THE GOLDEN ARCHES

SO... I am constucting this structure for all the pole beans and the gourds - dipper gourds and birdhouse gourds. The arbors were purchased for display in my shop. They are cheap and rickety.... ..so I am making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

I am adding extra support and plastic fencing along the bottom 36". I am hoping to make it strong to endure the winter.

And , of course, you have seen my piano guts at the end of the tunnel.

I have one more section to go - and just in time as the seedlings are reaching, reaching, reaching

but it was WAY too hot today

GARDEN PROGRESS

Both Mother Nature and I are pushing the garden forward

have added solar lights here and there - but need some more

weeds vs mulch - the weeds are winning




















lilies and mint and zinnias and ??




























it is already 90 degrees - so that's all for today - I am keeping cool in the studio !

CHURCH PIANO R.I.P.

This is what happens to old pianos in my world:

It was in bad shape and I don't even play - but the piano was too beautiful to chop up for firewood - and no one would take it away. HMMM didn't mean to be so poetic . Anyway..........

I had it "gutted" and now it is garden sculpture

The beautiful walnut piano itself will be re-fitted and used to house my CD player and all that jazz in the Salon.

SCULPTOR ELLIS NELSON

Several of you have asked about the sculptor I mentioned in my Versailles post; he does not have a website but here are links to some articles about him. His name is Ellis Nelson and he is well known in the area. I have a dear friend who is moving and had an estate sale last weekend and she advertised an Ellis Nelson for sale........people lined up hours in advance - the first man in line snatched it and left a lot of sad faces behind him....mine included.

So if anyone wants a sculpture......stop by the church for lunch and then pop on over to the Morel Capitol of the World ( !!! ) and meet Ellis.

When my friends John and Karen, were here last September they bought a big snail and sent him back to CA to live on the deck.

http://www.muscoda.com/ellis-nelson.html

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/ellis_nelson/index.html

VEGGIES

Again, I am hiding vents. I have planted all types of lilies along with echinaccea, sedum and herbs: mint, dill, sage, oregano, five different basils, chives....... I am sure there will be more.


also fennel, green onions and white onions












I LOVE tomatoes - I have six different heirlooms plus a variety for sauces and canning . Twelve different types, seventeen bushes total











Swiss chard in the bright colors














This is Linda's jalapeno











Zuchinni squash and yellow squash

also green bush beans and wax bush beans,
cucumbers and beets for pickling

whew










The first thing in the ground was rhubarb - a gift from a friend's garden. My first lesson : "Look Up" I planted it in a perfect location, I thought ....I didn't know that you had to look"up". I had put it under a tree limb where the birds all love to sit - and poop.

So, I moved it here.




I am Vegan - and have a true distrust of chemicals in my food. Truly, why do we have a cancer epidemic? That's for another blog.........but you can understand why the planning of my own organic garden makes me positively giddy. I've had great help from my new friends here -the members of the Bloom City Garden Club. They generously share their knowledge and their plants !

VERSAILLES

The Formal Gardens. Well, even Louis and Marie had to start somewhere...........

This focal point will consist of three concentric circles - 2', 4', and 6'. I found this in a catalog for strawberries - but it will do just fine for flowers. The completed circle will be about 22' diameter.














For you City Slickers....living w/ a septic system sucks (gotta love THAT alliteration!) because it is visually obtrusive , you can't have anything too heavy on top of the system (it could crack) and you can't have any trees or large shrubbery as the roots could creep into the pipes.













This has a sprinkler which runs to the top and looks like a fountain WOOHOO

I didn't have enough dirt to make this pad totally level - but is good enough for now. I have plans..

There is a local artist who does great metal sculpture and that is what I will put in the center of my circle. The kids say they never know what to buy me for my birthday so this year I can give them a big hint.





Oh....I just did.

DIRT

I am beginning with a prehistoric lawn. Weeds and weeds ..... and it slopes from north to south and from east to west.

My goal is to camouflage all the venting that goes with the septic system. I also hope to create a level area on this slope - just a little one so that I can pretend I have a garden.

and then there are the veggies.......







I am sad that I didn't have anything in this photo to give you a sense of proportion - I would guess that mountain was about 6 feet high and 12 feet long and 8 feet wide..... it was huge.







It took me two days to move this dirt to my "landfill" area. Me, a wheelbarrow, two buckets and John with his Radio Flyer.

A literal "drop in the bucket".

This was hopeless









so I had to throw in the towel and bring in the big boys









and P.S.

why do I have to put a blanket over my tomatoes in MAY !??!!

EXHAUSTION

I know this will be boring for some of you - but I have been in the garden for weeks and am finally having some results.


I am dealing with a pre-historic lawn.
Dinosaurs walked on this slope. I have dug up patches of crab- grass, crack- grass ...whatever you call it for WEEKS. I am my own landfill.



Tonight I can barely move my arms - but just want to tell you I am alive and this weekend will bring a bit of rain and force me inside.

One day we did have just a light mist....but I kept on with the good fight. In the words of Bill Murray in Caddy Shack ...I said to my neighbor " I don't think the heavy stuff is coming down for a while yet" !!

Manana