In a four-season state, unless you are a Winter sports enthusiast, are fearless of driving in the ice and snow, or think that frigid air is invigorating, the advent of Winter is not a welcome thought. In my mind, there are very few redeeming qualities of Winter, though our 2019 warm weather months were not seasons of joy, with Spring’s endless rain and Summer’s constant severe weather threats … not to mention the heat and humidity.
If I had to pick one redeeming factor of Winter, it would be going outside while the snow is softly falling, admiring that pristine snow already on the ground, which serves to muffle all the street noise that is usually present. It is especially delightful on a Sunday morning, a hushed feeling, while most of the world is still in slumber mode and the landscape resembles a Currier & Ives print from long ago.
Birds, bees, butterflies and … beans?
I much prefer the warmer months as most of my longer walks are enjoyed then. So, I would equate a walk on a quiet Winter morn to the peace and tranquility I found at the Taylor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, which I visited a few weeks ago. It was quiet when I first arrived, the beginning of a very hot day. I looked around and saw a Black Swallowtail flitting about and bees hovering over all the beautiful blooms. I took some photos at the Conservatory, and then headed over to the Community Garden which is located between the Conservatory and Heritage Park. There is a long garden area, with many plots of land, which are tended by two different factions. First, there are the workers who are fulfilling community service hours for minor infractions and growing veggies to go directly to the local food bank. Then, there are the folks that simply enjoy sifting the dirt through their fingers, finding peace working in the garden and reaping the fruits of their labor.
Let’s visit the Good Will Garden.
Just swing open the high wooden gate to view the abundance of eye candy. There are colorful blooms, butterflies and bees and even a few feathered friends taking a dip in the birdbaths around the Garden.
Now take a deep breath and relax.
Immersing yourself in the beauty all around is sure to put a smile on your face!
Cabbage Whites, cabbages and more.
I’ve had flower gardens before, but never a vegetable garden. My father should have known after the squirrels dug up and ate every one of his tulip bulbs the first year we lived here, that the fate of a garden depended on how hungry or mischievous the neighborhood critters were. My mom’s pleas for beefsteak tomatoes were answered when he bought several plants. But we never saw a single slice of these beefsteak beauties on our dinner plates, because the squirrels yanked every tomato off the vine, took a big bite and cast it aside. What the squirrels missed, the birds would peck holes into. So, that was the first and last time we planted veggies at this house.
The dainty Cabbage White butterflies were ever present as they hovered over blooms and bean blossoms just a few feet away.
I was struck by the size of the cabbages in one garden.
Let me introduce you to Mike.
Mike and his wife each have a plot … oh no, this is not a dark post and not that type of plot! They own two plots in the Community Garden. Until I chitchatted with Mike, I was under the impression all the gardens were tended by the work force detail. Well I had a lot to learn.
Mike explained to me that large areas of the Community Garden are tended by people that love their plants – whether they bloom or end up on the dinner table. Mike’s wife loves flowers, and though they have a 50-foot long flower garden alongside their house, she wanted more flowers and they both wanted a vegetable garden. So, they lease two, side-by-side plots each year at the Community Garden. They pay $50.00 per year for each plot, but he said the benefits go far beyond that price … they both love tending these gardens and they get back their yearly investment in produce. Mike’s wife was away on vacation that upcoming week and he lamented in jest that he was “stuck” watering and tending the flowers at home and here, plus feeding their pets, but he added he was happy to do so. He praised his wife for helping him to see the beauty of the flowers in their two gardens.
They have created a natural habitat for the butterflies and bees with their beautiful blooms and after topping off the cobalt blue ceramic birdbath, (also seen at the top of this post), a couple of sparrows were quick to pay a visit.
It was a very warm morning and I said “yes, unfortunately no rain until Tuesday; three more hot days to get through” to which he kind of rolled his eyes and said “ya, tell me about it!”
