The Garden Begins to Recover

What a difference a week makes! I’m getting my mojo back in the garden. I went a couple times this week and weeded. I kept running into these guys. I like the one in green boots.

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The one with the flower pot looks helpful. The other one looks like he might have been tippling.

I had wanted to get the inside of the garden in shape before I worked on the outside border. Today, I got it mulched and composted. I don’t know how the plants feel, but I feel much better.

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A lot of weeding, a lot of compost…

Contributing to that are the little tomatoes coming on,

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and the zinnias that started to blossom.

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My garlic are drying in the kitchen

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and I had kale and beet greens with dinner tonight.

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The big job today was the outside border. Fellow gardener Joanne had offered me some of her zinnias, which she had not thinned yet. I took a couple dozen after weeding the border and planted them, gave them a good dose of water, and piled on some leaf compost. Then I threw down some wildflower seed. Things are looking up, especially with a rainy Fourth predicted.  What’s bad for a national celebration is good for the garden.

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57 Responses to The Garden Begins to Recover

  1. nannygrannie says:

    Looking fantastic!

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  2. So good to hear a week made everything better – it’s most satisfactory when that happens isn’t it! I quite like gnomes – I’ve never had one, but I believe they are good luck charms in some gardens. Maybe if you adopt them and give them a good home they will keep the bunnies at bay ……

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Meggy says:

    I’m so envious of your garden. It looks so healthy and happy now too! I just moved into a new home in Louisiana and I’ve only just today gotten seeds in the ground. I’m so impatient to have vegetables growing!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. It’s beautiful weather here, for The Fourth, as I read your post. Are those your own honest-to-goodness gnomes? Have you named them? It’s good that there’s an oldish one and a youngish one—someone to know what to do, and someone to do it. So glad that things seem on the upswing.

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  5. Ah, I didn’t realize they were not your personal gnomes. But they are quite cute anyway! I like to hear you know someone growing fabulous tomatoes—that was a “must have” crop in former days for me. This year I am growing cherry tomatoes on my small back porch in a pot– not sure what that’s about–keeping my fingers crossed!

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  6. Lisa, everything seems a bit brighter this week. I’m happy for you. The borer looks terrific. You would never know that every thing was torn up just a week or so ago.

    I’m impressed that you are still getting rain. We’ve entered our dry period, and are unlikely to see any ran for several months.

    As for the mulch, I think everything looks better with that top dressing. It’s magical.

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    • arlingwoman says:

      Alys, out here it rains all summer–sometimes a little bit every day, as though it were the tropics. It can get a bit scorched and dry in August, but September the hurricanes get serious and then it starts to rain again. It’s why everything is so lush, but it’s no doubt spoiling a few plans today. Happy Fourth to you!

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      • Lisa, I didn’t realize that. It makes good sense though. The 4th of July can be stressful here, as it is usually quite dry and brown. We’re officially in fire season. We average 15 inches of rain a year in San Jose, and 13.5 of that falls in the six months of fall and winter. It’s not uncommon to go through June, July, August and September without a drop from the sky.

        Are you feeling better?

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      • arlingwoman says:

        Mucho! I would be scared about fire out there too. Our fireworks were nearly rained out.

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  7. I’m pleased you are feeling better, Lisa

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  8. KerryCan says:

    You sound like yourself again! What a relief it must be to feel well and be back doing what you love!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Your garden looks great! I’m pretty jealous of those tomatoes! And we’re having a wet Fourth here, too. I’m sad … the Farmer’s Almanac promised that summer would be warm and dry 😦

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  10. Mary Tang says:

    We have our rain in winter and it is winter here so we are having a week of rain. Too bad it’s also a term break for schools.

    Glad you are better. I am still struggling but am on my feet.

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  11. So happy you have your mojo back and feeling better! Kale and beet greens are wonderful medicines too and I see you have two little magical helpers as well! Xo Johanna

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  12. Inese Poga Art plus Life says:

    Everything looks great!

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  13. Eliza Waters says:

    Looking great, Lisa – I bet the rain is helping with the transplants. Wish we were getting a bit it~

    Liked by 1 person

    • arlingwoman says:

      Yes, I think it will help the little zinnias, not to mention the wildflower seeds and a few other things I put in. Next up: spreading the irises along the inside of the fence…in a few weeks.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Brenda says:

    Glad to hear that you and the garden are recovering well.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. garden is looking good – don’t overdo it!

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  16. Boomdeeadda says:

    wow! you are a green thumb, forefinger, toes and possible knees too. You’re the Jolly Green Lisa, ho ho ho (remember that guy and little Sweet Pea?). I love garlic. I bought in the fall, these giant Alliums. A type of Onion I suppose. They’re a bulb for fall planting. Never got to it last fall but I shall endeavour to manage this fall, with yellow tulips. I’m all about yellow lately, I don’t know why. It’s the summer sunshine I think! xo K

    https://www.google.ca/search?q=oxtail+daisy+flower&biw=1272&bih=712&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUoI6J-_zNAhVLyWMKHW_zDHsQsAQINw#tbm=isch&q=giant+allium

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    • arlingwoman says:

      I’m going to get frilly poppies this year and plant them in November. Your giant allium are amazing. I’ve only seen the normal version and even those are quite lovely. You must plant them this fall…As for yellow, it’s that time of year. Wish I could bottle the sunshine–and yellow flowers come awfully close! xo

      Liked by 1 person

      • Boomdeeadda says:

        Oooooh, ya ya!! Frilly Poppies ! Me likey those a lot.
        Speaking of bottled sunshine, I just bought a room Nebulizer from a Canadian Company called Saje. They’re ultrasonic and turn liquid into mist. Same blends natural organic ingredients into oils and you put them in the Nebulizer with water and it mists your room with a heavenly scent. They have one called Liquid Sunshine and it’s amazing. Check out their Website. I got one for Alys’s bedroom too.

        http://saje.ca/catalogsearch/result/?q=nebulizer

        toodles xo k

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  17. Bun Karyudo says:

    I agree with you: one of those gnomes has definitely been tippling. Any more, and soon he’ll be toppling too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  18. badfish says:

    Good luck with this garden, it’s coming along fine. Love the gnomes. I saw a place in Romania where they make these gnomes!!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Maria F. says:

    Great images of tomatoes and Zinnias

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  20. Boomdeeadda says:

    Hey Lisa! Did I show you these Gnomes? I saw them in London but they were too heavy for my luggage 😦

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