhood. There are signs like this all over the city.

I stopped watering a couple of months ago, before the signs, when I realized I couldn't keep up with the heat without having to pay a high water bill. I couldn't afford to keep my garden alive. If and when it rains here, it is once or twice every few weeks. Not enough to fill rain barrels enough to water on a constant basis. Successful gardeners in my area must be constantly fighting the heat and finding ways to help their plants conserve water.

It's so hot and dreadful I can barely keep my kids hydrated. Most of the summer break my kids have watched tv and read their books, because it's too hot to do anything in the house (AC doesn't work well) and way too hot to play outside unless it is done very early in the morning or late in the evening.

We took a stroll around the botanical gardens the other day at about 10 am and all 3 of my children and myself were drenched in sweat. We weren't running... we were just walking. Despite the heat, it was nice taking in the fresh air.

From the house, to the vehicle, to work, to the vehicle and then back home, to vehicle to someone else's house (family) or building (library) back to the vehicle and so on. Our moments outside are brief and still we sweat. The heat is oppressing. It has imprisoned us. Sure, yesterday's rain helped bring down the heat some, but today it is back to "normal".

The heat has lasted for months and as I watched my garden die my inspiration to keep this blog alive dwindled. Why? Because every time I come home or step out the front door I see my yard, the dead grass, the dead plants and the rock hard soil. Then I  look around and see, my very green rosemary bushes, my twisting jasmine, my rose bushes (one with a blooming red rose)  healthy looking flowering bushes, green bulb leaves and a few other green plants. I am amazed at what has survived.

In the fall I plan to put a fig in the ground in front of my front window. Figs provide a lot of wide shade and though they don't get very tall, they can. ear. I'm told fig trees are messy, but my mom has a fig tree and there has never been a mess around it that I've seen. Then again between all of us and the birds the figs don't have a chance to hit the ground.

I can't wait until fall.

Wait until use see the lettuce!

My garden looks amazing. There is so much green and so much color. Wait until I post the pictures...

I love the Spring Time

Looking out my windows and I smile because my garden looks wonderful! I have green plants I thought had died growing, plants that never seem to die flourishing and plants I grew from seed fattening. My rose bushes are filled with red new leaves. My tall flowering bushes in my back yards are often visited by yellow and black colored butterflies. There are vegetables (lettuce, beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli) and herbs (cilantro, rosemary, oregano) growing in my yard. On my birthday as my parents were leaving my home I handed them some cilantro, rosemary and oregano. My father was so delighted. He knows and I know and so many other people know how expensive these herbs can be in the grocery store. I grow them at home with ease.

I spent the afternoon and evening of the 18th weeding my front garden. It was relaxing, until my back begged me to stop. Is there a way to garden without my back suffering for it? I meant to take pictures as soon as I was done weeding, but then it was dinner time and after that too dark. The next day was my birthday and I forgot. Yesterday, my head hurt so bad I wanted to cry. Since my birthday on the 19th my son and I have come down with some sort of bug. The little guy was worse off than I was, but he is sleeping and recovering now. I am feel much better now.

The day outside is beautiful. While he sleeps I could take some pictures...


Oh! I almost forgot to mention. For my birthday gift my kids made me gifts our of recycled material and they bought me beautiful flowering plants for my birthday. My husband bought me a tomato bush and made all the food (a variety of salads) for the picnic. I am loved.

Another Reason to Eat Organic, Local and Raw:High LDL

I received my test results in the mail today. It turns out I have a slightly elevated cholesterol. The irony, at my age I'm one of the few I know who eats fairly healthy and exercises daily. I know a lot has to do with genetics, but the doc still wants me to go on a diet.

I have a carrot!

After the crazy weather, two sets of frosts separated by warm weather rain and humidity, I (without hope) went into my garden in the backyard and noticed that I still have lettuce in my garden...alive! I have beets growing too. Oh! and what surprised me the most was the growing carrot. The carrot survived both frost and all the cold weather. Not only that when I walked over to look at it the carrot it was so large it was cracking through the dirt. Is it time to harvest?????????

I think I'll gamble and pick it tomorrow. I need to before on of my neighbor's dogs digs it up. I haven't told you the story about the dog yet have I? My neighbor told me the other day that our backyard neighbor has a dog that was able to jump over the fence into my neighbors yard. My neighbor saw this dog in his yard and when he tried to get him the dog jumped over the tall fence into my yard and straight into my garden. He tried jumping back into his own yard from my yard but fell and then jumped over the short wire fence around my garden and then played with my dog. My dogs not much of a guard dog is he?

I never saw any of this but I did see the loose board on the ground in my garden that my neighbor said the dog tried to climb before he fell with it to the ground. Id wondered why the fence board had fallen. If the dog did jump into my yard he must have eventually jumped back to his. I didn't think dogs could jump that high. Will he jump back? Should get my carrot before he does? As if the weather and soil aren't enough to worry about, now I have to worry about an amazingly high jumping dog. Is the dog part cat or squirrel?

Food Frozen In Time: Strawberries

Strawberry Postcards by Strawberie
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