Well both Mike and I obviously listened to the same weather station because we had a torrential rain and storm not three hours after we chatted. Before I moved along to check out the other gardens and take more pictures, Mike snaked his hand into some large leaves and produced a “just-picked, fresh-off-the-vine” cucumber for me to take home.
I hope to be back to check out the garden in its glory one more time before the first frost arrives, because where else can you watch flowers and produce growing companionably thanks to some TLC and Ol’ Sol too.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Lovely garden story – nice to see it still looking like mid-summer blooming! It is fall here and the plants are already packing it in. Leaves are turning and falling quickly!
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Thanks Margy … we have leaves scattered at the Park which surprises me as we had so much rain through Spring and Summer. Last year the leaves were gone by early September but we had drought-like conditions all of August. We had a hard freeze shortly after Fall’s arrival. I’ve not seen that before, but then I’ve not seen alot of the weird things going on due to climate change before either. I hate this “new norm”.
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I guess I’ve lived so long that the vague uncertainties of weather just don’t surprise me. I’ve either seen them before, heard about them from more parents, or read about them when I look at the weather history of my area!
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What a wonderful garden! I think you just told me how to have my flowers and vegetables to look at and then I don’t have to weed!!!! If only I could get people to drive out in the country to take care of their plots….lol
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Isn’t that beautiful Diane – all along I thought the entire garden area was tended to only by those performing community service and/or volunteers. I saw that sign before that said the plots were owned by people who planted and tended to their own vegetables, but didn’t make the connection. It is a wonderful effort. The cabbages were so huge and I don’t know what that vegetable plant was that looked like a geyser … they did not all have markers to ID them. I’ve seen cabbages at a roadside stand or the farmers market, but they had their outer leaves gone and were not gargantuan like these were. The flowers growing among the veggies were a nice look and there were other markers to ID each of them – I liked the basil marker the best. My neighbor years ago liked flowering kale … he planted it all around the front yard … that stuff grew like weeds, but lasted the entire Summer and into the Fall and gave a nice touch of color to his home.
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I have heard a lot about community gardens but have never visited on. This one looks beautiful.
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Yes and chock full of flowers and veggies – I may go back this weekend … with the latest two deaths due to the EEE virus, I am reluctant to go into the deep wood … very scary Ruth. When I traveled to Germany, my father’s aunt and uncle had lived in an apartment for decades (they were already in their early 80s) and it was a common practice for apartment dwellers to have a plot of land for flowers and produce. They went there every afternoon, had a little house, not much bigger than a potting shed and they would spend the afternoon there.
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It sounds like a horrible disease. We haven’t seen many mosquitos since spring. If you do go into a wooded area make sure to wear repellant Linda.
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Yes it does Ruth – three people in two weeks is not good, another one died a few weeks ago, and it was not the original 14-year old … now they don’t even mention West Nile virus. Thanks Ruth – I think I will not plan on going to any more woods the rest of this year or at least til we have a hard freeze (of course then the deer start chasing one another and crashing in vehicles (as you wrote about in your blog last year). It is safe at Council Point Park – we have a walking path, but it is not dense there and I can’t say I’ve ever seen mosquitoes there at all. Someone said they found one tick on their sock in the Summer, but I’ve never noticed any. It’s all worrisome Ruth – mosquitoes, ticks. My friend Ilene tracks with her dogs in a rural area of Canada (Kingsville) and sprays herself and the dogs with a mixture of Avon Skin So Soft and other ingredients and swears by it. Ilene has lived in a rural area for decades and tracks her own dogs plus judges other dogs. Here is the recipe:
***************************
“Following is the recipe for tick repellant –
“Safe, Natural, Effective Flea and Tick Repellant –
1 cup Avon’s Skin So Soft
2 cups White Vinegar
1-3 cups Water
1 Tablespoon Herbal Shoo
or Citonella Oil
or Eucalyptus Oil (what I use)
or Halo Herbal Dip
Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Use liberally two to three times daily. (I use it as an “as needed” basis).
Works on humans, dogs, horses etc. Be sure and shake it up before spraying.
I spray this on my dog and myself before we go tracking.”
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Looks great. End of summer produce/flowers is always lush.
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Yes, I was there before the majority of tomatoes were ready – I’ll bet it would really be colorful now. I didn’t see any scarecrows – maybe that is just for corn?
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What a beautiful spot you found
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Very peaceful AJ, especially on a Sunday morning.
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It´s beautiful summer picture in the autumn! Here in southern Sweden, the autumn weather has come with an almost cold winter morning this morning, around 35°F. But this weekend it will be around 70°F! Talk about changing weather!
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That weather is just crazy John. Our weather has been temperamental as well, going from cold to very hot, then back to cold again, but we have not gotten that low yet. Last September we had a hard freeze and I had to hurry up and put the hose in the garage and turn off the outside faucet! I hope you won’t have a bad Winter this year!
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Beautiful photos. I like the end of summer when what is going to happen has, or has not, happened. There’s a calmness to it.
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Thanks Ally. I agree with you. Summer is on its last legs here and leaves are everywhere. I’ll be happy if the hot weather takes a hike and lessens the threat of severe weather which has plagued us all Summer.
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we each have our own garden and you tend yours very well Linda!
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Community gardens are great! We had a couple of plots years ago in one when we lived in California. It was an interesting experience. Most of the gardeners used non-chemical methods except for one guy. Beautiful photos of all the garden details, Linda! 🙂
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Yes they are a great idea Sabine – and I”m sure there are many who live in apartments and have no room for growing enough flowers/produce on their balconies, find this a great option. I wonder if they use non-chemical methods here – I didn’t see signs about that, but maybe the lease document does state that When we visited my father’s elderly aunt and uncle in Frankfurt, they lived in an apartment and had a plot in a community garden nearby. The plots were different – paved areas and sidewalks to separate the plots and the plots were big enough to put a small potting-shed type structure on them. They had one and would go sit inside when it got too hot in the sun while tending the garden. They had no flowers, just fruits (berries) and vegetables.
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Linda, the chemical policy probably depends on the garden. This was my only experience with a community garden. It’s a great way to use vacant space and give people a chance to grow food for themselves. 🙂
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That’s what I wondered – it is a good policy to have no pesticides if at all possible. It is a great way to use vacant space to grow food for food pantries and for those wanting to try their hand at gardening, especially if they are living in an apartment.
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I agree, Linda! I like the idea of giving fresh produce to food banks since they generally rely on a lot of packaged stuff.
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The Fish and Loaves Food Pantry that you saw in one sign was one of the charity 5K walks that I did this year – they have a huge food bank that serves many local cities.
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Linda, we have Fish & Loaves here as well. I think they’re nationwide. They sometimes hand out “need lists” outside grocery stores for people to pick up a few items for them. I like that! If there’s one thing that I strongly dislike it’s people, but especially children going hungry! I remember how that felt as a kid. 🙂
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I didn’t know that it was a nationwide charity Sabine – it is a good name for such an organization. I know at our local Fish & Loaves they have a huge canned food pantry and often they have events at Heritage Park and the “admission” is canned goods for Fish & Loaves. We have a lot of school programs here for kids to ensure they are fed properly – in fact, they have begun programs for kids who only get a good breakfast, or meals throughout the day during the time they are in school. These programs ensure they are given meals all year around.
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Linda, I just checked google and there are Fish & Loaves all over Oregon. I think it’s a good thing, as one in five children in our state lives in a food-insecure household. That’s sad, considering that we are the richest country on earth!
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Interesting – it is a worthy cause for sure. Yes, there is a lot of wasted food as well. We have Forgotten Harvest here – they have big trucks that collect food from stores that deem past expiration (they cannot sell it if only one day past expiration but it is often still good) and also they collect food from restaurants when they cook too much and cannot serve it. https://www.forgottenharvest.org/
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That’s good to know! And yes, food waste is a huge problem! I read an article the other day where they stated that 40% of all food gets tossed out!! Almost half and we have people who go hungry!
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I agree Sabine … Forgotten Harvest has a great track record for aiding in picking up food and then distributing it to food banks and shelters. Many years ago I was in Farmer Jack, which was a small grocery store similar to a Kroger in size. They went out of business and shut down rather suddenly in 2006 … my mom and I had shopped there for years and I gravitated to Meijer, which was difficult to get acclimated to since it was/is like a Walmart – they sell everything and is huge. (Nothing has ever come into the Farmer Jack store sadly.) So, for the first six months I was wandering around the aisles trying to make sense of where things were at Meijer – it was a whole excursion. But anyway, prior to their closing, maybe a year before, I remember being at the Farmer Jack deli and buying some lunchmeat and cheese and the person waiting on me had a huge wheel of Swiss cheese. She was about to slice into and turned it upside down to check the date – she said “sorry miss, I have to go to the backroom to get more cheese – it may take a few minutes – do you want to wait or get a different kind of cheese?” As she said that she flipped the wheel of cheese into a garbage can … it was not a depository to take the cheese elsewhere … others in the deli had been throwing garbage in there. So I said “oh, good thing you checked – we might have gotten sick?” She said “no it expired yesterday and we can’t serve it – regulations you know.” What a waste of food and I told her that saying that homeless shelters would take that wheel of cheese in an instant, a few loaves of bread and serve hungry people cheese sandwiches … nothing fancy, just sustenance for them.” She just said “it’s the regs and I’m just following them.” I hear all the time that the FDA will re-issue regs for expiration dates versus best buy versus best used by dates as so many people are confused and throw away good food … I am leery to eat/drink/use anything past the expiration date.
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I’m not afraid to eat something past its date. When food is bad, it’s generally pretty obvious. I’ve heard about the stores that will sell items close to the expiration date. That’s good as the prices would hopefully be lower and help reduce waste! We’ve become a throw-away society! 😬
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Yes, you can usually tell and Meijer where I shop now has an area of the produce department where they put all the bruised or mangled-looking produce. I guess some they discover when unpacking it so they put it on the reduced table – that is a good idea they started last year. I won’t buy grapes since there have been incidences at Kroger with Black Widow spiders inside the bags of grapes. The bags are sealed in Ziploc bags and they open them and one will run out. If you saw what I go through when buying bananas … I take produce bags and hold the bunch up, then hang them upside down and go through each banana to ensure no big spiders are in there … I’ve done that for years and one of the produce clerks always uses heavy gloves when unpacking all fruits/veggies as she saw a banana spider in a crate of bananas.
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Wow! I’ve never heard of black widow spiders in produce! 😬 We always had them in California. They’d be in the firewood stack. I have however heard of all the critters people find in pre-washed/bagged produce. Those I don’t usually buy anyway. I’d also like to see stores sell the misshaped and not so perfect looking produce for less! It tastes the same!
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We have incidents of brown recluse spider bites in Northern Michigan, often in woodpiles. They are considered deadly. My father worked with a man who was from this area, but a brown recluse spider got into the wood pile in his yard and he was transporting wood from the crib to the house and was bitten on the arm. He lost some significant portions of his arm and had nerve damage as well. Here is a story about the black widow in Michigan. There were two instances, both at Kroger – I didn’t realize it was in 2013 … time goes by so fast, I thought it was a couple of years ago. I will put the link to the story below. Yes, you can’t tell the difference with the misshapen produce at all!
https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/11/michigan-family-uncovers-black-widow-spider-in-store-grapes/
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Brown recluse spiders are definitely dangerous! 😬
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I am very scared of any spiders – wish I was not but I don’t like anything that moves faster than me. The black widows in the grapes totally undid me.
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Aww, such a lovely place to visit and you didn’t leave empty-handed or with an empty SD card! Great photos – love all of them, the colors are gorgeous. I can definitely tell it is a loved and well-tended to garden. Thank you for sharing. I hope the cucumber was delicious!!
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Yes, it was a beautiful trip and I will try and get there again before the frost comes – hopefully. Everything was so organized in there – flower plots only, veggie pots only, some a combination. I am glad you enjoyed the photos Shelley.
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I bet they have a wonderful fall display and interesting steps they take to prepare for winter. I hope you do get to go back there. Yes, I enjoyed all the photos and your story that went along with them.
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I think I’m going to go this weekend, likely Saturday, as it will be very hot and perhaps I’ll get to see some more butterflies or a hummingbird at the Conservatory area. Then I’ll meander to the Community Gardens and I’ll see if I can find someone to chat with and pick their brain. It’s good for a lot of steps by the time I walk around the historical area and the walking track too. I think this Saturday they have a fishing expert teaching kids how to fish in Coan Lake. It is catch-and-release only in the man-made lake.
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All of those ideas sound like a great way to spend the weekend and get your steps in too!
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Yes I contacted them to ensure no events were scheduled, so it’s a go – we’ve got a hot, humid and off-and-on rainy weekend and Monday too, so hope your weekend is better.
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Yay – enjoy! We have storms predicted for today, so I’ll be staying home and in the a/c! Happy trails to you!
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Thank you – it will be short and sweet – they cannot determine how widespread the storms are and the humidity is 98% right now – ugh. So, just a ten-mile roundtrip today and home again … storms may ruin any plans inside the house that need my attention like archiving and cleaning up my computer and doing a post or two. They could be wrong too …?
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You’ll know for sure what the weather will be like when you get there!
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It was just horribly hot and humid Shelley – when I left the Park, the sign out front said 84 degrees at 11:30 … on the 21st of September. Just amazing isn’t it? We are having some storms tonight and tomorrow as well.
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Yeah, it was like that here too. It was a bit better yesterday, so hopefully your Sunday will be nice!?
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Right now I am waiting for it to lighten up a little and will just go out to Council Point Park. We had rain early this morning.
It is as hot and humid as yesterday –
likely worse since we had rain. I am so ready for Fall!
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I’m feeling a warming up to fall myself. Hope your walk was nice!!
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As of now they say next weekend will be very warm too! Of course they said we’d have torrential rain and potentially severe weather last night. I never heard anything. Not that I want severe weather, but this was the forecast from several stations. I peruse three different weather forecasters Tweets and the National Weather Service for Detroit. I hope to squeak in a walk this morning – they say it rained earlier … I won’t open the door in the dark so hopefully it dried up.
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You could do better as a weather forecaster than they do!
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Yes I think so! Today they had the rep from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” on the radio news station I listen to … they just had someone on a few weeks ago for Winter only, now it was for strictly Fall. Ugh! If they are correct (and they claim a good track record, especially since they predicted two rainy Springs in a row), the rep said we will have a rainy November and by Thanksgiving we’ll have snow. Makes me wish I had not been so riled up with Summer!
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Yikes – I.Am.Not.Ready.For.Snow!! Grr…
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Me neither – it’s bad enough the stores rush the seasons for food/decor like they do!
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Don’t get me started…our local home improvement store has already set up the Christmas decorations, right next to the Halloween ones! Grr…
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That is just over the top!
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A very cool place and bunch of people! When i was younger, we used to grow a lot of produce and donate a lot of it to the local community.
Now, my gardening days are over. However, i still grow sprouts every day. I especially like Fenugreek and Buckwheat sprouts! Yummy and very healthy! 🙂
Tell them that their flowers look very beautiful! 🙂
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I thought so too Tom. I chatted with Mike quite a while … he had time to water both plots and top off the birdbath. He told me that some people have even bigger plots and come and spend the day there – guessing they might be the owners of the Adirondack chairs and luau decor? Those flowers were beautiful – most were wildflowers which I think rival a rose any day!
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Lovely! And a cuke to boot!
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Yes it was beautiful Anne and a cuke to boot! I should go again and see if it is still bountiful – maybe this weekend, unless people have begun to shut down the gardens for the Winter?
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We still have a few tomatoes on the one plant we have, given to us by a neighbor. It was fun to pick our own in the garden.
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The high school classmate that lives in Cary, NC used to write on Facebook about her collection of plants filled with cherry tomatoes on her deck. She loved salads and they were bountiful … then the squirrels discovered them and feasted themselves silly,. So she painted each one with Tabasco sauce to thwart them eating them – it worked til it rained, then she had to “repaint” them or tarp them up … she finally just buys them at the grocery store. 🙂
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Grocery store tomatoes are fine with me. I’ve tried a few plants before and never had any luck. This year a neighbor gave John one of the plants he had raised from seed, and it seemed to like our garden. We’ve probably had a dozen tomatoes from that plant.
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Me too – I never tried after the squirrels dug up all the tulip bulbs. I was just mentioning to Rebecca, a fellow blogger, that the squirrels used to hide their acorns in the various pots and baskets and in doing so, they uprooted the flowers. Nice!
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I can’t imagine having a 50foot flower garden and tending more…..but then I’m not that good a gardener. Lovely pictures, esp liked the zinnias, my favorite fall flower. Next year I’m not even going to bother growing tomatoes, they were tasteless this year due to all the rain, big and mushy and totally lacking in flavor. I always wanted a cobalt blue birdbath.
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Glad you liked the pictures Joni – I’m going to go again one more time, perhaps this weekend as it will be hot and I will give one more try at butterflies and hummingbirds in the Botanical Gardens and will just meander over there. I think the 5K walk won’t happen at this locale because we are having a stormy Sunday afternoon and I think it began at 1:00 p.m. – the info is in the computer that had issues, so I’d have to check it out … you don’t pay a fee, just show up so I didn’t pre-register, etc. I know the tomatoes that taste mushy are no big draw for me either … it is easier to buy them if yo can just get deals at farm stands this time of year. I thought of you when I put this post together with the blue garden.
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Beautiful photos of the garden, Linda! This is the first year that I’ve had trouble with the squirrels digging up the plants in my pots. It is quite a nuisance.
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Thanks Rebecca – I told you about this trip awhile ago and finally got the post done. I think I’m going to go back this weekend while it is still hot weather (mid-80s) and check out the Botanical Gardens and Community Garden one last time – I’m still hoping to see a hummingbird. When we had oak trees in the backyard, the squirrels used to hide acorns in the pots and baskets around the yard – they would dig the annuals out, root and all to hid the acorns!
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Sounds like what they are doing to my plants. I hope you enjoy your visit at the gardens!
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Hi Rebecca – yes, they are a force to be reckoned with sometimes. It was very hot and humid (84 when I left there … out in full sun the entire time) and I didn’t see any hummingbirds but did see lots of butterflies. They were having a wedding and reception to follow at 4:00 so had preparations for that (tea candles, sensor lights all around and a large tent, seats in the pavilion area – it looked very beautiful)
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Miss Linda……………………..that was so interesting……………………….thank you for all of the beautiful pictures of the bright close-up flowers and tomatoes…………………see there are all kinds of people who do strange things like tend to TWO gardens and care for pets who need to be walked every day…………………………….I’m impressed with you too who love going out of your way to meet these interesting people and sharing them with us who enjoy reading your blogs!
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Thank you Ann Marie … it was a beautiful walk that morning, first at the Conservatory, then at the Community Gardens and then around the historical village and track. Mike was very nice and I had no idea about the purchase of plots. He was really busy taking care and nurturing everything in his wife’s absence. Well I have the gift of gab … remember all those years ago when I was showing that nice woman at Council Point Park how the Woolly Bully Caterpillar’s rings meant what type of Winter we would have … you were fascinated and that’s how our friendship began. 🙂
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Looks like a great trip/visit
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Yes it was Ellie – glad you liked it. I’m going to try and get there again and check out the entire Gardens while it is very warm this weekend. I’ll go back to the Park when the leaves turn color in about a month – it is gorgeous then as they have lots of trees in the Park area. There are different sections of this Park – it is huge and they have the Conservatory, the Botanical Gardens and Pavilion, the Community Gardens, historical village and then a walking track around the entire Park. They hold the Little League World Series there so big baseball fields too.
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Sounds like an awesome place. Hope you were able to do so….
Sending sunshine and sparkles
Love, light and glitter
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I did go yesterday – very hot outside! It was 85 degrees F (29 C) and high humidity. I spent three hours walking around and got bitten up in the garden area (not very smart of me given the scare with the mosquitoes … we have this EEE virus (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) and you get it from mosquitoes infected with the disease. I purposely stayed away from any woody areas or that had swamps, but I guess the mosquitoes were in the garden (veggies/flowers area) … I finally did the post about “look up; look down; look all around” … I had used a lot of the photos I had saved for other posts, but still had quite a few as we are almost done with Summer. We have a storm tonight and torrential rain again.
Sending sunshine and sparkles and love, light and glitter back to you Ellie! You need it … it’s Monday.
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Oh, it was there! Didn’t realise…
Can you use mosquito repellent creams? Sending sunshine and sparkles
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No worries Ellie and I just responded to you in another comment … I had not said “Heritage Park” which actually includes a lot of property, including a petting farm for kids, the botanical gardens, community gardens and Coan Lake which is all part of this beautiful park. They also have a historical village and large walking track as well. It’s just gorgeous there. I don’t have mosquito repellent and I should buy some but I don’t go out at dawn or dusk so I was surprised the mosquitoes were so active as it was after 9:00 when I arrived. Going to be hot and humid next weekend too (if they are correct).
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I saw that. I hope you find some repellent and repair.
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A friend of mine likes tracking in rural areas near her home with her golden retriever and she takes an Avon product called “Skin So Soft” which is a bath oil, and mixes it up with some other natural ingredients and sprays it on the dog’s fur and her skin – she says she is able to ward off flying insects, especially ticks with this solution. I will try it next year – you have to buy the bath oil from an Avon representative as it’s not available in the stores. I was hoping we had cooler weather and less bugs … it is cool today, but next weekend will be hot and humid again.
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Oh wow, that’s cool. There is a blogger who writes about Avon products. I’m sure she sells it
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My friend swears by it for keeping bugs away? Would you like me to give you the recipe?
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Would it work if I put it on my windowsill? if so, then yes…
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No, unfortunately you have to spray it on yourself and your clothes – do you have them in your room?
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Not usually, no. I’m scared of creatures getting into my room.
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Well we share the creature fear because I live in fear of crawling things! I am very scared of spiders and centipedes – I can deal with them better outside, unless they are in the garage or near the garage door then I have angst about that. I don’t like anything that runs faster than I do.
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Mike was nice to share the cucumber!!
Thanks for the tour and the photos are excellent!!
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Yes he was Yvette! Glad you enjoyed the tour and the photos … it was nice walking through there and seeing all the flowers and veggies living harmoniously for as far as the eye could see!
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☀️and 50.00 sounds like a great deal!
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I thought so too and you saw the chairs and the party decor – clearly, if you have an apartment or your home does not have the space and you want the joy of gardening, you’ve got it right here … water is supplied so you are not trucking in water, I don’t know about mulch, I susppose that you have to supply that and fertilizer and such but still ..,. your own garden plot, just no white picket fence and heck … if you want that little white picket fence too, just go for it – some people did enclosure their plot with a small fence. That used to be the American dream back in the day – I guess that is an archaic idea these days.
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Funny you should mention the white picket fence because I see those sometimes on certain houses and remember that “dream”
And yes – it is archaic in some ways.
Or might be so yesteryear to where young ones don’t even know about the dream.
For a while – new families wanted privacy and instead of the white picket fence – the tall backyard fence was part of the dream –
And earlier this year I heard about a young adult who owned nothing
He rented a bed in a big house
Rented his desk at a place – with computer access and his own hard Drives (something like that)
Had a backpack and lots of digital gadgets – perhaps digital clutter –
But possessions were light – only a few outfits and dines out.
A different world and different dreams indeed
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The old American Dream versus the new American Dream … today they’d use the term “your father’s American Dream” and I guess this is the way to go now? I do hear stories of how millennials choose to live their lives with limited real possessions, opting for “experiential adventures” instead.
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I am getting ready to make a fiction post and I might incorporate this little topic we stumbled on here… keep ya posted
and good night amiga
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I will look for it Yvette – Cheers!
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Might not get to
It…. but if I do I will link ya 😉
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Sounds good!
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Great post and I love the images
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Thank you Amorina … it was so peaceful there. Glad you enjoyed this post and images.
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Lovely. There is nothing quite like home grown produce.
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I agree Zena and if people have not picked their produce by this week, we are getting some chilly temps later … I see lots of tomatoes sitting on windowsills after the chilly temps. I almost put the furnace on this morning.
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I am so glad to be going backwards on your post, this garden is so delightful, I could spend hours in there, mostly because it is growing. My gardens never look like that. I can almost smell the soil of the garden as I see him watering the plants. I love digging my hands into soil. The dirt around here is mostly clay, not soft at all.
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Hi Sandra – I can remember that post without looking back from its title. It was a beautiful Summer day even though it was so hot. I had been there before and walked through the gardens and had no idea regular gardeners could buy plots – I thought it was just the community garden effort for the Fish and Loaves Food Pantry. Mike sure enlightened me and we had a nice chat. I went back there the first Saturday in September I believe, thinking I would take more pictures and the gardens were mostly empty and I didn’t have enough photos to really make a post about my “walk-thru” … it was a great place to see butterflies as well. Reading backward will keep you in Summer mode for a long time. 🙂
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I don’t think there are any community garden areas around where I live. It is such a good idea. My folks had great gardens when I was younger. They also had cattle, so there was plenty of good fertilizer. That made a big difference.
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We really could never grow anything here due to the squirrels. We have lots of big and old trees in the neighborhood, and the squirrels will seize anything to eat – the tomato “crop” was pitiful after the squirrels got hold of them. Yes, that is good fertilizer for sure.
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Same here with the squirrels, my cucumbers grew very well. They never touched them. I might have better luck at my cabin up north for a small garden. I only have seen two squirrels up there.
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I had a high school friend in North Carolina and she had to paint Tabasco Sauce on her cherry tomatoes or the squirrels would eat them. So she moved them closer to the house, onto her deck and they still ate them or pulled them off and one bite and left them there. She finally had to give up. We also have bunnies around here – they ate all my bleeding hearts so I finally gave up after a few years of trying to grow them. They are also bad for eating produce they can reach.
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I think the only gardens that make it are the really big ones where they dont notice missing produce. I tried growing stuff in planter boxes on the deck. That did not work either. It is easier to just buy the vegetables.
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Yes, those raised boxes don’t work so well either as the drainage is not so good. It is easier to just buy them – I agree with you. A lot of effort into sowing seeds or planting the plants, and you worry about the weather – with our increase in erratic weather, it is not worth it to grow your own.
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There is a new store in my area that has the best produce at very good prices. I will still throw out flower seeds every year, that is about it though.
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I threw out Forget-Me-Nots years ago as I needed some filler flowers between bushes in the backyard and it was shady … bought a few packets and threw out seeds. Those flowers come back every year and I’ve had to thin them out as they are everywhere, almost invasive in the yard!
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I plant marigolds up north, they do really well, they are suppose to keep the deer away, it seems to be working.
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That’s good – I tried it for the squirrels and bunnies when I planted clematis since they were delicate – it worked well, the critters don’t like the strong smell of the marigolds.
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That is what I found out. I planted them around the perimeter. I might still put a fence up for the deer though.
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Yes, the deer can’t be pests too – my friend in New York has them coming for her strawberries and other berry plants – it is a losing battle for her, though she likes looking out her window and seeing them in the backyard.
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